Russell Books

If you love books this is your spot! Great selection of new and used books. Their used books are reasonably priced and if they don’t have what you’re looking for they will order it in!

If you are a book enthusiast young or old, this is a must stop whether you are a resident on Vancouver Island or tourist. I came as a tourist and could have spent the entire day in this store. The prices are so reasonable and they had two very hard to find books that I was able to purchase. The staff were super friendly and helpful as well!

If heaven is a bookstore, THIS IS IT! Floor to ceiling books on two floors. Yes, I wrote two floors. Not totally unusual, however, you have to enter the second floor from a separate street entrance. Every time I come to Victoria I browse here. So much fun!

If you are a buyer:
Russell books is a decent bookstore. It’s the biggest in Victoria, and has good selection. They also have sale items for some items like cookbooks and childrens books at the front of the store, many of which make for good gifts. But other stock is terribly overpriced, including books that they have many copies of. You need to know your prices to avoid getting ripped off at Russell’s. For example, I saw a used 2003 cookbook in there today that was $ 20. I punched it into
and there were copies available for under $ 10.
If they don’t have the book you want, you can be put on a list for them to call you when it comes in. I tried this once only to find a few months later the book I was seeking sitting on their shelf for sale. I never got a phone call. As for their staff, they seem to hire only 20 somethings who don’t know much about books. They never seem to know if they have what you want in stock or not, and will simply point you to which shelf to look. Thanks!
If you are a seller:
Avoid this place like the plague. They make their money by buying large quantities of books for next to nothing, and selling them at huge markups. If you bring in books of any value, be prepared to be shocked by what they offer you for them. I once brought in a box of 40 newer university press books I spent $ 1000+ to buy during grad school. Russell’s offered a whopping $ 40 for all of them. A buck a book. And they only would give in-​store credit.
Another thing that pissed me off was that they couldn’t count them while I was there, nor say when they would have a quote ready. No, I had to come back at the end of the day. I ended up taking my books to another bookstore than does consignment and got $ 200 cash back for them.

I’ve never seen so many books in my life and I love books.
This is a great new, used, and rare books. The staff was really helpful and offered to order any books that that they didn’t have.
There are three floors with shelves from floor to ceiling. They had everything and in the basement a great selection of hard to find books. I had to buy a new bag to bring my purchases back to Washington with me.

This is the most impressive used book store I’ve ever been to.
Their selection is insane. I was looking for some Latin American & Middle Eastern authors that are hard to find used, and they had pretty much their entire bodies of work in stock.
It is incredibly well organized and the books are in fantastic condition.
I’ve also never seen a used bookstore with so many staff. There must have been 8 employees in the upstairs section on a Monday afternoon. Russell Books must do crazy good business, because that’s a lot of salary! They were all very helpful.

A highlight of our trip: Russell’s is vast, well organised, has a helpful staff, and gave us credit for books we bright on to trade.
The only complaint I have is that there are three sections, and you have to leave the store in order to visit one of the other sections.

Great selection and prices! A must visit for book lovers!

Best book store I’ve ever been to! Their staff is very friendly and knowledgeable. Always found what I’m looking for and more. The prices are reasonable and every book is in good condition.

I’d give this place one star if it wasn’t for the books. One thing about the place I can say is good, is the selection. However, they have no inventory system and if you want to find something, they actually have to look in like 100 places. I don’t have time for that, I’ll just go to Munro’s or order from bookdepository.
The thing I dislike most about this place is that the people that work there, at least a lot of them, are fake-​nice. Some are great, but when I go to a bookstore I don’t want to be asked every 10 seconds if I’m finding everything I’m looking for. If I want help, I’ll ask. If i wanted to be harassed I’d go to Chapters — hell, even they don’t do that anymore! Seriously, it is nauseating. I just want to browse.
And what’s with the doors open in winter, it is always cold — I felt bad for people at the cash desk.
The whole place has a dirty, squished feel to it. Like, it feels like a really big but crappy thrift store, except you can get pocketbooks at thrift stores for like, a quarter, but here? You pay like $ 4 – 5. For a shitty mass market paperback! I laughed when I first saw the prices for those things. Nice trades or hardcover, sure, but mass market? Laugh laugh laugh. The shelves are so high you might as well collapse from vertigo now. I never stay long as I start feeling naueous.
I’ve been here enough times to have formed a pretty strong opinion. Why go if I dislike it? Because I still like books. Sometimes I really want to see if something might pop out at me. But mostly I go just to browse and get ideas — that is, until I get annoyed with people bothering me. And the following is why I actually do not go there anymore:
Seems like they have a large staff turnover rate, and I’m not surprised. I wouldn’t want to work in that icebox either with a bunch of phonies. I know a couple of people who have worked there and they are pretty unethical in their treatment of staff. All about the customers, just like a big heinous corporation. Might as well go to Wal-​mart! I like supporting local businesses, but only if they are ethical — in their practices in regards to environment, staff, AND customers. You lose, Russell Books.

Beautiful place, great displays, perhaps the tidiest bookstore I have ever visited! The staff is helpful and unobtrusive.

Lots and lots of selection and cute bookstore girls that made conversation with me while I walked the aisles. All of the prices are reasonable as well. If I lived in town, I would probably make this my second home.

My husband and I were recently in Victoria in vacation, and scoped out the local bookstores. This was one of our FAVORITES!
They had so much I finally had to put the brakes on because we were going to be spending so much. I absolutely loved their old Hollywood section. I buy tons of old, out-​of-​print Hollywood bios for research in my own writing, and they had plenty.
Another treasure was their section on the craft of writing. Bigger than just about any other store I’ve been in! I’d been looking for a copy of Donald Maass’s «Writing the Breakout novel» forever, and finally found it here.
There are two sections, so don’t miss anything important. You have to go back outside from the storefront to the other entrance just to the right and climb the stairs to get to the fiction, history, writing, and Hollywood sections. The downstairs has cookbooks, crafts, the outdoors, etc.
Can’t wait to come back!

This is my favourite bookstore of all time, located in my lovely hometown, and every time I am back, it is a must visit.
They have literally everything you could want. Multiple floors of books stacked from floor to ceiling, with reasonable prices and plenty of books that are hard to find elsewhere. Odds are, if you are looking for a particular book, you will be able to find it here. A lot of textbooks and older books and a staff who are genuinely knowledgeable and very into what they do — felllow bibliophiles rejoice!
The prices are also wonderful — you can get a lot of books for a very reasonable prices.
Does it get any better than this?
No, my fellow booknerds. No it does not.
Go get lost in the stacks :)

My favorite used bookstore in the entire world. Sorry, Powell’s. It’s finding all the old British editions that really does it for me. My idea of heaven on earth.

Used book lover’s heaven! Literally floor to ceiling, wall to wall books, all types, all prices. Found two good ones, bargain-​priced, within minutes. Excellent, friendly service.
No public bathrooms, no public wifi, but lots of books!

I nipped in here today to pick up a cookbook for a friend who has just been diagnosed with celiacs. As usual Russell’s Books had both new and used cookbooks and the staff were incredibly helpful, offering a variety of different options and even to try to order ome in if I wasn’t happy with what they had.
Russell’s is great if you are looking for an older book, or text books. They have a really good selection of all sorts of different books, and if they don’t have the book used at the Fort St location, they might at the other one.
The staff are super helpful, the prices are great and I generally adore the place.

Russell’s is the first local used bookstore I think of when searching for a book. Great selection, friendly staff, and they pay good rates for your used books. Often can get new copies for a deep discount. Keep up the good work!

I’ve been a long time customer here and have even sold back some of my books in exchange for store credit. I love the thrill of the hunt for a good book. Russell’s has everything and the staff tries their very best to help you find that book whose author you’ve forgotten, or a rare publication. And although it’s mostly used books there are plenty of new ones in stock, many of which sell for up to half the retail price.

If you’re looking for something out of print or obscure, you can more than likely find it at Russell Books. Very well organized with a ridiculous selection of new and used books, it’s at the very least the best locally owned bookstore in Victoria.