Time Tested Books

Great selection of vinyls and super friendly staff! I came by on my lunch break and found this hidden gem thanks to Unilocal.I found some great vinyls that I have been looking for for quite some time now, and am glad I found them here. This place deserves so much more love! Will definitely be back.

I was recently handed the job of procuring a graduation gift for a niece. …with only 4 days notice. I was looking for a art book by one of her favorite artists & there were many online from the usual places. None could guarantee I would get it in time without a ridiculous shipping charge.
Anyway, I found Time Tested online and called, the young man that I spoke with (Finian) assured me he could have the book available within 48hrs.
I ended up paying less with TTB then my other options and my niece LOVED the book. TTB made me look like the cool uncle with a thoughtful gift instead of the uncle who gives a Starbucks gift card.

This used bookstore is a great find! They’re well organized, have a great selection with good prices. The books are in good to great condition. I like that I can bring a book that I’ve read (with sticker price left on) back for a 50% credit towards next purchase. Customer service has always been top notch. This is definitely my fave bookstore in midtown!

I liked this place for the ambiance. It’s updated and simple. This area doesn’t seem to get much credit for holding up their end of the bargain, in terms of midtown hospitality and charm, but with Time Tested Books as a rock solid anchor for this area, I believe that the community might want to come check them out and think again.

Reasonable prices, huge selection, tiny dog lingering behind the counter, free bookmark… I’m sad I didn’t visit Time Tested Books earlier, but now I know.

Oh book lovers, if you haven’t been here yet, you must! With an incredible mixed selection of used and new books, you’re sure to find a treasure. It’s certainly not the cheapest used bookstore I’ve stumbled across, but the variety makes up for that. They have all sorts of categories from cooking to historical, a huge selection of fiction lines one wall, and an entire corner is devoted to children’s books, complete with child-​sized bookshelves and chairs.
I love books related to cooking (think Julie and Julia), and I discovered some literature by Ruth Reichl in their cooking section. Their children’s section had stand alone books and several series too. There were also chairs scattered throughout the store so you could peruse books at your leisure. The only part that didn’t contribute to a leisurely environment was the lack of air conditioning, which was noticeable even on a spring Sacramento day. I don’t know if the AC was broken that day, but the only circulating and moderately-​cool air came from a floor fan… and I’ll admit I looked at Psychology books that I wasn’t interested in just so i could get some moving air.
That aside, my favorite part was that the cashier told me about their trade-​in program. If you leave the sticker on the inside of your eligible purchase and bring it back after you’re done, you can get half that amount back in credit towards future books! Score!
I love finding little surprises like this AND getting acquainted with new literature. Props to you, Time Tested Books!

This book shop has a very cozy, comfortable atmosphere! Lots of chairs interspersed among all of the bookshelves in case you’re inclined to sit and browse something you found particularly interesting. Wide windows on the side of the shop let in a lot of natural light, which makes the store more inviting. They have some quirky used books, which makes their selection interesting, and the staff is willing to order a title they don’t carry!

This is s great spot to find both old and new books. The selection is awesome and the staff is friendly and helpful. I stumbled in here on a lazy afternoon and found some treasures. The best part is the buy back policy that you can sell back your book for half the original price. Awesome way to justify even more purchases!

This is a cute little book shop! It reminded me a bit of the Flourish and Blotts, you know, the book shop in Harry Potter. Nerd alert! Books everywhere on every shelf, on every available counter and shelf. Towers of books.
I came in because I had just cleaned out my own bookcase and was hoping to unload a few books for some cash. I had read somewhere that Time Tested Books will buy books for cash, which is not true. They will buy only some titles, and you will get store credit, and you cannot use the store credit on new books. I was a little bummed, since I sold some brand new books, a few of which are best sellers. I accepted his offer though, since my goal was to clean off my book shelf!
He kindly gave me a card with a raincheck on it, I was really appreciative of that. I couldn’t really decide on the spot which books I wanted and I started grabbing a couple only to realize it was defeating the original purpose of my visit.
So, I’ll be back for sure. This is a nice little store. And as Harry Potterish as it made me feel, it’s really bright in here! Nice natural light!

This place is my favorite book store, always a great selection and great prices to boot.

I’m new to the area so I ran into this place one day riding my bike. It’s not easy to miss, the store front is facing 21^st street. I’ve been in a couple times, but my most recent visit was for a few books in particular. I was greeted as soon as I got in the door and they made sure they were accessible when I needed their attention. They had one of the books I was looking for, but the other two weren’t on the shelves.
Of course they could have ordered it, but I didn’t want them to because I needed it for Christmas. Instead, I ran into a couple other books I hadn’t seen in a while. I ended up just buying a used book for a very reasonable price.
I would recommend this place to my friends because I was satisfied with their customer service, their prices and professionalism.

This is a great used bookstore — well organized, comfortable atmosphere, great selection and well priced. Although the books are used, they are in great condition (no dog-​eared corners and damaged bindings unlike other local stores). They also have a good selection of vintage books by the register.
Also, once you’ve finished reading a book that you bought there, you can bring it back for a 50% credit toward your next purchase. Just make sure to leave their price sticker in the inside cover! This store is definitely a little gem in midtown.

What a bookstore ought to be. Clean. Well-​lit. Great selection. Friendly staff.
In a word — ambiance.
Go there first on your quest for books.

I adore this bookstore. I love wandering in and just seeing what I might find. This store is the one that facilitated my discovery of my love for food writing. There is a whole shelf above the cookbooks of food writing and this is my favorite place to look.
The staff is friendly and helpful, and the store is neat and organized, plus is conveniently located.
There is a cute children’s section in front, where I bought a replacement copy of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. :)

I love stopping by this bookstore. They are great for second saturday’s…always having some sort of live event or another. Aside from the entertainment though, their selection of books is great. Their prices are competitive, and there’s no comparison to the ambiance of an actual book store. (sadly a rare sight these days.) Also, if you happen to like to buy first editions, they have a solid selection to browse. I picked up a first addition of a book on Lyndon Johnson that is currently rocking my world. (don’t judge me.)
And while I am sure I’m not the only person to mention this… Time Tested Books has that smell: that euphoric smell of pages that have yet to be turned. That alone makes this place a must see for the casual second-​saturday walker or the experienced book enthusiast.

This was the first used bookstore that I visited during my first trip to Sacramento. Situated in Midtown, it’s a great little place that’s so different than the trendy restaurants and shops.
My immediate reaction was that I loved the comfy feel of the place. It was a gorgeous day out, and the sun was shining nicely through the windows, illuminating the books. You could see a bit of dust floating through the air, suggesting that everything in here was old and had a story of its own. The owner gave a warm greeting and offered to help me find anything.
This place has a great variety of used books, and I had a great time perusing the fiction section. There are suggestions laid out that you can browse.
Prices are cheap, and you can actually return any book that you purchase (assuming you keep the tag inside) for store credit. I left with a copy of Goethe that I had been meaning to buy for a long time.
If I lived in Sacramento, I’d be here all the time!

So you’re one of those people who reads books at the speed of light and you just prefer the paper book in your hand? Well this might be the place for you. Sure you can get on Amazon and order used books and wait for them to arrive, but this little shop is one where you can go in and browse until you find something new and interesting. As an added bonus if you are one of those people who read so fast a normal human beings eyes would be bleeding when you buy a book here and come back within 2 days (as long as the sticker is still inside it) they will buy it back at a slightly discounted price. This pretty much means you can just recycle over and over.
The staff is super friendly and they will help you find anything you are after. Sure the selection is on the small side, but hey this isn’t a library ya know! You can also order new titles here and they can help you find rare books also. Oh yeah and you can also sell those books that are cluttering up your space and collecting dust. You never know what kind of little treasures you will find here so it is really worth the stop if you are nearby.

I admit it… I’m guilty of ordering books online and of owning a Kindle. And I hardly step into book stores anymore, let alone independently owned ones.
Now that that is off my chest, I have to say I will make a conscious effort to purchase my reading materials from places like Time Tested Books more often to show my support. It was refreshing to peruse the well organized shelfs. The store has large windows which provides natural light and the high ceilings give it a very open feel. I could probably spend hours just wandering the shelves here, which are conveniently organized by genre.
While the store did not have the particular book I was searching for, they offered to order the book for me and said they would have it available in a couple days time. Very friendly and helpful staff.
Will definitely be back!

A Colorful, Eclectic Bookstore, For Both New & Used
SITREP
I love supporting local bookstores out of principle, especially when there is a decline on readership of the actual pulp documents, such as books, magazines and newspapers due to the internet highway, providing an EXTENSIVE online availability of options.
SETUP
But unlike newspapers, which have an extremely short shelf-​life for the most part and no reason to keep them around (outside, of course, from the momento of dramatic headlines like «Victory over Japan!», «JFK ASSASSINATED!» or dramatic pictures, such as the explosion of The Hindenburg), books are CLASSIC repository mechanisms for storing knowledge, and do nicely when your hard drive crashes and or Comcast has a serious f*ck-up crashing everyone’s internet for a day.
BOOK AND BOOKS AND JOURNALS
I love Time Tested because of their extensive array of offerings. Well organized, and with very helpful staff, they provide fantastic customer service for anyone stepping in and inquiring about «this» and «that», even books about poop. [Srsly!]
HARD TO FIND, BOOK CLUBS AND READINGS
What is dynamic about Time Tested is how they truly promote a spirit of readership in the community.
A huge plus for this bookstore is that I find Time Tested favors a lot of hard to procure, very special interest books, many of which are done by local authors. I like seeing a bookstore that features the works of many of our local area, knowledgable, and aspiring authors. Some of the bigger stores like Barnes & Nobles and Costco give these individuals almost no recognition (if even any).
They also favor Book Club interactions and provide a lot of support for promoting books that make for excellent book club readerships.
UnilocalER WILLIAM B. BOOK READING
And speaking of local author, on a related note, I was happy to attend a recent book reading by our very own fellow Unilocaler William B. on his most excellent book on the history of downtown «Sacramento’s K Street Mall: Where Our City Was Born.» This was an excellent presentation by William, and I was truly impressed to see how Time Tested went out of their way to provide William with such a great infrastructure of support in seatings, audio-​visual set-​up support, and getting the word out.
THE LOWDOWN
Time Tested Books is a great find and the first place I stop to find books I want to read.

We stopped by Time Tested Books on a recent trip to Sacto. One of the cleanest and best organized used bookstores I’ve been to. Plus it was sun lit so you didn’t need a miner’s helmet with a light on it to see what was on the shelves.
I try not to look too closely at books since we should be getting rid of some of the hundreds of books we own before we acquire new ones.
I try to limit myself to audiobooks, kids’ books and humor books.
I limited myself to two items — an audiobook of Gail Tsukiyama’s latest book and a Spanish phrase book festering Donald Duck cartoons — I didn’t even realize I needed it till I saw it! 8)
I’m not sure what the rest of the familia got.
The very friendly counter person told me if I brought back the item with their sticker still on it they would give me half of what I paid for it. This beats any offer I’ve ever gotten from any used bookstore.