A Castle of Books

A co-​worker suggested to stop by. The place runs a bit small but its very nicely organized by authors, titles, subjects. I was also surprised to see used board games such as trivial pursuit and clue. Also old sheet music, playbill pamphlets and CD’s/Cassettes if people don’t happen to remember music recorded before mp3s.
I found an old copy of Catch 22 for 3 bucks! Also discovered fascinating books on war, politics and philosophy. There is also something for the science fiction /​fantasy lovers — tons of manga /​comic books. Books can range from 25 cents to up to 20 bucks but most are reasonably priced.
Nice little hole in the wall!

The first thing I noticed when I walked into the bookstore was that it was dark and very dusty. The lack of light made it a bit hard for me to browse through the titles in each bookshelf but I will say this… they have a great selection of older books. I saw books that have been out of print for a long time in this bookstore and my book loving self did a happy little jig.
Overall, if you’re looking for older books, this is the bookstore for you. they’ve got a great selection of all genres of fiction and the prices were pretty decent. There’s books everywhere and I mean everywhere. Right when you walk in there’s books on the shelves in the aisles, right up front on the floor near the cash register so odds are you will find something to like in this dusty book heaven.

I used to think that I’d only get books if they were new, but I began to appreciate used books in college. The Newport Beach Library has been quite good for me, but it is a bit of a trip and the selection is limited to a handful of carts, currently. Sifting through those carts felt like combing my way through a giant grab bag; A Castle of Books is something like a gold mine by comparison.
Just about every genre is covered: fiction, sci-​fi/​fantasy, romance, art, travel, history, classics, etc. I went in looking for a copy of Frank Herbert’s Dune. I managed to find 3 paperback copies and one hardcover (Reader’s Club edition or something) edition. 2 paperbacks seemed to be bound by tape, but I found a copy just frayed at the edges, with just a bit of yellowing (and its got that aged scent that affects me like no other {Yeah.}). Not bad for an edition from 1977 or so. The paperbacks were listed at $ 3 each, the hardcover at $ 30, apparently that one is quite rare.
It seems that the amount of books has now outgrown the size of the shop. There are boxes of books just sitting behind and around the counter waiting to be processed apparently. I’ll probably be stopping by weekly to see what I can mine out of this place. Or to just enjoy the smell.

I love books and I love used bookstores. Used bookstores have a smell that I find very nostalgic — the old used book smell. I love it and yes, you will find that smell at A Castle Of Books because this place is overflowing with used books. It is overflowing because it is tiny and could definitely benefit from a larger location.
Something that I also like about used bookstores and something that A Castle of Books has — random computer/​video game manuals or instruction books. These are always a throwback to me and weird me out that people trade these in rather than throw away. I guess it shouldn’t be too weird since I think people actually buy these too. This whole thought makes me love life so much that it kind of makes me sick.
I guess the downside of the store was this: I was looking for a couple of books and this store only had one. Luckily, it was the RAREST book out of the list. The other ones were new and could have easily been found at Barnes and Noble but the penny pincher in me was looking to save a few dollars and the weirdo in me was missing the smell of old books.

This store may seem a bit small, but there are a lot of books and variety of genres to choose from. When I was going through the aisles, I would say a majority of the books are fiction and romance, but they had everything from classics, childrens, young adult, sci-​fi, politics, and more. A lot of the books are old and you might have to really look to find something you want, but if you look and dig hard enough you can find some great deals. I got Harry Potter, Book 4 hardback for $ 1, it was decent condition too. I ended up purchasing like 7 books for ~$ 9. Thats a great deal in my opinion and even if the books turn out to be crap, at least I didn’t have to pay an arm and leg.

A budding used bookstore in Orange County, A Castle of Books is tucked away in a strip mall on Katella that we nearly passed had my friend not noticed the small BOOKS sign.
Because it has just opened a little over a month ago, the store’s selection is limited. Still, the store looks promising, it just needs a little help. They have a paperback exchange, bring in three paperbacks and you get one free. Donations are welcome and they also consider buying select books for cash.
The store is on the small side and things still need to be put on the shelves and moved around. They have a couple classics, most reasonably priced. There manga section is also larger than most used bookstores. Their dollar shelves are relatively full and at the moment, they offer a free book bag with any $ 10 purchase.
Overall, the store looks nice, is relatively well lit and can easily provide a couple students their summer reading. I highly recommend donating books, or at least get store credit to support your local used bookstores.