Cody’s Books

I’m going to take out my frustration with Cody’s Books and its demise on the San Francisco store, which proved to be the beginning of the end.
Why am I reviewing a defunct independent chain and its shortest-​lived store? Well, it’s a lesson of sorts. If you’re running two (semi?-) successful independent bookstores in Berkeley, you probably shouldn’t open a San Francisco store next door to Niketown and down the street from Union Square. Why? Well, first off, there aren’t any independent bookstores in the neighborhood. That might seem like an invitation to open one, but there’s already a Borders, and in general the people who frequent Union Square aren’t San Franciscans but rather are tourists from other places who like going to chains. So while you may get some people in the door, when they realize it’s not a chain, they’ll probably take their money elsewhere.
And while I realize Cody’s was trying its best to fit in with the rest of the neighborhood, this was the most corporate independent bookstore I have ever perused. They had a great selection, and the staff were helpful, but it didn’t feel like Cody’s.
This place didn’t even last two years. And the Telegraph Avenue store closed shortly after this one did. I think the remaining store in West Berkeley also closed, although I don’t really frequent that neighborhood enough to be positive.
To me the saddest thing about the demise of Cody’s is that they had really wonderful reading events. I know a couple of people who worked for the events department, and they really liked their jobs.
And, yes, Amazon probably did Cody’s in. But Green Apple and City Lights seem to do well in San Francisco, and I can imagine that with a little bit of know-​how and some seed money, Cody’s may have become the Powell’s books of the Golden State. It’s just too bad they wasted that money on a San Francisco store. Bigger isn’t always better.

RIP, Cody’s.
You were a friend in times of need, a haven from the loud craziness of Market street, and not Borders. I will especially miss the large poster showcasing banned books that hung over your escalator. You are closed, but will always live on in the heart of this reader. *single tear*

If Cody’s the store could talk it would whisper, «Please don’t close me! Everyone who works around Union Square takes solace in my hushed interior and no pressure sales environment!»
Because, as someone who works around Union Square, I go to Cody’s not only when I want to buy a book or magazine, but also when I need a break from the frenetic pace outside. Sigh.

Fastest time I have ever spendt in a bookstore. It was my first time here and I was very impressed by how well organized everything was. I was seriously in and out in under 2 minutes and I had this includes the time I took the esclater to the bottom floor. I was seriously impressed by their mass of books neatly displayed and organized.
God bless independent book store! It makes me smile knowing that they still exist.

Nice enough bookstore, but I think the staff is borderline retarded. They all look like they came from the same office of Central Casting that brought us Comic Book Guy, and in their «staff picks» section I found «A Million Little Pieces,» complete with a note-​card packed with effusive praise for this «searching, searing memoir.»
Because I crave more and better opportunities to be irritated, I ripped down the card and marched to the manager, noting that this book is no longer sold as a memoir, and was treated to a lecture about how ALL memoir is somewhat fictionalized. Thanks, dude, I’m sure Mary Karr will be pleased to hear you say that… now go get yourself a root canal without anaesthesia, whydon’tcha.

I love, love, love this place! (Well, at least I’ve gotten so that bookstores don’t have to throw me out at closing time now). I went last night to use one of the gift certificates I received for Xmas. (Oh yeah — their certificates don’t have an expiration date, so you never feel rushed to use them). Great selection of books on any and every subject.
I have yet to attend an «Authors at Cody’s» event, but I hear they are awesome… so, more fun things to do throughout the year. Check them out!
4−20−07 They are closing today… I AM SAD!

Drat it… I wanted to like Cody’s, really I did.
But the atmosphere was sterile and clean. It had none of the coziness of City Lights or some of the more intriguing used bookstores in SF. Instead, it offered a selection (for a geek like me) that was a little better than Barnes & Noble but worse than Borders.
I managed to locate David Hume’s Treatise of Human Nature, plopped down and skimmed for an hour. Plus I found a copy of Roland Barthes’ Camera Lucida. I should be fonder of the bookstore… but I don’t feel warmed up by the place.
I will try again… who knows… maybe I will boost it a star in the future. I really do want to like you, Cody’s…

I think every avenue in life has a balance; a mash-​up of traits that dash off on tangents at the slightest inkling. I spent the latter stages of the prior year delving into punch-​drunk authors and sleeping with Japanese girls. The sort who found me lifting a leg to leave my mark amidst their forest of love bites. My head found sense in numbers. I fought I fornicated. I drove home. Sun rose, set and there I stood covered in coital smirks and awkward swaggers.
The crotch thrust deceased. The rampant rabbit ran off with my girl, I had to find my own wonderland. You made a resolution that spoilt me; a balance tipped. All the while I sit celibate watching popular sex trends rear their peaks in ever endearing push-​ups, the New York mag even dared to tell us to bend over and get our hetero on. I hate you all.
It was then that it hit me. Bar hopping be damned. Lose women restrained. I’d rather sit here and caress some hard-​covers in a non-​franchise book store.

They might not have the depth or selection of a certain unmentionable online retailer of books whose name is a long river in South America, they might not have used books or much in the way of discounts either, but I really enjoy browsing and even buying books here.
I also appreciate how unlike some bookstores, the staff is exceedingly helpful and non-​judgmental of the books I choose to purchase. Only positive comments!

I’m still sad that Cody’s in Berkeley closed. Chances are if you can’t find the book you’re looking for here, it’s probably super rare. I can literally spend hours in this place and still forget the original title I was seeking. Also, you can’t beat the location. Records at Virgin Megastore next door to Cody’s Books… hmmm…books and records, I’m in heaven.

Awesome basement bookstore — easy to navigate, friendly staff, HUGE art selection, etc. Located in a fun spot in the city (close to the mall, Union Square) it is easy to pop in and pick up a «Berlitz — Spanish in 30 Days» with a supplemental CD attached or an audio book on Foreign Policy.
I’m a nerd and I’m always over in the poetry section seeing if I can manage to find a Bukowski release that I don’t already have on my bookshelf, but even if you’re a dork like me you’ll be impressed with the selection here.

I really loved the Berkeley Cody’s, and in fact gave it five stars. The San Francisco location — bigger it may be – just does not live up to the Berkeley store’s reputation.
The two stores clearly have different book buyers. I was amazed that on many occasions I dropped by the San Francisco Cody’s after work, couldn’t find anything related to what I was looking for, and then dropped by the Berkeley location and found exactly what I wanted.
I have not visited this store since the Berkeley location shut down. Maybe the Berkeley buyer now works for the San Francisco store and is building up an impressive selection of books there. But when I was visiting this store this summer, I was always disappointed with their selection.

If I hadn’t been shoved into the little space at street level by the phalanx of holiday shoppers around Union Square, I wouldn’t have discovered the stairway leading down to the wide cavern of books below. I think I crossed off ten people I had to shop for by the time I left.
It’s nice to see good old fashioned brick-​and-​mortar indie bookstores maintain such success in a première part of town and in the face of online markets. Re: City Lights on Broadway, Clean Well Lighted Place for Books at Opera Plaza… actually, I think CWLPfB has closed, though Books Inc is replacing it. Also, I heard a Cody’s somewhere else in the Bay Area has closed down. Oh horror not to be able to walk into a bookstore and thumb through the books ever again! Anyways, Cody’s– great bookstore.

Go bears to all the Cal alums out there! Yes, nothing can take the place of Berkeley’s Cody’s. The irreverent charms of the Telegraph Avenue location and ex-​hippies-​turned-​well-​off-​baby-​boomers that stroll the 4^th Street location.
But I wholeheartedly welcome this new one in SF. First plus being that I don’t have to travel to Berkeley anymore. Second, it’s a great getaway from all the frantic pace of Union Square. You can escape the low blaring from Virgin speakers and street performers and car horns and the massive crowds here. The layout is kind of strange, but you get used to it after a while. I’m no bibliophile and when I’m here I’m generally randomly looking for a leisurely book so I can’t speak to the selection of books. But it’s nice to see the same kinds of stationary/​notecards/​journals/​address books-​types stuff here that I liked from Berkeley.
Hmmm, haven’t visited the bathrooms yet, but after reading the reviews here I better. Good to have in this neighborhood.
Support local bookstores!

I like the space. But I didn’t come for the space, I came for the books. While the cooking selection is large, they had just two of the five books I came looking for (and I wasn’t looking for anything obscure).
Perhaps if there were staff available to consult with I could’ve had the missing ones ordered but there weren’t.
, can YOU help me? (Hey, I tried to shop local and look where it got me!)
Minus one star for putting all of the food magazines far out of my reach (such that I had to perch onto a shelf and leap in order to get one down.)
In the end, I purchased one of the the titles I’d come in for but not because I determined it the best of the five.
Experience summed up in a word: Unsatisfied.

Matt went to the newest and last surviving Cody’s book store to find a good book. Cody’s has a good selections in newer fictional and non-​fictional books & novels.
There true-​crime section is extremely small, in which Matt have read all the books from that tiny section. They do have one book from that same section that interest Matt, that other bookstores surprisingly don’t carry.
There is a long aisle of children books, including the Animé section. Many kids play hookey and go to Cody’s to read the newest Animé books. I guess you can say, it is a cheap way of getting updates on the Animé Worlds, but at least it gets them off the streets with the recent violence in our society.
Cody’s is good looking bookstore, but Matt’s true-​crime section is smaller than the Animé Section, WTF!

They get five stars for being independent. And I figure, if I’m willing to wait a few days for a book to be ordered for an online store like amazon, why not wait for Cody’s? I feel like the few extra dollars is going towards a good company that I want to support.
I also find the wall of magazines mesmerizing. :)

Hunting for a specific technical book, I dropped in here. My first impression was lots of floor space, new-​store smell. I decided to drift and browse …
Travel: Excellent travel section!
Science: pop stuff. Rather large biology section. No chemistry, apparently. Math had some good academic supplemental books, including a volume on differential equations.
Business: pop stuff, and some academic classics.
Computing: pop stuff again. If you’re interested in HTML, XML, and Flash, there’s a good selection.
In summary, it looked like an oversized B. Dalton to me.
Bottom line: Did I buy a book? No.

I was totally underwhelmed by this Cody’s.
The space just isn’t efficiently used. Come on, there is room for way more books here, especially on the main/​lower level. It took me a while to find what I was looking for (the test prep section — it was in a corner by the bathrooms) and when I found it, the selection was mediocre at best. They did have a lovely selection of journals and academic day planners. But as far as books are concerned, I miss the Berkeley location.

The independent version of a large corporate chain, but I mean that in the best way possible. What I mean is that they’ve got the size and selection of a chain, but they lack the corporate attitude.
Now if only they carried used books, too, they might begin to approach the place that Powell’s holds in my heart.