Last time I asked for local bookstore recs I had an AMAZING time visiting local bookstores in Minneapolis!! I'm going to St. Louis this weekend and I would love recs again!

Some extra info:

• Not shopping for any kids currently so children's sections don't matter to me and I would not go to an all-children's bookshop (though I deeply appreciate their existence)
• Primary interest is sci-fi & fantasy, so given the choice between a bookstore with a good overall selection, and a bookstore with a not-great overall selection but incredible spec fic section, I would go to the latter
• My free time will mostly be on Monday, so both store opening & Memorial Day traffic patterns are relevant to me. If the traffic is expected to be untenable I might stay in my hotel instead, but that's helpful to know too

But, all that said, I would love to hear about any bookstores at all in St. Louis that you enjoy going to!

I've always been a big fan of going to a second hand book store/thrift store and searching around for some cheap books to add to my bookshelf. When I was younger, it helped me get more bang for my buck, and growing up in the greater Portland Oregon area, I had access to Powell's Books which was an amazing place to go and see how many books I could get for $10-20 when my parents would take me.

I don't get to shop for books often as I made a foolish (joking) agreement with my wife that I would read all of the books I own before buying new ones, but when I do, I love that sense of going into a used book store/thrift shop and seeing what I might find.

I tend to try and complete series that I'm missing books in or that I know are on my to read list and will often pull out my phone to check. But when I was last browsing through the used book stores near the market my family goes to, it got me wondering how other people search go thrifting for books and I thought up a few questions below

Do you:

• judge books by their cover?
• have a list of books you search for?
• set a spending limit and see what you can get?
• go with family or friends, or is it a solo venture?
• frequent the same shops or try to cast a wide net?
• use online sites to purchase your second hand books?
• have any fun stories you'd want to share?

If you have other thoughts on buying books second hand, feel free to share them!

I am going to be in Minneapolis soon and I have 1 free day which I want to spend going to local bookstores. Does anyone have a favorite local store in the city? I particularly like going to bookstores with good SFF sections, and also lots of book club/staff picks; and also to used bookstores with good SFF fictions. It's my first time in Minneapolis so every local bookstore there will be new to me!

Hello! I do a fair bit of my reading via Libby (I have memberships at the NYPL and Brooklyn Public Library) but I like to pick up some physical copies as well. I've spent some time in a couple of NYC bookstores but I'm curious about online portals folks here use to buy books. I've switched to bookshop.org for new books but what's the go to for used books?

Thanks!