San Diego booking?
 

I'm going to be in San Diego this coming week. What are the must-visit book
stores?


William M. Klimon
http://www.gateofbliss.com

On Sat, 25 Jun 2005 03:03:00 -0400, "William M. Klimon"
wrote:

I'm going to be in San Diego this coming week. What are the must-visit book
stores?


William M. Klimon
http://www.gateofbliss.com


William:

It's been years and the name escapes me, but there's one street in San
Diego that's practically ALL bookstores... (A quick glance in the
local phone book should clarify things. There's literally a six-block
stretch where nearly every other business was a bookstore.)

Cheers,

John

The San Diego Booksellers Association has a good online map to their
members' bookstores at http://www.sdbooks.org/, though more and more
of the members sell only online.

The best and biggest of the B&Ms is Wahrenbrock's, downtown, on
Broadway between 7th and 8th. I think this might be the last
remaining downtown bookstore. There are a number of thrift stores
downtown, a few blocks away. If you are downtown on a Fri-Sat-Sun
afternoon, the Central Library has a good booksale. (However, if you
are going downtown on a Sunday, beware of the SD Padres games, since
parking may be difficult to find.)

Fifth Avenue, between Robinson and University, in Hillcrest has three
bookstores. If you click on the website link to the Open Air Book Fair
(which was held two weeks ago), you can find a map there.

Adams Avenue has a handful of stores, starting at "The Prince and the
Pauper" at the west end and perhaps Adams Avenue Books if the furthest
east. You probably won't want to walk the entire length and back, but
you can visit them all easily with a car.

La Jolla has the DG Wills bookstore, with both used and new books. The
LJ Library and the LJ Athenaeum have quite a few books for sale. (At
the Athenaeum, as to see the book sale shelves inside -- as there are
more there than just the carts in the foyer).

Here's a link to thrift stores, rummage sales, auctions, etc., in San
Diego: http://www.bargainlink.com/

DKM



On Sat, 25 Jun 2005 03:03:00 -0400, "William M. Klimon"
wrote:

I'm going to be in San Diego this coming week. What are the must-visit book
stores?


William M. Klimon
http://www.gateofbliss.com




To contact me directly, send EMAIL to (single letters all)
DEE_KAY_EMM AT EarthLink.net. [For example .]

On Sat, 25 Jun 2005 21:52:43 GMT, Doug McClure
wrote:



Adams Avenue has a handful of stores, starting at "The Prince and the
Pauper" at the west end and perhaps Adams Avenue Books if the furthest
east. You probably won't want to walk the entire length and back, but
you can visit them all easily with a car.


Just a handful? That's teh street I was thinking of... It's been ten
years, but I'm sorry to hear that the number of shops has dwindled so
much. I do remember it as being a hell of a hike, (the 98 degree
temperature not helping a whole lot). Still, I did pick up some nice
items for pretty reasonable prices.

Cheers,

John

John Pelan wrote:
On Sat, 25 Jun 2005 21:52:43 GMT, Doug McClure
wrote:



Adams Avenue has a handful of stores, starting at "The Prince and the
Pauper" at the west end and perhaps Adams Avenue Books if the furthest
east. You probably won't want to walk the entire length and back, but
you can visit them all easily with a car.



Just a handful? That's teh street I was thinking of... It's been ten
years, but I'm sorry to hear that the number of shops has dwindled so
much. I do remember it as being a hell of a hike, (the 98 degree
temperature not helping a whole lot). Still, I did pick up some nice
items for pretty reasonable prices.

Cheers,

John

Adams Avenue used to have quite a few great bookstores along its length,
but my favorite two (Safari and Aardvark) are long gone. Of the remaining
ones, Adams Avenue Books (at the corner of Adams & 35th) is probably my
favorite, with The Book Broker (across the street from the John Adams
Station post office) is second, in terms of quality books and atmosphere.

There used to be one further east than Adams Avenue Books, a little strip
mall store called Betty's Books, but I don't know if it's still there or
not.

On Sat, 25 Jun 2005 19:11:08 -0700, Some Guy
wrote:

John Pelan wrote:
On Sat, 25 Jun 2005 21:52:43 GMT, Doug McClure
wrote:



Adams Avenue has a handful of stores, starting at "The Prince and the
Pauper" at the west end and perhaps Adams Avenue Books if the furthest
east. You probably won't want to walk the entire length and back, but
you can visit them all easily with a car.



Just a handful? That's teh street I was thinking of... It's been ten
years, but I'm sorry to hear that the number of shops has dwindled so
much. I do remember it as being a hell of a hike, (the 98 degree
temperature not helping a whole lot). Still, I did pick up some nice
items for pretty reasonable prices.

Cheers,

John

Adams Avenue used to have quite a few great bookstores along its length,
but my favorite two (Safari and Aardvark) are long gone. Of the remaining
ones, Adams Avenue Books (at the corner of Adams & 35th) is probably my
favorite, with The Book Broker (across the street from the John Adams
Station post office) is second, in terms of quality books and atmosphere.

There used to be one further east than Adams Avenue Books, a little strip
mall store called Betty's Books, but I don't know if it's still there or
not.


I don't know if Betty's Books is still in business or not. The owners
of the Book Broker sold their stock to Powells, but Bill Burgett has
taken over the bookstore.

DKM

To contact me directly, send EMAIL to (single letters all)
DEE_KAY_EMM AT EarthLink.net. [For example .]

Many thanks to all for the good leads.

I made it to Adams Avenue Books and the Book Broker both on Adams Ave., to
the 3 shops on 5th Ave. in Hillcrest (5th Avenue Books, Bountiful Books, and
Bluestocking Books), and a quick stop into Wahrenbrock's.

For my purposes, Adams Avenue Books was the best. Fully half of their
second floor is devoted to "Religion" with many interesting items. (That's
no accident: both the owner and the current manager are Div School
graduates.) I snapped up a bunch of convertiana--many signed books--and a
smattering of other things.

At 5th Avenue Books, I found a copy of Katharine Briggs's *Encyclopedia of
Fairies* at below market price. I've been looking for a copy for my
goddaughter.


A very good booking afternoon.


William M. Klimon
http://www.gateofbliss.com