Key West Island Bookstore

This is an excellent local bookstore with a pretty good selection. The store itself is a little small, but it’s very well organized and cataloged. If you’re looking for something specific, they can check it in the database instead of coming through shelves and shelves of used books. We got a couple of recommendations from the person at the register and overall enjoyed our time in this little shop!

Waited from 10 to 10:15 and store never opened
Amazon turned out to be a smaller hassle and less waste of time

Thrilled to find an independent bookstore in the wilds of the Keys. Great selection, enthusiastic owner. Saved me from airport books, since I fly back to Portland, Or soon, and already read the 3 I brought. Please continue to support our independents! You’ll never see a selection like this at an airport or a chain.

Cute little shop with lots of books
The Lady at the counter was super nice I would totally go again

Easy to find and lots of variety I am a fan. We went to pick up a specific book for my husband which they didn’t have but left with four other books.

A great little bookstore with a very friendly and knowledgable staff

Cute used/​new bookstore. Love little treasures like this.

Need a book on the key west railroad AND Patti Smith bio? DONE. Great LGBT selection, Key West fauna and flora, and current books.

One of the few (if not the only) bookstores to survive in Key West. I miss Voltaire! We spent quite a bit of time perusing the books and movies in this jam packed shop. They have new books, used books, collectible books, and they have a special focus on Key West and South Florida. Yes, I buy books online too, but you know what, it’s great to be able to walk into a bookstore, talk to someone there about the books, and then make the purchase. It’s a charming store and I would highly recommend checking it out and buying something (you know, so it’s still there a few years from now).

Probably not the right place if you know exactly what you are looking for, but a great book shop for browsing.

Though it is the lot of used bookstores everywhere, this place is pure browsing sexiness.
I spend about half my life in key west thanks to the military, and my bi-​monthly trips to this bookstore generally go like this:
Me: «Hey, do you guys have _​_​_​_​_​?»
Clerk: «Hm…No, that just came out. Want me to order it for you?»
Me: «No, I’ll be gone in 24 hours. I’ll just look around.»
moments later:
Me: «Holy heck, this book looks incredible!»
Without fail, every time I have walked into this store, I have not found the book I intended to buy, and instead found two or more books that I really wanted to read. They’ve all made me smarter, too. Highly recommended, but maybe not if there’s a new release you need for a term paper or something.

I’m a fan. Totally browsed longer that I should have to hear the banter of the clerk talking to a customer.
Paraphrasing:
Clerk: «What I told her was correct. I know my books.»
Customer: «Where did you go to school? Harvard? Stanford?»
Clerk: «No. I’ve run a bookstore for thirty years and I don’t need a fancy college to be able to say the book came on paperback, especially when I’m holding it in paperback as I talk to her on the phone.»
The tone was the best part.
Lots of overstock. Some cheap paperbacks. Nice theme sections.

As others have said — used books are not this stores forte — although they do have a selection of them. Very interesting and eclectic selection with all the new releases you would expect. Huge stacks of books everywhere so you will have to explore to find what you are looking for but there are lots of obscure topics and knowledgeable staff to help you.

This shop does have used books in good condition, but their strength is cheap new books. I found quite a few gems here that I had to put down because I had limited space in my luggage. I did buy an interesting book entitled A History of Mutiny, which I thought was appropriate to the setting.
The proprietor was just the right amount of eccentric and gruff. When I was in here, he was training a new employee and it was hilarious to hear him explain things: store operations were an odd mix of totally obsessive-​compulsive procedures and random caprices done for no reason whatsoever.

Great bookstore with a variety of cheap used books. They will also buy your books back so you can lose some weight while traveling. Located near the library and the grocery store and right off of Duval Street.