Monday, January 6, 2014

Plenty of Fun in Store: King's Books

Plenty of Fun in Store is a new series, based around some of my very favorite bookish and non-bookish shopping destinations. Being a book blog, however, it's only fitting that we start off with one of my favorite bookshops, King's Books

Well, Winter Break has deserted me yet again, and instead of cozied up at home in Tacoma, I am once more deposited at my desk up at the University of Washington. However, despite the fact that I am now supposed to be focused more on the tasks at hand - making a study plan for Pschology and English, trying my best not to completely freak out on the way to my very intimidating Informatics class - I find myself dwelling on the happier times, back when I had entire days laid out empty in front of me, instead of cramped writing spelling out a week of struggle in my planner. As I think of those carefree days, my minds wanders to familiar territory, and I am transported back to one of my favorite shops in Downtown Tacoma: King's Books! 

King's Books is a secondhand bookstore in the Downtown area specializing in Used, Rare, and New Books, and is one of my very favorite places to find new deals on old reads. Similar to that great pantheon of print in Portland, Powell's Books, King's is a winding maze of bookshelves stuffed to bursting with amazing titles, from those right on the edges of everyone's tongue, to those forgotten by decades (but easily rediscovered by a few clicks on Goodreads).

Whether I'm on the search for an old classic for cheap, or just browsing to see which books look the most-loved as a determination of value, I love browsing the bookshelves at King's, and I try and make time to stop in whenever I'm hanging out around the downtown area.

Repeat visitors may find a couple of familiar faces lurking about the store: two beautiful cats by the names of Miko and Atticus make the shop their home, and are very gracious hosts, more than happy to cuddle up for a pet, or even jump onto your shoulders from the bookshelves!


I even spent my last full day at home partially running around the aisles here, to find some new friends to bring back to Seattle with me. I certainly wasn't disappointed (as if I ever am... they're books!), but you won't get to find out what titles I picked up until a new "Stacking the Shelves" on Saturday, of course! Still, my visit was cut short by some rambunctious younger siblings, so I'll have to return soon... and when I do, you can bet that a subsequent visit to The Mad Hat Tea Company will be in order, as well!

King's Books is located in the Stadium District of the Downtown area, at 218 St. Helens Ave in Tacoma

1 comment:

  1. This looks amazing! I don't know how you manage to study; I'd be too distracted. :)

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