Good Buy Books

One of the disadvantages of speeding by on the interstate all the time is you miss gems like this. I only saw it for the first time this week (including their «10^th Anniversary» sign). This place has charm. It’s extremely well organized. It’s got a little bit of everything, and a lot of some things. I liked that the fiction was organized into 3 separate categories: current, classic, and vintage. And just when you think you’re done, voila, stairs down to another room! The owners even said they could order books they don’t carry. The prices are reasonable too. In terms of discovering Good Buy: Better late than never.

I just found this place yesterday! Well, actually my boyfriend spotted a BOOK sign and I got all excited. I really love non-​chain bookstores because there’s always a chance they’ve got awesome stuff lurking in corners and under stacks of other stuff, and they did!
This place has tons and tons of paperbacks of all kinds. There’s a general fiction section, but also some of the major groups like Scifi/​fantasy, childrens, cookbooks, specific books on different countries/​time periods, new bestsellers, horror, romance etc. It’s a pretty good mix. Hard cover fiction books also have a section to themselves, which seems a little higgldy-​piggly but it’s worth sorting through. Additionally they have a basement room downstairs which has cardboard boxes just full of books, more odds and ends, and some pretty lengthy series. I didn’t get to look around down here much, but I wish I had. There’s a good amount to look over.
Pricing: Seems kind of inconsistent, but that’s part of what makes looking through everything worth it. For example, I grabbed a paperback copy of Gillian Flynn’s Dark Places ($ 7), a pristine hardcover copy of Hannibal & Silence of the Lambs ($ 3/3.50 each), and a beat up paperback copy of Willow by Wayland Drew ($ 3). New books are a obviously going to run a little more, but on the tons of used books the pricing is all over.
I really liked this store, and I’m definitely planning on going back soon. It’s a good idea to know what you want when you walk in though, the sections aren’t really all that organized so it can be hard to ‘just browse’.

Wonderful, locally owned. SOOOOO many books to choose from. Yes the new releases are a bit pricey, but the used books are usually a deal (the used books are probably where they make the majority of money). I could spend hours searching the place, it’s great!

Selection was wide and diverse in the classics and specialties, much like Dove and Hudson’s (which I no longer live next door to and generally loathe the thought of parking in center square ever again)…
But walking in it’s SO MUCH bigger than it looks from the outside, with a basement that smells of pine bookshelves and cartons and shelves piled everywhere. Prices were average, about what you’d expect for a store with a wide variety and not just peddling your typical clive cusslers and john grishams. Some great deals, some really interesting books, but overall a real, healthy, organic selection of books that had both me and my S.O. overburdened with books we wanted to take home.
I always have to mention this is ‘Albany Standards’… it’s certainly not going to be confused for a big college town used bookstore or a big city one, but for Albany? I was sufficiently impressed to say that I’d come back way more than once.

They have a fairly large selection, but the prices are way overpriced. I went to see what it’s all about but at those prices I probably will not be going back.

Very nice store. Good mix of used and new books, good selection (at least for what I am looking for). Very friendly people. Annnd, my favorite part is that teachers get a discount (I spend a ton of money on books for my classroom library and I usually buy used books on Amazon, but since I found out about the discount, I’m much more inclined to give my money to a good local business).

I might be unduly influenced because I know the owner but this is a great little store. Not a huge selection by any means but it’s so much fun looking through what they have and finding the unusual. The customer service is great — I’ve had them order things for me and the ease of just going in and picking them up without dealing with the crowds at the mall makes it a standout.

This is a neat little new/​used bookstore in East Greenbush. The sign out along to road is very generic «BOOKS» similar to another business a few doors down.
Out on the front porch, they have really deeply discounted books of assorted titles plus a few $ 3 DVDs. Inside though not an extensive selection (it’s far from being a Borders), the store has an interesting assortment of new and used books, which are actually in very good condition, like mint condition.
I was here looking around the local interest and travel books and they had quite a bit of the Images of America series for the Capital District/​Upstate NY including Albany, Troy, Troy’s Little Italy, and others. The new titles were retail price, but the used books were around 50 percent off retail and there were interesting titles for trolleys, travel memoirs, and Saratoga history, some titles I haven’t seen at the big stores. The kids books selection in the front corner was decent and had short storybooks, Golden Books, and picture books.
I would stop in here again periodically to check if any new/​used stock changes. Also, check out the website for a calendar of special events.