Memorial Day weekend is the unofficial beginning of summer – welcome to warm weather and vacations! I’m sure many of you are heading out to the beach or on other weekend getaways and what better thing to bring along but a few unread books. Instead of heading to a bookstore that sells new books why not head to one of the areas fantastic used bookstores? Not only can you find the same books at cheaper prices, but these used book exchanges and stores are the ultimate way to reuse and recycle old reading material! Just browsing the shelves can occupy an entire rainy afternoon, as you search for an out-of-print edition or discover a long-forgotten childhood picture book. There is an exciting element to perusing used books – you never know what you might find! Head out to one of these local favorites this weekend (or stop by on your lunch hour, as I am prone to do).

Chop Suey Tuey
2913 West Cary St.
Richmond, VA
(804) 422-8066
I headed here last week on my lunch break and was late getting back to work! Chop Suey sells both new and used books (and it seems like they have a nice collection of comics/graphic novels too) and I could have wandered around upstairs for hours. Found exactly what I was looking for (Jonathan Safran Foer’s Everything is Illuminated) and paid only $5.95. Wonderful!

Black Swan Books
2601 West Main Street
Richmond, Virginia
(804) 353-9476
I love this bookstore! While you won’t find any popular literature or paperbacks at the Black Swan, you will find classic literature, children’s books, scholarly texts and tons on Virginia history. . I am particularly fond of the antiquarian religious and school primers. Here you will find books well loved (perhaps 100 years ago) waiting for an interested soul to pick them back up again. I guarantee you will find something fascinating!   

Midlothian Book Exchange
13198 Midlothian Tpke
Midlothian, Virginia 
(804) 379-2642
While this bookstore may seem like a bit of a trek to you city-dwellers, it is well worth the drive to Midlothian. The Book Exchange has a HUGE selection of books, from popular fiction, literature, poetry, plays, and lots of romance novels and science fiction too (perfect beach reading). The staff seems to know every title in the store, so just ask and you will know if they have what you’re looking for. They also have multiple copies of popular titles, so you don’t have to feel guilty buying the last copy of War and Peace.

All of these stores will buy books from you for store credit (sometimes cash) so it’s worth perusing your own shelves for a book or two to pass along in the spirit of STUFF, recycling and reuse. Do you have a favorite used bookstore? Let me know, I’m always up for exploring a new one!

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