Michael’s Books

Bellingham, United States

4

16 reviews

Accepts Credit Cards

Contacts

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Telephone:
+1 360-733-6272
Website:
www.michaelsbooks.com
Address:
109 Grand Ave, Bellingham, WA, 98225
Nearby public transportation stops & stations:
1 miSouthbound WWU - Viking Union
1.1 miNorthbound WWU - Haggard Hall
1.5 miSouthbound WWU - Birnam Wood
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Bussiness info

Accepts Credit Cards
Yes
Parking
Street
Bike Parking
Yes
Wheelchair Accessible
Yes

Today

Today –
Local time (Bellingham) 03:27 Saturday, 24 May 2025

Business hours

Monday –
Tuesday –
Wednesday –
Thursday –
Friday –
Saturday –
Sunday –

Description

Specialties

history, mystery, geography, literature, romance, art & architecture, transport & travel, cookery, nature, automotive, science fiction, religion, gardening, sports & leisure, role-​playing games, science & industry, health, new age, and many more.

History

Established in 1983.

Serving Booklovers Since 1983

Meet the Business Owner

Michael E.

Business Owner

I am Michael Elmer, a bookseller buying, evaluating and selling Used, Rare and Out of Print Books since 1980. First at Powells Books in Portland Or. from 1980 to 1983 overseen by Walter Powell and John Henley.

As owner of Michael’s Books in Bellingham WA from 1983 to the present. Graduate of the rare book school in Denver Colorado in 1987 and am consistently upgrading my professional knowledge with training.

Having personally handled and evaluated thousands of book in that period and have a general knowledge and overview in the subject.

Listing with AbeBooks since 1998. Have a personal book reference library of several hundred books on books, printing, binding, publishing, points, price guides and related subjects and am always looking for more resources to add. I have exhibited in many rare book fairs and have overseen daily operations of Michael’s Books in Bellingham, Washington since 1983.

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16 reviews of Michael’s Books

No registration required
Place rating: 5
Seattle, WA
This place is a wonderful ocean of literature. There are so many hidden treasures and this place has almost every topic and sub topic you could be interested in. A person could spend weeks in Michael’s books, exploring the world of used and rare books. With great prices and an excellent variety of paperbacks and hard covers, this place truly does have books for everyone.
Place rating: 5
Bellingham, WA
A good used bookstore needs to have a dank smell and books piled everywhere and cheap prices and a crazy selection of books you expect to find and books you never knew existed. Michael’s bookstore has all of those qualities plus the employees are friendly and happy to show you around the store.
They have a good selection of maps and atlases and geology/​geography books.
Place rating: 5
Winnipeg, Canada
i’m from Canada, but regularly come down to Bellingham to check out my 3 favorite book stores: Eclipse, Henderson’s and Michael’s. The owner is great, friendly and helpful, and the store has a wonderful selection, with good prices.
My only issue with this store is the staff… I’ve been in this store 7 times over the last 6 months and every single time that i go there the staff are talking SUPER loud, laughing and hanging out and it is SO distracting to me as i’m trying to sift through a pile of 10 books and see which ones i am buying.
As far as i see it, a book store is like a library, and QUIET is necessary for people to read through parts of numerous books to decide what they want. The staff are always cracking jokes and talking to each other from across the room and have absolutely no respect for the customers. It’s so annoying that when i was there just yesterday i couldnt pick which ones i wanted so i just left.
Aside from this, the store is great.
Place rating: 2
Bellingham, WA
Messy is an understatement!!! Pigsty, disorganized, unfriendly and unhelpful is more like it! Ever heard of a vacuum!!! Organizing a little so one can get around? Extending a greeting when someone walks in? I know, your conversation about female vampires outweighed any need to make a sale. There were 2 staff, maybe a third, couldn’t tell, at the counter as I walked in… not one said hello, asked if they could help or missed a beat in their fascinating conversation that continued as I poked around for a book or as I walked right out the door and across the street to your competition. Keep it up!!!
Place rating: 5
Seattle, WA
Although it’s messy, I like this bookstore. It’s bigger than it looks. I would definitely revisit this store.
Place rating: 4
Bellingham, WA
I’d give them 5 stars if the selection of what I’m looking for was more complete. The business book selection is surprisingly decent. The art and design selection is not very good though.
The service is friendly and helpful. We’ve always been treated well whenever we go in.
Prices are not very low, but they are not low anywhere in this area. So, they are about in the range you would expect in a used book store in this area.
Place rating: 4
Bellingham, WA
In my opinion better than the book store across the street. I think they have less books than the other book store but they are friendlier and more down to earth here which makes up for that. Prices are good and they have a lot of classics. They seem to know books better but I guess it all depends on who you talk to. Instead of a sale bin they usually just have a box of free books outside. There’s an older feel to the place but not in a bad way. This is a great book store.
Place rating: 4
Lummi Island, WA
My experience here was a bit mixed. On the one hand, they have a somewhat limited selection in non-​fiction, on the other hand they had some INCREDIBLE books that I hadn’t been able to find anywhere else. I also found their prices almost offensively high for most of the regular used books in there, but on the other hand I found a couple out-​of-​print books that were shockingly cheap. Ultimately, the impressive books I bought, the friendly staff, and the groovy atmosphere of the place won me over.
Place rating: 2
Bellingham, WA
Extremely unhelpful when it comes to returns. Even hung up on me over the phone. Booooooo!
Place rating: 4
Seattle, WA
Had Michael’s had the book I wanted, this would have had five stars.
Its positives: indeed a wide selection, friendly and considerate staff, they welcome Black Drop patrons, titles are easy to find, they contain books my family members are going to enjoy reading, KMRE FM is piped through.
I bought a book anyway but it wasn’t a «oh! I’ve been looking for this!» book.
It’s not the shop’s fault that some titles of certain well-​known authors don’t often make it to used bookstores (Murakami, Vonnegut, Wendy Cope are hard to find!).
It was a «oh I might as well, just to show the shop I appreciate them and my family already have their hands on prospective purchases» book. It’s up there with Twice Sold Tales of Seattle and Village Books in Fairhaven, but not quite MacLeod’s Books of Vancouver.
Place rating: 5
Woodinville, WA
I think it’s on the verge of impossibility, to find a better bookstore in Bellingham. :)
I’d discovered this place while out with a friend, and, I keep coming back.
The selection is expansive, diverse, and wonderful. The books are indexed by subject, and then again, indexed by topic. It’s great, because it makes finding interesting books, all the easier.
The staff is outstanding — the lady who owns the shop is kind, considerate, and polite. I can tell that she enjoys her work. :)
The store itself is clean, albeit old — though, I find a little more character in older buildings. :)
Like I’ve said, I keep coming back. :)
Place rating: 2
Bellingham, WA
They may have many books, and it is very comparable to other book stores in bellingham! That is why the get 2 stars not one! But I can not get over the fact that both times I have been in there, once to sell books, and another to buy, the people working there were VERY RUDE. I have n choice now but to just go across the street to the «other store» and enjoy my experiences there!
Place rating: 3
Boulder City, NV
The owner is a virtual god of books, a true book nerd in the best sense. He is also a stone loon and a little ooky. Still, his store is the only place between here and Seattle you’ll most likely find an autographed copy of ‘White Stains, by a Young Gentleman of Cambridge’, and it doesn’t get much better than that. A caveat: don’t expect the female staff to know too terribly much about books… make of that what you will. ;)
Place rating: 5
Seattle, WA
Michael’s Books is a rare Bellingham treat. I must second Brittany B. in saying the staff is knowledgeable, friendly, and extremely helpful.
I often wander into Michael’s without an agenda, nor looking for a specific book — Yet there is not a single time I’ve walked out empty-​handed. The plethora of books and cleverly organized maze encourages hours of browsing. The occasional trip-​down-​memory-​lane occurs as one inevitably picks up an old favorite or a funny addition to an ever expanding collection of books.
If you have just a few minutes during a lunch break or are wandering aimlessly about downtown, walk on over to Michael’s Books. Browsing through Michael’s could result in a biblio-​gasm. :-)
Place rating: 4
Edmonds, WA
I remember when Michael’s books was the only used book store in Bellingham. Not alot has changed for the store. Its gotten a little bigger and I no longer see the owner, Micheal sitting in the front fo the store, but other then that… If you need a used book in Bellingham this is the place to go.
Place rating: 5
Portland, OR
I really like Michael’s Books because I usually find really great used books here and the employees are always very nice. There is a good selection and the close proximity to two other book stores helps to keep prices reasonable.