Von’s Book Shop

I could get lost in Von’s for days. Their selection of books and great unique gifts is fantastic, you can go for a gift, get a card and wrapping while you’re there. Employees are polite and helpful.

THE ONLY INDEPENDENT BOOKSTORE. Enough said!
(with the exception of ‘Robots & Rogues,’ which tends to selectively market to the sci fi/​fantasy/​comic demographic — and that’s not knocking the store, at all)
Only criticism:
Staff is STRANGE.

Great selection of books from every genre! Good to go to when you’re looking for a hard to find book at a good price.

Vons books beats and records has been a staple in West Lafayette Purdue University ever since before I was born. A fire burned down a large portion of the upstairs but the record store and bookstore still are open to this day and are always a fun place to visit to find some off the wall record of book.

Von’s is the last of the great independent bookstores. Thank God it’s in a college town, or else it probably would have shut its doors a long time ago. I have been dropping in for the last 15 years, since I enrolled at Purdue as a freshman in ’97. They have a great selection of books, particularly in the humanities and social sciences. For sheer nostalgia, this is probably my favorite American bookstore.
Get the discount card!

I love that there are reviews from all over the country, world even, for Von’s. Von’s is one of the country’s great independent bookstores. Yes, I said it. Strand (bigger), St. Marks (hipper), Powell’s (definitely bigger), City Lights (wonderful history), and so on, but tucked into little old West Lafayette is Von’s. Jim Martin and son Aaron run the new and used books respectively, and they do a truly amazing job, securing both popular titles of course, but bringing a decidedly quirky, international and academic flavor to the store overall. Need something they don’t have, and of course they will order it for you that day or the next. The rest of the store is cool, although I am not into beads and knick knacks, it is a wonderful wander just to gander through the whole store. The addition of the basement as the used store was necessary and a blessing to the town. Von’s survived the plague that was Borders, which since shut down, and all their discounted pricing and vacuous nature, and to that I say bravo. I haven’t lived in WL for 20 years, but whenever I am back, the first place I want to visit is Von’s. Full disclosure: I worked there in college, back when everything was utterly different, except the bookstore. I can still smell the place, all the way out here in Portland, and that is a good thing.

Loved this little but not so little Independent bookstore! For your Angelinos that read my reviews it had this distinct Silverlake-​y vibe about it. This store was a plethora of stores thrown into one. You could pick up some beads, wander over pass some stuffed animals, find some DVDS and then browse through some random comic books from lord knows when. There was tons of stuff and it was very easy to lose yourself and lose track of time in here.

I’m just going to make my review a collaboration of my thoughts on the entire establishment. The book section is plentiful, but I wouldn’t go so far as to say that it has the best deals, I run in there when I am a little desperate for something to read. The beads, cards, what have you in the middle part of the store caters more to creative-​types and people into jewelery. The record store, however, is well-​priced and easy to navigate. I wouldn’t recommend getting a rental card for their dvds unless you are very punctual (unlike me) and can get them back in a few short days, believe me the fees add up.

There’s nothing else on campus like it. Besides the dorms, you can’t rent movies anyplace close without driving. If you’re into comics it’s the best selection in the tri state area. And the beads… oh the beads! It has been rumored that Von’s is the largest retailer of natural stone beads in the COUNTRY. On top of that, they have the funniest greeting cards, little gifty things, and books + records for every taste.
After spending 2 years shopping here, I decided to apply for a job. Although I may be biased as an employee for 2.5 years, I ended up being one of Von’s best customers. Damn you, John, your store is so awesome that I would find a million things I wanted then my paycheck disappeared! :-)
Things you can find at Von’s:
movie rentals
CDs
records
posters
purses/​bags
extensive greeting card selection
stickers
beautiful jewelry — stone and sterling silver from around the world
body jewelry you can’t even find at a tattoo parlor
craft supplies
beads — literally millions (stone, Czech glass, metal, Swarovski, lucite, African Trade)
jewelry classes
candles and incense — really quality scents and brands
gifty things
room full of stones and gems (knowledgeable staff for questions)
comics
used books
textbooks
new books for every subject and genre

Amazing! A friend happened to take me here when I was in town for a dance workshop. My new favorite new and used bookstore/​bead store, card store, music store… what don’t you have, Von’s? I could stay in there for hours and be perfectly content!
I was super impressed by the amazing section of used sci fi/​fantasy books… found a great old paperback by an author I love but who is harder to find!
Love the gorgeous beads, too… their selection makes me wish I were more crafty!

Von’s pretty much caters to my favorite things in abundance, and I could spend hours in the bookstore alone. I really think they carry anything I could possibly want to read. The basement is filled with long rows of perfectly organized used books, (le sigh) and I could probably spend an hour down there looking for gems. Teddy Roosevelt’s history of the West for 4 bucks? Okay!
Bibliophiles who want to get lost looking for something new or something classic won’t be disappointed. No matter what the title, Von’s probably has it.
For more reviews on the other parts of Von’s, check out these Unilocal reviews:

Von’s books is easily the best part of Von’s! I can’t believe no one has reviewed this yet…
They have an excellent selection of used books in the basement– anything you want, they probably have it. I’ve bought dozens of books from them over the past few years, and the prices are pretty fair. Seriously, if you need reading material, check out Von’s Used first, because they probably have what you’re looking for at about ¹⁄₅^th the price.
I’ve bought a few new books here as well, and their selection is a bit different from some of the chain stores– more in depth in some areas, but I’m sure lacking in others. Just a great place to browse to find new reading ideas.