Sharston Books

It may be a little off the beaten track (a good few minutes of deviation from the Oxford Road corridor anyway) but this place is absolutely worth the venture. Located on an industrial estate and looking from the outside like a carpet warehouse, Sharston Books is a trove of bibliographic marvels. There are books on any and every subject, bulging from shelves and crammed into creaking cases. From nasty yellow exploitation paperbacks (see the conspiracy section featuring titles like ‘Genesis Revisited’ and ‘Tunguska — Cauldron of Hell!’) to Everyman Library first edition folios; from travel guidebooks to military histories. There are so many books here that they spill out from the shop proper and fill giant green shipping crates in the car park outside. There is hours of browsing fun to be had here.
The books themselves are reasonably priced (for example cook books cost about £3-£4, paperback fiction can be less than this) but the shop can’t compete with the value for money of Oxfam et al, (there is a photocopied newspaper article attesting to this pinned to one of the bookshelves). Where Sharston Books really succeeds is in offering excellent customer service — as well as offering a wide selection of books the proprietors also run a no obligation finding service where, at customer request, they will attempt to track down and purchase a copy of that rare or special book. Really Excellent.

When you first arrive you may well think you have gone to the wrong place. It is not a conventional bookshop but rather a huge warehouse on a small industrial estate.
Another bit of advice is wrap up well! it is the sort of place you will want to linger at but it is NOT what you would call warm!!(freezing in fact!) There are books as far as the eye can see loads of nooks and crannies. Loads of secondhand stuff although they do seem to have a lot more new stuff now.
It is very unusual with some truly awful prints and pictures also for sale (although why anybody would want to???)
There are loads of magazines. I was delighted to get a bundle of out of print magazines a couple of visits ago.
The only disappointing thing is that the prices have risen significantly, although it still does have bargains.
You will pay more than you would at a charity shop.
It is still worth a visit provided you are well wrapped up! If you are looking for unusual or old books this is a great place to start your search.