Books at the Yolo County SPCA Thrift

The bookstore just a couple doors down is part of the thrift store, but they've chosen to keep it separate, which is good news for serious book lovers.  It is very much a bookstore, but there was also a parlor organ, a more than decent acoustic guitar and a flute for sale alongside the books.  Probably these higher value items are easier to protect away from the rough and tumble of the main store.  A closet sized space is labelled the "Toy Room" and has a small but nice collection of dolls and toys, very modestly priced.  And at the counter there is a smattering of jewelry, probably the nicer pieces that get donated, with the run of the mill stuff at the main store.

Mostly what they have in this room is books, and this little space is everything a small used bookstore should be.  It is clean, neat, well organized, peaceful and beautifully air conditioned (the main thrift store was just a tad warm, though with many strategically placed fans to keep the air circulating).  There's a comfy couch area that invites you to sit down and take a load off while you decide if a book is right for you.

It's not large, but there are a lot of books there.  This picture doesn't show a fraction of them.

Nonfiction is organized into sensible categories, neatly labelled.  Fiction has been sorted into categories like fantasy, scifi, chick lit, and literature.  It didn't appear that fiction was shelved alphabetically by author, which makes it a little harder if you are looking for a specific title or author.  But the store is small enough that it is not a huge hardship to scan the shelves of the section likely to contain what you are looking for.

I focused on paperback fiction and found a lot of high quality, recent releases.  These were all trade paperbacks, many of which you could find today in a retail bookstore for full price (assuming you still have a bookstore in your town).  All paperbacks were priced at $1, and today there was a 20% off sale, so they were really only eighty cents apiece.  That, my friend, is a bargain you cannot ignore if you are a voracious reader.  Hardbacks were only $2, and I saw many first editions of very readable, recent releases.  I bought three trade paperbacks, a flawless copy of Robert Goolrick's Heading Out to Wonderful (which has been on my to-read list but I've been too cheap to buy it new for $14.95), and Penguin Pocketbook editions of Jan Karon's A Light in the Window (book 2 of the Mitford series for a friend), and Mary McGarry Morris' Songs In Ordinary Time. 

Older and vintage books (of all categories) are housed together. 

There was also a section for vinyl records, a rack of greeting cards ($1 each), and a respectable helping of DVD movies, music CDs and even VHS movies.  I thought the sign had said DVDs were $1, but my 3 DVDs wound up costing $8, so maybe I misread the sign.  But no matter, that's still well under $3 per DVD and after they are enjoyed they can be redonated or traded at a used bookstore that buys media to make the final cost even lower.

For local readers on a budget this store is a wonderful resource, and it could be for you too if you are passing through and have the time to check them out.  Reading can be an expensive hobby, but it doesn't have to be and the Yolo County SPCA Thrift bookshop is one reason for that.  I should add that the beautiful and delightful lady manning the register (who had just a hint of a melodious African accent that I could have listened to all day) was very sweet, and walked outside with me to point out where her favorite pizza place was located when I asked her for recommendations on local restaurants (it was Original Steve's Pizza, which I wound up not visiting because I got too busy driving around Davis to look at the scenery and then decided I had to have a chimichanga;  but I'll hit them up next time).

For all these reasons, this little book shop gets Four Trees!