More Used Books- Just What I Need!

While yarn stores do get me more excited than I probably should be in public, a good used bookstore can make me just as happy. So one Saturday afternoon I went for a wander after work to see what I could find. And what I found was exceptional.

This is John W. Doull books, located on Barrington St. which is one of the main drags in downtown Halifax. Quite simply, it’s two floors of book heaven. They have their own classification system of books (for example, the Military History- Fiction section is where the George MacDonald Frasier books live) and the map of the store is a funny spoof on the London tube map. And the map is posted through-out the store because it is quite crowded and easy to get lost. But who wants to pop into a used book store, instantly find one section and be out of the store in ten minutes? They are kind of stores that have to be explored. And this store has so many books that they have to resort to the same organizational system employed by Romni Wools, my favourite yarn store in Toronto.

When you run out of space, just start piles on the floor! And the whole store is like this- although all the passageways are clear, which would please the fire department. This particular section is the Canadian Military section (and possibly the Canadian Nautical section too), which is not to be confused with the sections on War, Historical Battles, or the Military History-Fiction sections. Those are in the next room next to the Paperback Mysteries. Just to be clear. So there are a ton of books to browse. Now, what could be better than that?

Try the second store up the road, The Jade W, which specializes in children’s and women’s interest books. That is where the knitting and textile books live. And I managed to leave with only one book even after the very helpful cashier pointed out that a stack of vintage knitting patterns had recently come in (and then gave me time to look through every single one of them). A must visit if you are in town.