When we arrived in Raleigh last week, my mother-in-law started going over potential outings.  She shared the names of a few thrift stores she thought I might want to check out and she mentioned that my niece, Lizzy, could give me a comprehensive tour of the best-used book shops in the area.  Well, I perked up at that!  Lizzy and I have always had a lot of interests in common from theatre to crochet.  Now, we share a love of poking around used book stores to build our personal libraries.  We chatted about what kind of books I look for (art, design, decorating) and she knew just the spot to take me – The Reader’s Corner.

I was actually so distracted at the thought of all of those used books that I forgot to bring my cell phone with me, so I couldn’t take pictures!  The one above was sourced online.  Let me paint the picture for you of The Reader’s Corner.  First of all, the books on the outside are the bargain books.  The ones to the left of the door are 25 cents each and to the right are 10 cents each!  There were some great books on those shelves and Lizzy and I scoured that section first.  I found a couple of books that were possibilities, but I am trying to be aware of my current nomadic existence.  No matter how great the price, I need to stick with buying books I really want.

When we finally made it inside The Reader’s Corner shop, I asked about their art section.  The gentleman behind the counter pointed me to a u-shaped section of shelves behind him.  “Right over there.”  Ah, yes.  This was my kind of store.  The art, design, and architecture section was generously filled and there were two rolling chairs parked in front, so I could sit and roll my way down the shelves, looking at each book and stacking the ones I wanted to buy on my lap.  The prices varied depending on the book, but most of the books I picked out were between $5 – 15.

The major downside to not having my phone (other than the fact that I couldn’t take pictures for this post) was that I couldn’t look up which books I already own (those are cataloged ) and which ones were on my wishlist!  I also couldn’t double-check prices to make sure I couldn’t buy it from a used bookstore online for dramatically less.  There was a at The Reader’s Corner, for example, and I couldn’t remember if I owned it or if I had it on my wishlist.  Not wanting to buy the same book twice (which I did before I used a system), I left it on the shelf.  It was, indeed, on my wishlist!  Don’t worry, though, I ordered it online for $3.00 to be shipped to my parent’s house.  (I know you were really worried.)

Lizzy bought a few books from the bargain shelves outside and I bought a small-ish stack of art books.

I’ve had a lot of luck finding Maurice Prendergast books lately!  I only had one in my collection and was able to find one at a bookshop in PA and at The Reader’s Corner.

I also bought this book on .  It’s a wonderful collection of paintings from many different artists.  I like books like these so I can study several different artists and learn about ones who are less well known.

I was pleased as punch to see this book – .  I’ve had it on my wishlist for a while, so it was a good find at a great price.

The most interesting book I purchased was on Janis Rozentāls.  This is an artist I had never heard of, but I looked through the book and loved the style of the paintings and the quality of the plates.  I decided to buy it based on that.  When I got the book back to my in-laws’ house and I started reading it, I realized it wasn’t in English!  After a bit of research, I found the book is in Latvian!  So, I won’t be able to read more about the artist in this book, but the paintings are wonderful to study and I always enjoy learning about a new-to-me artist.

I love this painting of a dog…

I just might have to do a study of him.

I was happy with my book purchases from The Reader’s Corner and told Lizzy we would have to go back to “our bookstore” the next time I visit.

If you’re a book-lover as we are and you’re in the Raleigh area, I would suggest checking out The Reader’s Corner.  You can also shop from them online on Abe Books.