Stevens Book Shop

I could move into this shop and never leave. It has enough books to last a lifetime and nooks and crannies to explore everywhere. I just want to find a spot, grab a chair and dig in. I have never left empty handed. It is not a place to go if you are in a hurry though, it takes patience to find a specific item.

This unsuspecting place bests every other used book store in the Raleigh area! From the outside, it looks like it would be a small store with a few books, but once you open that door, BAM, the sheer size of the place is astounding! Books everywhere, couches, classical music, and nice mellow lighting.
The have books in every genre from classics to Korean War and beyond. They also have very impressive old/​original editions/​print of classics, sets, and multi-​volume runs.
And don’t worry about them going under as they are funded by a university out of San Fransico for the very reason that I love them: they have books that no other place has.
The best part? The books are VERY affordable. I picked up five books for $ 5.00.
I will be back.

This store is obviously massive, however, not the best as far as organization or price. The Christian section is enormous – I have zero interest, but if that’s what you’re looking for, this store could be great. History section is also pretty generous but if you’re looking for, say, art books, it’s very limited. I thought with such a huge selection subjects like art or Judaism would be larger but that’s just not the case. Otherwise, prices are kind of absurd in relation to the condition of the books… They say they are negotiable but that has not been my experience.

Do not order online from them. There is no confirmation page allowing you to know when the item you order will arrive. Also, if you call them and email them there is ZERO RESPONSE. They may be a wonderful store to go to in person, but DO NOT ORDER ONLINE FROM THEM. Also, they do not communicate at all about when you will receive your item, it’s literally guesswork. I had to do a credit card dispute today because even though I sent them FOUR emails and called twice one voicemail to cancel my order, they charged my card anyway.

This bookshop is HUGE! HUGE! You can find a lot of Christian books (not my thing) and all major subjects, including some academic ones. A disappointing thing though is that many of the used books don’t seem to be a good deal — rather pricey! I also agree with another reviewer that some of the books in this store are «used book sale rejects». However, this bookstore is worth checking out because of its volume. I knock them down from 4 stars because of their pricey books.
I was told by the sales clerk that the store while once owned by Steven, is not owned by a Christian University in California. WHAT? How did that happen?

Don’t order from them online because they will not communicate with you.
I placed an order for a particular book that is hard to find and 2 were in stock at $ 51. I purchased one of them and when I went back to check to see if the other was still in stock, both were sold out and the price was raised $ 26 overnight.
I then emailed through Google wallet, since that is how you’re able to contact the vendor that you purchase from, with no response. It’s been 5 days and I can’t get in touch with anyone that knows the status of my order. Susan was very nice when I called the NC store trying to get information and I was referred to someone named Anthony. Still waiting for someone to tell me the status of my order since some stores are known for selling items that are out of stock and making customers wait up to 4 weeks when they order from the publisher.
I run my own business and I wouldn’t be in business if I treated my customers this way.

I love to go to community-​wide book sales that serve as fundraisers (e.g., for a library). I like to get there early so I can find a few good books before they’re all picked over. On the second day of a 2-​day sale, chances are I’m not going to find much worthwhile; all the good ones have been picked and what’s left are either good books in bad shape or bad books in great shape. No one wants these books, not even the fundraiser organizer. So what happens is there’s a sort of end-​of-​sale silent auction for book dealers. Basically, you bid what you’re willing to pay to haul away all of the remainders no one wanted to purchase during that 2-​day sale.
Stevens Book Shop claims to have 500,000 books in stock. I was dubious of this claim but when I entered the warehouse, I was impressed to see they weren’t kidding. But then I slowly realized I was now surrounded by the remains of countless book sale rejects. I buy mostly fiction so I’ll stick to describing what I saw, and what I saw were countless books filed as best as you could expect a warehouse with seemingly one employee to file their books; i.e., although supposedly in alphabetical order, hundreds of browsers had, over the years, mistakenly rearranged the selection without the employees stepping in to correct these mistakes. Proulx was found in the W section, Irving was found in the M, Cunningham in the H, etc. And then you open the book to discover the price: $ 16 for The Shipping News. And it’s not even a collectable book; it’s a book club book. You can get The Shipping News new in paperback for less so why would you ever want to pay that much for a used copy? There were discount shelves ($ 1 per book) except these books had their original marked up price written inside and were not distinguishable from the rest of the stock so one could imagine a bit of confusion at checkout when they ring you up for a $ 16 book you found in the $ 1 rack.
In summary, this place is a mess. It gets 1 star because it’s a bookstore and bookstores need to be celebrated nowadays (even the bad ones), and it gets one star for having a bathroom. But considering so many other great stores in the area, I’d skip this one if I were you.

A pain to find — no signage on the street like I expected, and it’s located in some hideous industrial/​strip mall complex oddly christened the «Kennedy Space Center.» So I started off cranky after making a couple u-​turns. That changed when I opened the door. So many books!
As Dina D. noted, there were many, many Christian and religious book sections. (According to the store’s website, Christian books are indeed a store specialty.) But if that’s not your thing, no fear, there are tons and tons of other things too. A sprawling section called Carolinas/​The South, for example. A law section with unusual finds. Loads of children’s books, including those of my childhood. (Although it’s premature for now, I socked away the knowledge that I can indeed find my future kids the same biographies with pictures that I loved as a kid. Oh memories.)
I actually found the organization to be pretty confusing. Some of the sections are broken down so far (e.g., «diet cooking,» «microwave cooking,» «Chinese cooking,» but no general cooking section that I spotted) that I didn’t know where to even begin browsing. The organization within sections seemed spotty too — none are fully alphabetical, although most are by first letter at least (e.g., a jumble of R’s). Some sections, whether by accident or design, didn’t appear to have any internal ordering system at all.
After a good chunk of wander-​browsing, I ended up pawing through the $ 2 section (which might be special for the Christmas sale) and scored 3 interesting titles. Only upon exiting did I realize I somehow managed to go ‘50s-​crazy: 2 were actually printed in the ‘50s (a Max Lerner classic and a random collection of the origins of various American customs and things, both in great shape), and one was a copy of Halberstam’s «The Fifties.» Huh.
So I ended up with 3 books I’d never think to look for, and easily convinced the bookstore lady that she just HAD to read a book I pointed out to her. (It’s largely irrelevant to this review, but if you’re curious: I insisted she check out the food-​heavy memoirs of Ruth Reichl — who I’m currently in love with — even though the only one they had was Tender at the Bone, and I would have preferred to suggest one of her later ones as a starter. But a less-​favored Reichl work is still a major win for any gastrobibliophile soul. Take note Unilocalers.)
A most-​pleasant find all around.

Bookworm paradise. Excellent selection of books at very affordable prices. The place is organized very nicely and the staff is extremely helpful Not typical for used book stores.
My daughter, who inherited my bookworm tendencies would die of joy in this place. Sadly, she’s in California while I finish up some of my on site work. On second thought I think I better not tell her about this place, as he would demand a plane ticket and a few days to explore this treasure trove.
For myself, I found some things that brought back really fond memories. They had an old copy of Crystal Reports, with a box and all. I didn’t buy it, as it has no use for me. But it sure would be a great learning tool for a rookie report writer. I also found complete set of the old Kodak photography books — which I couldn’t afford when I was in school, but now oh so affordable!
If you’re a Christian, this place has aisles of resources — everything from sheet music to Greek Biblical concordances. Whether you’re buying child friendly books or looking to flesh out your library for your PHD at a seminary, you’ll find relevant material here. Check it out!

Wow ! This place is a warehouse of books. The isles go on and on. The boast of having ½ million books. I believe them !
I always stop at bookstores and look for the book I lost through the years of travel. You know there is nothing like a book in hand, the smell of the paper, the sound of pages turning, the close of the cover.
I was impressed by the rare books they carried from the 1800’s. A good price tag on them but what cool print.
The store is organized very well and the attendant was very helpful in trying to find the books I was looking for.
They do have a quiet place to read and also a children’s used book area.
Yes, they have every topic known to man in print. If you are looking for a special book, know matter what it is, they may have it. After all a ½ million books under one roof gives you better odds.

I found this book store off the beaten path. It has a very large collection of Christian and religious books. It has a lot of children’s books, especially older ones. There are many other types of books as well. A lot of the books seem older. This is a good place to go if you need classic fiction for college courses as well.