Caledonia Books

This is a great book shop loads of drama playwrights scrip play works the lot. Easy for actors, being a registered on myself. As soon as you walk in. All drama stuff is on the left. Loads of antique books here. Worth a visit.

This place has halved in size since the last time I visited– when I were just a young ‘un who had just discovered the absolute treasures that the West End of Glasgow had. It used to have a next door area too, I’m sure.
Anyway, I came in here after a wee snow flurry had started and I was feeling a wee bit cold. I wasn’t looking for anything in particular, but lots of things stood out at me. For example, a book about John McLean. I had wanted this particular book for a while and I saw it, and got quite excited. But, Caledonia books were charging £7.50 for this book and the price was scratched out on the back.
I later discovered that the RRP was about £4.95 or something, up in Calton Books. So, Caledonia books is pretty much ripping people off.
Don’t buy any books from here with the price scratched off.

This is a great wee place to get lost in — figuratively.
If like me, you have a thing for books, a bibliophile (that may be a word) if you will, Caledonia Books is a great little shop to browse. I’ve bought stuff out of here a few times, but it’s one of those places that it’s as good a place to browse as it is to shop.
Being on a Gaelic kick of late, I’ve found a few crackers in here.
It’s a contradiction of sorts — disorganised on the whole, but it feels like a wee oasis of calm.
It kinda feels like you are creeping about your grannies house — but that adds to the appeal. I find book shops — of any ilk — a sensory delight. It looks like a book shop, it feels like a book and it smells like a book shop!
And, by the by, they have some cracking maps for the cartograph types among us.

This is the Rolls Royce of book shops. It is an alladins cave of mindfull print. I find the owners fantastically helpful on getting a range of good reads for me Its always at a rush, I have never been let down, that was never been let down. I am awarding the shop a Caurnie Soap «Years supply of soap award»

I love second hand book stores, and Caledonia Books is probably the first one you’ll meet in this area since the rest are tucked away doon lanes.
It’s been here for years and has been the first thing that’s met my eye at the bottom of Belmont Street since I was a tot. Thus, I would be distraught if anything ever happened to this store, which has looked the same all my life.
I used to go here with my mum who loves reading, but started properly utilising it when I studied English Lit at university. I’ll get the negatives out the way first since I don’t want to bring the tone down, but it is fairly pricey and the staff study you as you walk in. Unlike Thistle books, where you can engage in a long, lively conversation with the shop owner about the book of your choice (seriously, he knows all when it comes to books) or the erratic, nutty professor approach at Voltaire and Rousseau (which has become treasured by the population of Glasgow for these outstanding qualities), there’s a cold breeze that blows through Caledonia. And that cold breeze seems wafted from the general direction of the shop owners.
I’ve felt quite uneasy in here at times, like the shop owners don’t think I belonged there. It was like Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman, but with books and baggy jeans instead of hookers and girls who belonged in magazines. My 18 year old self left with tail between legs, head drooped, but now that attitude just makes me indignant. The guys in here aren’t unbearable, but they come across as a bit cold to say the least. It’s also quite expensive for books.
But there is light at the end of this review, and I’ll end it with the glass being three quarters full. The books are in very good condition, they are well ordered, there are loads of different categories, loads of interesting books about art that I want to dive into at every opportunity, and it’s a Godsend to lit students. I also enjoy their music category — they always seem to acquire some interesting rock biographies and anthologies.
So the attitude of the staff is a bit stuffy, but their book shop is great. So, who cares?

I would have to agree with some of the comments below about the service in here. The whole time I was perusing the shelfs or thumbing the books I was being ogled at by a member of staff sitting at the back of the room — making it rather hard to enjoy the surroundings and the literature.
That aside I was pleasantly surprised when looking at the books they have on offer and it is definitely the first stop if you’re looking for some great Scottish literature, anything from topographys, history and literature. Some great books, old and new, on offer from Walter Scott to Christopher Brookmyre.
It is undoubably a beautiful wee shop and stocked to the roof with some little gems such as Glasgow cookery books from the turn of the last century!

I love the smell of old books.
There’s something of a novelty (no pun intended) in walking into a used bookstore. That feeling that these books were loved and because they were loved have been passed on.
From the outside, Caledonia books looks like an antique dealer, and I was a little intimidated. Inside, it opens up to reveal a treasure trove of used books. There are antiquities (I spied the works of Robert Burns in 3 volumes, complete with hard covers and ornate spines), but there’s also more popular fiction books as well.
And in the back, there’s a special room for media, films, etc.
Having been in a couple of used book stores before, I was impressed with the layout… most of the used book shops I’ve gone in, have books everywhere, in no particular order, and stacks of books on the ground. Not true here.
The price is ok, perhaps a little mark up on them. A copy of Catch 22 was £2.50, which isn’t bad, certainly less than a new copy, but I noted that the publishers price was scratched off of the back.
At any rate, I found an armful of books to buy, and, if you can get over the shopkeeper casting a slightly judgemental eye over your selection (I cringed as his gaze followed my copy of Faulks’ ‘Charlotte Grey’), then it’s a great place to stock up on some old favourites. His knowledge of books is substantial, though, and you’d scarcely find another human being with such a storehouse of literary expertise.
It’s worth noting, that at the door when you walk in, are a slew of leaflets for book readings and writing groups. Support of the community and literary public is always ace.
If you visit their website, you can request books, and they’ll let you know if they have it, or they’ll keep their eye out for it. Very very nice of them.

Bit of a Glasgow institution this place, only problem is, it knows it. Lacking the ramshackle charm of nearby Voltaire and Rosseau and Thistle Books, this is the slicker older brother.
Situated in a more mainstream area, it’s also better ordered and, given the abundance of students who use it, the most likely spot to find the year’s university books at cheaper than the RRP. In saying that, this place is not particularly renowned for being cheap, and the owners seem pretty clued up as to what will be on that year’s reading lists.
While I can’t say I’ve ever been given a particularly warm welcome in here, the criticism of the staff seems harsh as they’ve never been anything other than polite on the few occasions I’ve had to speak to them.

If you are a lover of all things literature like me — then you will know that Caledonia Books is heaven on earth. Inside this fabulous book shop, you will find rooms and rooms filled to the brim with every genre of books you could possibly imagine. But the books aren’t just relegated to the bookcases. No, you’ll find hundreds and hundreds of books piled up on every possible surface, including the floor. There’s also a lovely old fashioned metal spiral staircase inside — I’m not sure where it goes but each step plays host to yet more piles of books.
Now, bear with me here, have you seen Beauty and the Beast? Of course you have. Do you remember the scene at the beginning when Belle goes to the bookshop in the village, and the shop keeper climbs up a ladder on his bookcase and swings around the top of the bookcases? Well, in Caledonia books they have exactly those ladders! Now, I’m not sure I’d ever be brave enough to climb one myself — but you might be. Go on, I dare you.

This really is the kind of book shop you can get lost in. With shelves and shelves and piles upon haphazard piles of books, you have to pick your way through gingerly, and once you’ve got a book that’s mildly interesting, you’ll probably be cosied up in a corner with your feet propped up on a nearby book stack, sticking your nose far in for a good while. That is before you snap back to reality, realise it’s closing time and that unfriendly staff are trying to remove you with pained expressions on their faces.
Trust me, I’ve been through it all myself, and found some diamond presents in there in the process — for myself and others!

Caledonia Books is one of these shops that I have passed by a thousand times, and never been in, so today I decided to have a wee look around.
Well as the review above says, do not expect a warm welcome — the staff weren’t aggravated, they just seemed very disinterested to see someone in their shop. It reminded me slightly of Black Books — the sitcom with Dylan Moran — but without the raging alcoholic behind the counter (well, they could have been but I’d never know). I perused the shelves for a while before encountering a jolly book about Scottish place names, at a bargainous £3.99, I couldn’t resist!
So, with a nice large selection of books and decent prices I would recommend a visit — you might find something useful like I did. ‘Glasgow’ means ‘the dear green place’ — you learn something new everyday!

it takes a bit of effort to root something out that piques your interest amongst the piles of books in here, but your effort will pay off — a veritable treasure trove of print is to be found here!