King’s Books

Guy working the counter was completely uninterested in helping us. I like to support local owned businesses but with customer service line this why bother.

Nice and friendly bookstore. My local stores in SD have spoiled me so I have to take a step back when visiting out of state bookstores. A fair selection at your standard used book prices $ 9 and below.

Love King’s Books! It’s one of my favorite places in Tacoma and I never walk out there without a book or more. Sweet pea and his super staff make browsing easy and friendly; they’ll help you find what you’re looking for and make great suggestions. Need to trade in your books? This is the place to bank your book credit. The shop is a hub for fun events that support local arts and both burgeoning and established creatives. And then there is Atticus the shop cat who makes each visit snuggle worthy. Long live King’s Books!

Our favorite local bookstore. The owner, Sweet Pea, supports Tacoma by hosting events and being active in the community. He is very knowledgeable and helpful with book recommendations for my kids and teenager and will order anything you need. My recent favorite purchase was a bright yellow retro mug that said ‘Reading is Sexy’ and made of corn. Great place to find gifts too!

This used to be the best used book store in Tacoma, until new ownership came in a few years back. Now the inventory is a hybrid between new and used, and the used inventory isn’t what it used to be. The place by the Dome and Culpepper Books are each better than this place, and depending on the day you go, so is the Goodwill.
I give it three stars for the cats and the readings that the store hosts.

Great book suggestions on the shelves, interesting content all over the store, and adorable cat.

Reasonably large selection of hard to find titles at inexpensive prices. Especially good resource for political texts or books on Public Health. Two adorably cute and friendly cats. Pleasant and helpful staff. The store allows community groups to use the space for meetings. The only thing missing is a café. Aside from that, it’s just about perfect

This is such a cute little book shop! And they have such a variety of books too! From children’s books to religious books to everything in between! It’s amazing :) and there was an adorable friendly cat there who showed us around~

I’m visiting from Eugene, Oregon and I absolutely love this book shop! I love the vibe of the store and it sells used books. There are also cute cats that greet you at the door! (: (but I guess that means if you’re allergic to cats you may want to be careful)
I was able to buy some good books at good prices and they even carry some books with the authors autograph in them! Pretty awesome.
I’ll defiantly be looking to visit the shop in the future when I roll by Tacoma again!

I gave a short round table presentation here for my cookies cookbook. Before and after I roamed around the store and spoke with Sweet Pea. The book selection is excellent, well organized, and there are plenty of places to sit and read or consider what to buy. An intangible, I like feeling like my purchases support the community and in King’s there is a neighborhood intimacy that offers a clear relationship among buyer, seller, and story.

Best bookshop in Tacoma, love the posters. Found the used Jean Stafford collections I have been looking for. Good old-​fashioned used bookstore full of my fellow crackpots and free thinkers, even has that indescribable used bookstore smell that makes you start thinking of Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Thumbs up up up.

What’s not to love? Books, cats, and nooks, in a location close to pubs and cafes. Great owners and staff, great events. Thanks, Kings! May your cats forever purr!

King’s Books is an institution in Tacoma. They have a small selection of new books and tons of used books, ideal for browsing. The best new options are in books with a local focus (think local authors, cookbooks, gardening focus, etc.) and cool local gifts like cards featuring Tacoma landmarks, sly tee shirts with insider jokes for Tacomans, and clever calendars. My favorite part of this place: the cats. They run around the store and snuggle in cat beds where they are willing targets for humans who can’t resist petting cats.

Go at once.
Great, friendly, eclectic store for the true booklover (or luster). Smells like a bookstore should. Has fine cats and savvy, cordial staff.
Not for OCD people; heaven for browsers, wanderers, and the generally curious.

One of the few, proud independent bookstores left in this desolate, culturally deprived/​depraved land. It smells like books, something Costco, Barnes and Noble or any other big box retailer will never legitimately achieve. It has a cat (or two, I don’t remember). It hosts unique events (like
, a letterpress/​book arts event). I am lacking for not visiting more.

What a fantastic book store! I went in to find something about the history of Tacoma, and I am so glad I did! They have a whole section on it! And neighboring towns, too! I spent nearly an hour just in this section alone, then when my arms were LOADED up with books, I thought I’d better check out the rest of the store… and I didn’t make it halfway back before I needed a whole new set of arms to carry even more books! (They got me with their $ 1 rack!)
The store was clean and customer-friendly…who could ask for more!?! I’ll be back, and I’m happy to tell anyone who wants to listen: this is a great local bookstore!

King’s Books is, by far, the best bookstore in the Pierce/​South King County area!
After living in Snohomish County my entire life, it was a bit unsettling to suddenly find myself living in South King County — so far from my beloved bookstore (and a fellow Indie bookseller of King’s), Third Place Books of Lake Forest Park. I was yearning for something — ANYTHING — by Brady Udall and didn’t want to make the trek up to TPB, so when I called and explained that I’d just moved to the South King County area, I was strongly encouraged to check out King’s. Thus, a love story between a girl and a used bookshop begins…
I visited King’s on an idyllic, sunny, perfectly spring-​inspired day. Walking through the door and being greeted by a friendly feline was wonderful and made me feel like I’d stepped back in time — far from e-​readers and Amazon. The staff (sweet pea in particular) are very helpful and willing to help you search for anything you may need — or recommend something if you just can’t quite find something on your own.
The prices… oh, the prices! For a used bookstore, this place is CHEAP! I almost feel bad about how cheap some of the books are sold for, like there should be a donation jar on the counter for guilty souls like myself. I walked out of there with 5 hardcover books, and after tax, only paid $ 25.
Well, that’s enough rambling for me… and enough Unilocal reading for you! Get on down to King’s Books this instant — you’ll find me somewhere amongst the Literature section or basking in the sun on the floor with one of the cats. :-)

I love this place! It’s everything that I crave in a good bookstore. Tons of aisles for browsing, cats that wander around and lounge on counters and stacks of books, an assortment of cool events, but most importantly a great selection of books at reasonable prices. I’ve never come to browse and left empty handed.
If they don’t have a specific title I’m looking for I can always order it and come back later to pick it up. The last two times I’ve gone searching for a new read I’ve left with something I knew little about but ended up thoroughly enjoying.
Sweetpea is great too, super friendly.
*sigh* I heart King’s Books.

Fantastic place — Huge selection and knowledgable folks runnin’ the place. I also really enjoy the random feline companions you’ll find whilst parusing the rows of books. Prices are fair, too, and there are several nice spots to sit and have a conversation or just take a few minutes to preview.
If you have time, I recommend looking through their special room (No, Todd, not that kind of special room) at the super old literature they have. Some of it is under lock and key, with good reason, but it’s still very cool seeing the really oldie but goodies.
I highly prefer this kind of shop to a Border’s or BD Dalton’s where you best being wearing a sweater and holding a cup of coffee or you aren’t getting helped.

King’s Books is a Tacoma landmark. This place has so many great books that you’d be lucky to find at other bookstores. They are a solid part of the stadium district community and I hope they stay here for a long time.
Strike up a conversation with anyone behind the counter. They know their stuff