Nina’s Books

I enjoy going to this used book store. I love searching through all the books to find the perfect one to purchase. Judging from the pictures the shop may not look very organized but it is. The books are arranged by theme/​category. Once you find the section you are interested in the real fun begins. Go through shelf by shelf and take your time the selection is very good. The owner of the shop is friendly and can point you in the right direction should you become overwhelmed. The prices could be a little cheaper considering they are used books but because they are in such good shape it’s worth it. This shop has been around for many years and is a fantastic place to pick up reading material.

Mixed feelings about this place. I love a good used bookstore but service is everything. Gentleman behind the counter wasn’t very friendly.
Small selection of classic lit. Their pricing is firm: half off the cover price with a minimum price of $ 3. This could be a great deal or not. They wanted $ 5 for Of Mice and Men despite having several copies on hands and it being a short book. Most used booksellers will give you a deal if you buy a bunch. Not this guy. I ended up only purchasing about half the books I’d selected because of this.
If you want better selection and deals head over to Maxwell Books in la mesa. Better prices, better selection, better service.

I went in to this bookstore, looking for two specific authors. There was an older man at the front counter. He pointed out the books to me. Half off the cover price. The man was nice, the process was easy, and they had many books by each author I was looking for. I will definitely be back.

Extremely meh. Lady at the counter was unfriendly, glib, and borderline rude. At least that was with me. When a «friend» came in her tone and general attitude changed, as she was engaging and asking questions. During their exchange, I went up to her and asked about Hunter S Thompson and she merely pointed in the direction of said author, barely acknowledging my presence. Yeah, not a great way to earn new business lady.
To boot, the pricing is just 50% off the cover price. Doesn’t matter the condition, whether it be shelf-​worn or barely opened, or even having tattered and creased pages. I have seen some stores in the past do this, and I don’t agree with it. If I ran a bookstore I would invest a little more time in my inventory, and price things accordingly. A good example of this? Maxwell’s in La Mesa.

I use to shop here out of pity for the sad looking heavy-​set lady working here. Once a month I would grab my dog food a couple store fronts down and swing in to browse some children’s books for my little ones. The first few times I didn’t do a great job looking at the books in store and I would get them home and they would have torn pages, coloring inside them, etc. Fine, learning experience. Some of the prices seem a little arbitrary (despite what you’re told she decides some books are more than half price and nothing is marked with a price). But the nail in the coffin here is the rudeness of this woman. She insults customers after they leave and basically insulted me for trying to raise a kid in these times and proceeded to explain how my newborn (who was with me) was destined to be a failure.

Truly a gem. Love this place. She always has a few books in the back that are for the wacko reader like me. Good cheap paper backs. Funny. Just love her honest, sincere opinions on books and her no nonsense approach. Reminded me a lot of some of my family. When you go be sure to have some time to dig around a bit. Books books books everywhere. Since moving here from San Francisco and going to some really great book stores I’ve been a bit bias but she has kids toys (slightly used), great selection of books. Great customer service and most hard backs are in decent shape.

Books here are used & a just a few are a little shabby looking, but hey… they are ½ off the cover price. I picked up a brand new looking book for my daughter here today for $ 3.50 it’s the book Pollyanna and it came wrapped in clear plastic with a adorable necklace included. I feel like I got an awesome deal. They have so many inexpensive books here. I’m gonna have to come back once a week just to pick up another book for my kids.

Such a wonderful little store. I’ve actually only been in there one time, but I’ve noted what a great selection they have and that’s just outside. I went in just to browse, I wasn’t planning on buying anything, and I came out with 3 brand new John Saul books. I couldn’t believe how many John Saul books they had that I hadn’t read, I was ecstatic, especially at $ 4 a book.

Nina? is great– very knowledgeable, friendly, shared personal info without being too chatty. Answered all questions and found books quickly and accurately.
My only ding is for pricing– I picked out about 8 kids books and the price was just under $ 50!!! For used kids books! She charges half the cover price. Granted they are in very good condition and she has a great selection, but really? I ended up returning half to the shelves and skipping lunch to pay for 4 used books for my kids!!!
Also, the shelves are super narrow– meant for adult paperback novels, so massive piles of oversized precariously balanced heavy kids books kept falling on me as I looked.
As much as I love to support little mom and pop shops like his one, I probably will be heading to the library or amazon used books instead, next time.

I dont agree with «not a lot of service» My first visit here. GREAT service. Brought in 3 bags of books. She asked me if I needed help getting them out of car… Was so friendly. Ive called and been to other used book stores and the ppl were very unfriendly. She is very generous with the $$ she gives us for books and sells new ones for very little. She also knows great tidbits and knowledge of the authors.
Will be back!

Guys and dolls, if you love used books, you’ve got to check out Nina’s Books.
Ignore the bad reviews about a creepy guy at the front desk; I didn’t have that experience at all. The proprietor was friendly, and told us that all books are half-​off the cover price. Easy to remember, and hard to resist the temptation to grab everything that called to me!
I also snagged a couple books from the outside rack, where everything is 2 for $ 1. Sweet deals!
I scored Tom Robbins’ *Another Roadside Attraction* from the rack (50 cents!), and a Paul Theroux book, *Kowloon Tong*, from inside for only $ 3 (it was marked £5.99).
There are lots of bestsellers and romance novels (including my nemesis, Nora Roberts), for sure, but there’s also a good selection of literary fiction and even travel books and cookbooks in the back. For a small store, it’s packed with books, and you never know what you might find. Dig in and enjoy!

I’ve been to Nina’s many times. It is true that it’s a small Mom & Pop type store, and so there is not a lot of «service» but the selection is good. Stack after stack of used books to search through. I never fail to find something from my list. Nina’s does sell some new books, but that is not why most of us go there. If you need to fill in the gaps in your collection take a look.

We donate books here, and they always take them!

I thought I’d give this place another chance, but unfortunately that disgusting creep still works there. Thankfully he didn’t remember me and there were other people in the store (the first time I was there I was by myself). I should’ve called the manager last year and filed a claim for sexual harassment because someone like that shouldn’t work here (especially in College Area of all places). Who is this «Nina» that hires people like this??? Well, just by looking at the selection of books and the disorganization here, I can tell she doesn’t have good judgment. That’s extremely harsh to say and normally I wouldn’t write this about any business, but I shouldn’t have to be on edge when I’m shopping because I’m afraid some guy is gonna grope me or something. Or heck, maybe this «Nina» is actually the guy who works behind the counter.
Female Unilocalers, take your business elsewhere. There are tons of lovely used bookstores that have great rates, bigger selection of books, AND proprietors that DON’T get all pervy with you. I have a slight hunch he’s on Unilocal and he’s seen this review… I only suspect this because I saw his name on here. It could be a «coincidence», although I highly doubt that…

Lured in by a cart of books out front, I strolled through the door, not sure of what to expect. The last time I followed a book cart in to a store, it turned out to be primarily a storage unit for an online business selling hard to find cookbooks. Even the Normal Heights /​North Park shops that native San Diegans had led me to were lackluster at best and I had been in a book slump.
I took a deep breath, and I smelled book. And it was good. Even better, the section I usually have to search around for, my bookstore home of Science-​Fiction, was front row and center and jammed with books. Book by authors I love but that I’d never seen. New books that I’d been wanting to try but hadn’t taken the time to find, some authors I’d meant to try but hadn’t and some with funny sounding names and cool looking covers. I finally talked myself down to a meager 3 books, since as some Unilocalers have mentioned this isn’t priced like the Goodwill of used bookstores. But having the selection I desire and lack of shipping fees puts it above the other bookstores I’ve visited in town/​e-​bay.
Anyway, as I was browsing, I got to hear the owner? talk about the history of the shop and his crazy cool physicist/​engineer/​something cool and sciency son and how proud he was to have been a part of creating this human. I know he was talking to some other, more regular type customers but getting to hear him share his joy made me feel like I was in a quieter, friendlier, happier world for a few minutes. What more could one want out of a used bookstore?
Oh, that’s right. The possibility of trade-​in credit, bringing the cost of a fix to a more reasonable total. (I can still remember the bookstore near my childhood home where we had racked up so much credit we could walk in, take as many books as we wanted and leave without ever having to pay a penny) I asked the guy and he said, yeah, they took trades! ~Heaven~
Some reviews mention disorganization. As I said, I found what I wanted in seconds, so I didn’t really notice much of that… but isn’t that half the thrill of a good used book store? That joy of finding some hidden treasure that… sure…in this day and age you could have downloaded an easy digital copy or bought off of e-​bay but instead you found hidden in a box of Harlequins, waiting for you to pick it up and share in the history?
I own a Nook now. But I can’t imagine my life without the rows of bookshelves in my apartment, every cover and page recalling a different place or interesting time in my life. It’s bookstores like this that make me glad I schlep around the weight every time I move.

Just went to Nina’s today to pick up Mary Stewart’s epic Authurian Saga (nerd alert!) when no other bookstore in San Diego had it. Got all 3 books in the trilogy in great condition for only $ 20.
My wife and I have gone to this little bookstore a number of times. She collects the old Nancy Drew books and I like their fantasy, Sci Fi, and the classics. The owners aren’t Lit-​snobs either and make no bones about putting Harry Potter in the «classics» section.
When I walked in today, a couple of seniors were in there just visiting with Nina over some fro yo, talking about doctors visits etc. She knew them by name and was trying to convince one of them to finally get a computer. It was endearing. A real small-​town scene.
There are a few reviews on here complaining about the lack of organization, which, to me, was not an issue at all. I simply had to open my mouth and ask where the books that I was looking for were, and Nina knew them and had read them.
I don’t go to used bookstores for the cleanliness and organization, I go to used bookstores for cheap books. If I get a warm fuzzy feeling that reminds me of my grandma and her old gal pals in the process then, that’s cool man, and worth 5 stars.

So I honestly made a Unilocal account just to talk about this place and I am about to say all of this as a lover/​supporter of used book stores (rarely leave one without a new addition to the home library) and physical books in general.
I will first explain why this is an objectively bad used book store. The most bothersome aspect of the store is the total lack of organization for the books and the poor care taken of them. With that combo, one would assume lower prices, but one would be incorrect. The selection is also pretty poor and one can find better finds at locations like Maxwell’s House of Books in La Mesa or Footnotes Books in Hillcrest. Hell with the prices you find a this store you might as well use Amazon or simply go to your local Barnes and Noble/​Borders.
With that out of the way, I can now talk about my crap experience with one of the workers there (I do hope it was not the manager). Upon entering the store, the person working seemed more agitated by my presence than anything else and got angry with me for bringing a book into the store. If anything, carrying around a used book should indicate a willingness to purchase from a store such as this. After about ten minutes of roaming the store, the work comes up demands to know is I am going to buy anything and asks me to leave if not because they did not have the time to «keep an eye on me» and make sure I didn’t steal anything.
Given the ultimatum, I left the store slightly taken aback by what is possibly the worst customer service I have stumbled upon.
I will never go back to this store and would recommend others to follow suit.

I’ve purchased several books before from Nina’s. Until today I’d never realized what a disorganized mess this shop is. The books are laid out on shelves and even Rubbermaid totes. It’s so hard to find anything. I’d paid just about anything for a book and the prices are decent. For a soft cover paperback it’s cheap, a hardback is 50% off the cover price. Honestly I’d rather pay full price then dig thru the mess. Go to Barnes & Noble, your guaranteed to find what you want.

Very cheap and wide selection

You can get three soft backs in this place for a dollar; what a deal! Hardbacks are as cheap as a dollar a piece.
The collection of books here is strange. Nina’s is probably best known for their western and sci fi selection. They also carry just about every Cliff’s Notes version of a book you could imagine – probably has something to do with the close proximity to SDSU.