Second Reader Book Shop

One of my favorite small bookstores in Buffalo! The shelves go all the way to the ceiling, and remind me of the giant library from Beauty and the Beast! They stock a nice selection of classic/​vintage books, as well as newer used books. It’s definitely a little cramped in some of the sections, but I think that’s what makes the place interesting… the scatteredness of everything, and not quite knowing what you’re going to find.
The staff here has always been very pleasant to deal with. I usually walk away with at least 1 book, and the prices have been between $ 3 and $ 6 so far from what I’ve purchased. They also sell some really cool old prints, which they keep in a bin near the front window.
I hope Second Reader continues to get the support they need to sustain… there’s something so refreshing about browsing in a used bookstore. It makes you feel like you’re in an old movie. I highly recommend stopping in the next time you’re shopping on Hertel Ave.

I’m on a mission — looking for a specific cookbook — I’d prefer gently used. Yes, I can find it on eBay. For around $ 20. So instead I threw it out on a Unilocal thread to see what my fellow Unilocalers would suggest. And a few said Second Reader had a good cookbook section.
So back I went. In the past I’ve never noticed that area of the store. Walking in I asked the employee (owner?) for cookbooks. I expected to have a few to browse through.
Taking me to be the back he left me in front of 4+ shelves — cookbooks or, as one shelf says, Cooking Essays. I love cooking essays — if you haven’t read one try Amanda Hessers «Cooking for Mr Latte.» And you may just appreciate them as much as I do. 3 shelves were cookbooks and 1+ cooking essays I think. I didn’t browse those this time, but will sometime soon.
I arrived around 5:30 or so on a Tue evening. They close at 6. I expected to be in and out in a few minutes. Nope. I was still browsing around 6. And didn’t even realize it. Nor did the employee comment when I made my way to the front, without the book I am still looking for, but with 3 others, around 6:10 or so. It was then I realized the time. I apologized, but it really seemed to be no issue. Very nice feeling.
My three books, all hardcover cookbooks, totaled $ 12 I think. My only comment was I could not find prices anywhere. But that’s a small thing.
Street parking.

Super great selection of newer used books & vintage/​first editions.
Recently I purchased a first edition Mark Twain from
here at really good price. The owner was very honest & a genuinely interesting & fun person to talk with about my love of first editions. I respected how open he was about the book being re-​bound, that’s everything to a book snob like me!
I highly recommend this shop to anyone looking for a new (used) book!

Excellent — clean and cozy (I may be generous with the term cozy). I asked the woman at the counter if she had Salman Rushdie’s Midnights Children she went directly to it and grabbed it off the shelf for me – she didn’t even have to look it up! We had a nice little chat and I was out of there without looking around; I knew what I wanted. I know second hand book stores can be hit and miss, so typically I asked as soon as I walk in for particular authors or books, and I had a great and short experience here!

Yikes, no thanks.
As Alex K says (anything book-​related I tend to agree with him), it would be difficult to give a one star to a place that sells books but two stars is still a fairly generous offering. With the other five star ratings, I anticipated this place to be at least four stars.
I really like the location, smack dab on Hertel next to Mac’s and Second Chic. It gets a lot of attention because so many people are walking in the area and it’s a great place to pop in and out of the stores nearby. When I entered the store, I was greeted by two men. The first man was sitting directly in front of me and pleasantly smiled and nodded at me. The guy to my left made me want to back out slowly.
Now, to be fair, there’s nothing inherently wrong with this individual. I’m not easily intimidated by people, but there was a certain air about this man that made me feel quite unwelcome. He didn’t smile nor did he say excuse me passing by the aisles. He wasn’t rude, I’ve just experienced more pleasing and chatty individuals that share their passion for books with everyone who walks through the door. If an employee decides to choose an alternative route to managing their customers, that’s their prerogative but a major turnoff for myself.
The shelves were okay but there was absolutely no room in that store at all. Not enough space for two people to peruse a bookshelf. I know this because aforementioned employee stepped over me (yes, you read that right) to get around me while I was kneeling to check out the books on the bottom shelf.
The books were also filled with many obscure authors; authors one wouldn’t normally want to go look for and read. Their fiction was not their strongest section, which might be disappointing to most individuals looking for a good book from a used bookstore. I really enjoyed their Philosophy section which was filled with good reads on Ethics and the like. But other than that, I was underwhelmed with everything and left after a few minutes. Nothing really great to check out.
I probably won’t be coming back. Bookstores are supposed to be magical and fun and all I wanted to do after entering was leave.

I love books. I love libraries. I love bookstores, book shops, book shoppes, book sales, book smells, book auctions, BookOff, book anything. (Not bookies. Or wookies while we’re down that road.) As a little boy watching «Beauty and the Beast,» I fell in love with the library instead of the princess. Woops.
But I don’t like this place.
To me, books are about imagination, and this book store lacks any. To call the selection of fantasy and science fiction paltry does a disservice to the word, not the bookstore. Nary a Lewis, nary a Pratchett, nary a Jordan, nary a McCaffrey, among other bestselling fantasy authors. Nary a Gibson, a Heinlein, a Bester, a Dick. And the children’s section? Nada. But the military history section? (Yes, there is a section.) Well stocked. The X studies section? Y studies section? Z studies section? Stocked. Collecting dust.
«But Alex, maybe this store is trying to be serious. Maybe it’s trying to be something else.» I’d accept that argument if it weren’t for the fact that the store is replete with Y studies and Z studies all of which make reference to the works of Gibson, Dick, White, et al. What use is reading Donna Harraway’s «A Cyborg Manifesto,» a seminal work of feminism, without access to the cyborgs to which she references? What use is Jameson or Baudrillard without access to the fiction (and the science fiction in particular) to which they laud as so subversive and so demonstrative of the intellectual notions they seek to explore? On the other hand, what use are the plentiful cultural studies books without access to the works they focus on, without a wide assortment of fantasy and children’s lit in particular (so often studied)?
Nae, the combined section of fantasy/​sci-​fi/​horror much to my horror features mostly Stephen King books. Ye Gods. And the children’s section barely exists. The store does a disservice to itself.
One more thing. I earlier mentioned stores, shops, shoppes, sales, auctions, and BookOff. Even if this store is selling items as dry as military history, customer service has to be number one. I looked puzzled. I looked upset. I strode around the store like a man on a mission (for more than a minute, or two, or five)… with nary a hail from the dour looking man at the register, as immobile and unfriendly looking as Christopher Lloyd seemed at the beginning of «The Pagemaster.» If I were in West Side Stories, in Talking Leaves, in Rust Belt Books, I can guarantee that a more friendly somebody-​or-​other would have seen my perplexed expression, hailed me, inquired something… if only because they knew that hailing a customer is statistically more likely to result in a sale.
And thus I exited… frustrated… still desiring to buy a good book and nurse it over a coffee down the street.
And thus I would recommend Second Reader certainly second to West Side Stories, and Talking Leaves, and Rust Belts, and certainly second to Barnes and Nobles, or the Strand, or Hudson Booksellers (that terrible chain that foists Dan Browns and Jodi Picaults on tired travelers at airports), and likely second to Amazon, and Kinokuniya, and eBay… and maybe just ahead of garage sales. But maybe not.
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Why not one star? Because even though it may be THE WORST book store I have ever visited, it’s still a book store.

My idea of a perfect Saturday afternoon is ideling up and down Hertel Avenue. Breakfast at Bertha’s Diner, a matinée at the North Park and book shopping at the Second Reader Book Shop. I always find something to add to my personal collection, be it a biography of Katherine Hepurn (A. Scott Berg’s is very good), to sheet music from the 1940’s, to beautiful cards, to small framed pieces of very interesting artwork, to the latest novel by Jim Harrison, to a cookbook written by Moog… this is where you will find small treasures. Thank goodness for Independent bookstores!!!
Tell them Sabine sent you!!!
Second Reader Book Shop
1419 Hertel Ave Buffalo, NY 14 216
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(716) 862‑0001