Wilshire Books

Been coming here for years, love it. There’s nothing like a maze of a bookstore to get lost in. Yes, I think it still has the same grumpy, taciturn owner, but these days he has people who clerk for him. The art book selection here is excellent. Ditto history, local history, etc. Also, god bless ‘em, they sell trade paperbacks – you can get your pulp romance and mystery here to go with your high-​falutin’ culture. The happy store I want to tell you now is that I was just wandering through the other day – I figured I’d sell them my Harry Potter since me and all my friends were done with it. Anyway, lo and behold, I found the set-​completing, out-​of-​print mythology book I’ve been looking for (that sells online for $ 60) for $ 10. We agreed to trade for it, and I walked away a very happy camper. Yay Wilshire Books.
P. S. Park in the back behind Pier One in the Bekins parking lot.

Tons of books at great prices and most are like new. Go without a book in mind and I promise you’ll leave with a real treat.
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Take Big Blue Bus #2 or Metro #20.

Edit: In the grand tradition (it seems) of Westside bookstores, this store is unfortunately now CLOSED as of December 2007. :-(
I finally went to check this place out today, and after my initial amusement at it being located between Berkeley St. and Stanford St., I got down to business. One thing is for sure: Wilshire Books is excellently stocked, for the most part. And I do mean packed to the brim, with books on the floor, and stacked six shelves high. Be prepared to crouch, climb the ladder, or squeeze into a tiny enclave to get to your book of choice. The sections that stood out to me as excellent were those other than the fiction itself, though that did occupy a full back wall. I was a little dismayed at the pricing though, much of the fiction started at $ ⁵⁄₆ and went up to $ 9 depending on the condition (for paperbacks!). Additionally, the fantasy/​sci-​fi section was practically non-​existent. Overall though, still one of the better used bookstores I’ve seen in the area.

I used to go here all the time. It was the best-​organized, least dusty used bookstore on the west side. It is kind of small, but the books were pretty high quality and not expensive.
Does this place still have the same grumpy, taciturn owner?

Great labyrinth of books. Well stocked, well stacked, and well labeled. Their system is a little disconcerting — it’s sort of alphabetical by last name, until it isn’t, or until you’re looking at a biography of Satre right next to all the Satre books. (Not that I was doing that.) The shopkeeper was genial and helpful, and I walked with two hardcovers for less than $ 20. Nice! My only complaint is that there didn’t appear to be a bookstore cat, and I personally believe that all bookstores should have cats in them. (For reference, that’s not why I rated it at 4 stars — I knocked one star off for the sheer chaos in filing techniques. It made it hard to find what I was looking for. But the browsers should be delighted!)

This book store is everything that a used book store should be — musty, dark, crowded. I love it. Great, eclectic selection and prices are what used books should be ($ 2-​$ 4 for fiction paperbacks). I found this place wandering around on my lunch break and almost lost myself in there for the afternoon. Drop by and browse, it will be worth the trip even if you don’t buy anything just to soak up the atmosphere. You never know what you’ll find on those shelves.

best bookstore in all of Los Angeles (okay, its in Santa Monica but closer to West LA than to the beach)… you can find brand new fiction/​non-​fiction, obscure art books, massive film selection, amazing cookbooks… plus you get so much for your money. The prices are lower than any other used bookstore out there. Definitely a must-​see — this store has been around for over 35 years and I hope Leigh (the owner) never decides to close. ***UPDATE*** WILSHIRE BOOKS HAS CLOSED AS OF 1÷1÷08 AFTER 40 YEARS OF BUSINESS. I can’t express how sad I was that last weekend — I’ve been in LA 20 years and this was definitely part of my world. I will miss Leigh and all his wonderful books but I wish him the best and thank him for all those years of helping me keep my book collection going.