Westsider Rare and Used Books

Only a review of their record/​LP selection. Overall, they have a pretty small collection compared to their other location, though there is more rock related stuff here. They have a lot of decent records, however, I would have to say the prices are way too high — they are all basically the same price regardless of the sleeve quality. I’m not sure if this is on purpose or due to the location, costs generally are higher. I would love to support this local shop, but honestly, you can do better elsewhere.

I was clearing out my bookshelf and took some books in excellent condition (Nadine Gordimer, Ian McEwan) to Westsider Books. The man at the desk could not have been ruder. I am a longtime UWS resident and find most shop owners/​workers to be friendly and courteous. Not here. I believe in supporting local, unique stores but the people who work at them could help the cause by not being so impolite. I won’t go into what they pay for your books, but suffice it to say I gave mine to the book seller in front of the Ansonia for free instead of doing business here. If you have any doubt about this review I urge you to take a couple books over and see how you are treated. I will never buy or sell here again.

My favorite bookstore in New York! Not as expansive as the strand, but that just means that it’s more manageable.

Since about a year ago, I have been binge buying books in NYC. I went to Strand, Book Culture, St. Marks (recently closed down), and Drougas Books. I mainly buy literary fictional novels. There are much more independent stores in NYC, but I find myself coming back here often. Why? The prices are awesome and the selection is great! Yeah, it may be hard to sift through the abundance of books. But that is what actually makes it fun, at least for me! It feels like a journey, in which whatever I find is never disappointing.

This is practically an Upper West Side Historic Landmark! A set for a few films, to be sure. Great staff. And wonderful inventory. Good drama section… And great selection of all kinds of genres. Cheap DVDs and even videos, if you still have a machine that can play them!

An Upper West Side GEM. Come prepared to do some digging, but the treasures you unearth (bizarre printed ephemera! rare books! comics! records!) will surely be worth it. Yes, the staff are sort of bristly, but as far as I’m concerned, that only adds to this place’s charm. I’ve been visiting weekly for years now, and I’ll keep returning as long as Westsider is open. Do note that there is a $ 10 credit card minimum, which can be harder to reach than you think — there’s a robust $ 1-​book selection on a rack outside, and the paperbacks indoors are priced very reasonably as well.

Small historic bookstore. I love this place. If they don’t have what you want they will order it for you. You can rummage through old books to your hearts content. The owner /​operator is so nice.
I was looking for a biography of FDR. They had several volumes to chose from. Hard to find, out of print books are sometimes tucked away on a shelf.
Just an all around great one of a kind historic place to spend your time.

I had an hour off from work today and wandered in here. I can’t believe I’ve never seen it before — I work just a couple blocks away. This is a great bookstore that offers a nice relief from the designer shops that crowd the area. The staff was friendly and helpful and I found a book I’ve been searching for all year. Will definitely be going back.

Worst customer service ever. I spoke with a man who seemed uninterested in and disgusted with the concepts of books and people. I called to ask if a book was in stock and he ended our call saying, «Okay, I don’t know» in a cold tone and just hung up on me without waiting for a response. If he can’t help, then he should at least act like a decent human being. Honestly the stupidest business model if they want new or returning customers.

Ah, such a cozy little bookstore in the middle of the Upper West Side. I love coming here just to browse through their selection. I just love the atmosphere of this shop not to mention the cheap, used books they sell! Feel free to ask the staff if you are looking for a specific book too. They might be able to locate it much faster if they have it!

Very nice selection if you are willing to stay for awhile. Buying several books that are not available elsewhere made my day.
If you are a seller, go to other places. They do not have the clientele for rare books, nor do they give the price. Sadly, many have forgotten the value of a nice hardcover book. (Witnessed it occurring)
Overall, a nice place to stop by. Much better than B&B.

Visited in Summer 2014. Snagged a couple of their bargain books from out front — including a copy of What To Expect: The Toddler Years for $ 2 (what I hear is the bible of parenting toddlers, used copies typically retail for $ 5 + shipping online). Look forward to stopping back whenever I’m in the area and have a couple minutes to browse.

Cool little used bookstore with books everywhere, including on the stairs. Staff was friendly and helpful.

Une super petite librairie au cœur de l’upper west side, tenue par un libraire très sympa et qui connaît ses livres par cœur.
Les cartes postales à 1 $ sont très jolies, originales, et font de chouettes souvenirs.
Il y a de vieux vinyles egalement, des comics à 1 $ et l’intérieur de la boutique vaut vraiment le détour!

Super awesome bookstore with cheap, used books. Awesome presentation of books that reach up to the top of the ceiling. Such a variety of topics as well.

I love this place to death! As I walk in I smell the «aroma» of books. This is what the perfect bookstore should be like. Yes, it is tiny, but they have a HUGE collection of books. They also have a tiny place upstairs for rare books. The books are heavily discounted and so cheap. I hope this place never ever goes out of business!

Books, records, postcards, chachkas… One of the last interesting mom and pop shops in the UWS. Forget B&N and check this spot out next time you are in the area.

This bookstore is a gem! Peruse the books and ogle the beautiful floor to ceiling book cupboard. Better yet, buy some books so this lovely place stays around!

They have 2 locations! both within walking distance of each other. I enjoyed the book store, although it was a bit cramped, they made use of ALL the space. I went looking for a specific record, but found so much more.

W hat a real gem in UWS!
E verytime, I find something awesome.
S o many books, records, and old postcards!
T hey are impressively organized…
S urprising for such a huge collection of stuff.
I love the layout: musty, crammed, wonderful.
D on’t forget to go upstairs!
E ven more treasures and relics and junk.
R ather lovely place to browse aimlessly :]

Quaint and packed with great reads, but I’ve never been more uncomfortable at an establishment that expected to do business with me or other patrons. As I browsed a young man walked in and asked the older woman at the counter if they had a certain book. Her reply was not only unhelpful, but was borderline hostile. She said «WHAT book?! I don’t know go look for it. I mean, look, you have to look around here. I don’t know where it is. I don’t even know if we have it.»
I understand the digging and the strange organization are part of the intended charm, but she could have just told the guy to look and that she wasn’t sure without barking at him like he had been rude to her first.
Then another gentlemen came to check out and she was actually so disarmed by the fact that he was being steadfastly nice to her while she couldn’t make him change and couldn’t seem to decide which method of payment she would accept, that she became increasingly blustery and confused. He just kept saying he would do whichever was convenient and was extremely nice.
I got the overall impression that the woman working there was in some way angry and offended that people wanted to interact with her or that they might have questions. It’s an extremely small space, which is normal and not a problem, but in navigating around it she would huff at customers who were in her way. I was actually so nervous that she was going to yell at me too that I only stayed in the store because my friend wasn’t finished shopping.
Great books and atmosphere – almost terrifying customer «service».

What is this, a bookstore? With physical books? Books that are not new? I feel like I’m just barely old enough to comprehend this place’s purpose, and I totally don’t understand its economics, but I’m happy it’s here. It’s small but packed floor-​to-​high-​ceiling with books. You could go here looking for something specific or just come to browse, which would probably be a better way to spend time than clicking around on Amazon.
I ended up picking up a copy of Pride & Prejudice – like new, an old Signet Classics paperback that looks like it had never been touched – for $ 3. They had maybe 50 other books from Austen, from different years. Point is, if you come here looking for something popular, I think it’d be a good bet they’d have it.
They don’t only have books: I needed an NYC-​themed postcard and didn’t have the time or the heart to head into Times Square. I happened upon Westsider, which has a rack of vintage postcards. I found a 1980’s Warhol Statue of Liberty print. Perfect for what I needed.

A great little bookstore with a lot of charm. I’m probably one of the few people that came to check out the records, but was surprised at their nice selection of jazz/​rock. Vinyl was a little pricey if you didn’t have the Unilocal deal, but I walked out with three or four records. Other customers were really nice, and overall the store just had a nice, unique vibe.
The older man that was there the first time I came was not very nice, and seemed too busy to be bothered (he was shouting to customers from the second floor to just leave money by the cash register.) I came back later in the day and made my purchases with a a woman by the register, she was flustered and a little hard to deal with at first because she didn’t know about the Unilocal $ 15 for $ 30 deal, but ended up being nice. It seems like the type of store that once they remember you after a few visits, you’ll build a better rapport.
All in all, though, I give Westsider Books 5 stars because there just aren’t very many places like this left in the world, and I really had a great experience. Will definitely be back!

Places like this should exist more often for bookworms such as I! West side rare and use books has been around since i was a kid, but it wasn’t till middle school that it really caught my attention, i guess because they don’t have any children/​teen/​or middle grade books here (but they do in their 72^nd record store location) and I started to come here more often.
The place is relatively small but it is packed from the ceiling to the floors and side of the stairs with books. Their prices are fairly cheap, the average price for a recent book is about 8.00 and a book from their sci-​fi section being around 4.00. They have a huge sci-​fi section, a huge section for plays, as well as mysteries. I am unusually afraid of heights but i will climb the stairs to the top shelf and hang myself to reach a book just because I want to read all of them. The staff is very serious, but once you get to know them their very friendly and helpful, especially the old lady who works here. Since i spend sometime their, they usually ask me if i’m looking for anything in specific, they don’t mind me viewing everything as long as I put it back, and I could understand that it is hard work to keep all those books organized.
The gem of this place is that at the top of the stairs, they have collected old photographs, post cards, and pamphlets from the early 1900’s to the mid 1900’s, I’m a sucker for antique stuff (especially books & photographs) They have dollar books outside, and I love that they are opened till late (11pm) because it seems all book stores close early.
Everyone who comes here seems to really enjoy their time here, and they don’t mind if you sit around and read. You can tell that this place was opened because the owner obviously has a love for books, and book collections. Best book store i’ve set foot in, it beats the barnes and nobles down the street.

So thankful places like this still exist in an increasingly corporate landscape. Bookstores in NYC tend to either be overpriced or bare-​bones or a little from both columns. This mom-​and-​pop-​ish vendor is stocked floor to ceiling (two floors) with used, rare and seemingly brand new books in every genre. Some are more fleshed out than others, as the crime and mystery section was lacking but poetry and fiction were packed with names, big and small, and I found so many affordably priced art books– some as low as $ 8.
There seems to be a large number of regulars here and they also get bargain shoppers perusing the dollar books outside. The second floor has an armchair and footstool where you can read (can’t say that about B&N). It’s a friendly atmosphere and easy place to strike up interesting conversation with strangers. After checking in, I received a 30% discount off 1 item which I took off the cheaper book because the place is affordable anyway. The nice older lady working the counter is very congenial and helpful and even thanked me for chasing some annoying, drunk teenagers outside. All in a day’s work ma’am!
They are open until 11pm, which is great considering how much in this neighborhood is closed by then, and they have a record store down the street on 72^nd St which closes around 7−8pm. Truly an awesome spot for us westsider denizen.

Tiny little store, chock full of books. Has that lovely musty bookstore smell.
Very narrow place and the books are shelved up to the ceiling! I felt that they had a very eclectic collection of books, so I promise you will not be bored.
Their used books are fairly priced, and my bf was able to snag some books for very good prices.
Make sure to check in! They have a coupon for 30% off on Unilocal