Last month on the Weekly Update I mentioned a used bookstore that I visited in Santa Fe, N.M. called op.cit. books. My first visit was overwhelming because of the sheer size and amount of books in the store. Books everywhere, this is a readers paradise right?

Not necessarily.

Not having more organization made what I was looking for almost impossible. When I left the store, I left empty handed and with a headache.

After some thought, I decided to give the store another go now that I knew what awaited me.

I’m trying to get back to buying physical media, and they had a large selection of Blu-Rays and DVD’s, so I drove to Santa Fe in hopes of finding some deals on used media.

The store is organized in sections, with each part of the store dedicated to specific genres. It’s easy to get a little lost because of the books piled in every walkway that haven’t been put away yet. In some sections you’ll change genres and books aren’t always put back in alphabetical order. To manage a bookstore this size you almost need an army of particularly organized employees who don’t sleep.

The second time around I found the piled books in walkways less distracting, trying not to twist my head different directions to read the spines to find books I would be interested in even though I have no need for more.

As you walk into the store, you’re greeted with an almost hidden front desk and aisles full of books blocking your view.

As you go deeper into the walls of books, you begin to lose your sense of direction. And be careful, you could trip and fall over the countless piles of books lining the aisles. You could spend hours looking around, finding hidden gems or the book you want to find a different edition of. If you take your time, there are some potential surprises awaiting you and rewarding the time you’ve spent looking. But be careful, if you pull the wrong book out of the wrong pile you could trigger an avalanche and never be heard from again.

And let’s be honest, as much as we all love reading, there are a lot of books in a place like this that you just won’t be interested in. We all have our preferred genres and types of books, so it’s almost like finding a needle in a haystack sometimes.

I went through my normal checks in a store, looking for older fantasy, horror, science fiction and the local authors section. Nothing really stood out to me, and as we’ve probably all come to expect the books I may have picked up were priced close to what I could grab them brand new that I didn’t bother. Besides, I have plenty of books to read on my shelf right now so I really didn’t need anymore. My wallet also gave me a big thank you hug.

Once I decided no books would go home with me, I made my way back to the CD, Blu-Ray and DVD section.

Looking through piles and piles of CD’s can be tough. It’s small print and you usually find orchestra or bad 80’s pop music in places like this. I gave a quick glance but didn’t take too much time looking. Besides, I could barely move in here and if I kneeled down too long I worried a pile of books would come crashing down on me.

I did find some good deals on DVD’s and Blu-Rays, though. Building more of a physical media collection means grabbing what you can, when you can. So I couldn’t be too picky finding a later season of a series I want to collect instead of focusing on the first seasons. Most of the fun in going to stores like this is the hunt. Finding missing pieces to the collection in the wild, building piece by piece and the stories that go with it.

I’m not even a big fan of Mad Men, but I couldn’t resist the first season shaped as a zippo. I mean, how cool is that? At the very least it’s a good conversation piece. Who will want to have a conversation about this sitting on my shelf? Hell if I know but it’s good to be prepared.

All in all, it was a solid visit to the store. Now that I know what to expect and where to look it makes it feel not as overwhelming. The employees were nice and are always busy organizing, I almost felt bad for them because it’s an almost impossible task. I’ll be visiting regularly when I make the drive up to Santa Fe.

What do you look for in used book stores? Share any finds you’ve made or fun stories from your adventures.

Thanks for reading and we’ll talk to you all very soon.