At The Neat L'l Bookshop we think of used books as a serious way to Recycle/Reuse/Reread.
"Never waste a book."

Books are checked for condition and only if we cannot sell, delivered to the most appropriate charity.  Good books keep on trading.
If beyond use, we recycle properly.

Landfill is a bad word here.

Mysteries in The Neat L'l Bookshop

. . .and True Crime.

In The Neat Little Bookshop, we like to think that there is something for everyone.  Our pride is in providing reasonably priced books, paperback and hardcover, on a wide-range of interesting and popular topics.  Books are shelved in categories.  Alphabetical by author, where appropriate.

Each and every book is carefully checked and cleaned ~ whether it needs it or not.  Most books are like-new.  Local authors are new.   Books that don't meet our standards are donated to various charities where they continue to live useful lives.* 

Categories include contemporary fiction, fantasy, science fiction, literary fiction, mysteries, true crime, westerns, romance, history, military, biographies, cultural, classics, Canadiana, travel, hobbies, art, nature, inspirational, health, science and a separate corner for teens and children.

With the exception of Clearance Books, books purchased in The Neat Little Bookshop can be returned for a small exchange credit.  Please note:  we do not accept great volumes of unknown books at the door.  A list of local charities is available at the desk.

Wishing everyone a wonderful New Year of good health, prosperity and happy hours surrounded by family and friends.

* Any musty, smoky or dirty books accidentally in our world are promptly recycled.  None go to landfills.

"Critical Mess*," a phrase coined by a New York collector, may describe the habitat of most hopeless book lovers. In that particular collector's case, it was thousands of almanacs, old periodicals and booklets.

Herb Martindale, original owner of The Neat Little Bookshop, left us with only one wise piece of advice, "Don't accept everything that everybody brings to you."

We have stopped giving credit for books that are out of fashion and come a dime-a-dozen. However, being book lovers, a good clean book of any genre seems to deserve shelf-space. So we go on quietly making history on Cayuga Street ~ stepping over boxes and piles of books ~ looking more like the original Neat Little Bookshop everyday. Herb would be proud of us.

*A Splendor of Letters, The Permanence of Books in an Impermanent World, Nicholas A. Basbanes.Perennial/HarperCollins Publishers, 2003.

Book Lovers Everywhere

The Neat Little Bookshop ~ one of the first photos. Some of the walls were still bare!

When we took the name of the business that friend and neighbour, Herb Martindale, had begun, we had no idea whether the village of Cayuga would support a reincarnation of Herb's old bookshop.

Herb's customers have come back; new customers have arrived and travellers looking for a used book store have made our effort worthwhile.

The enthusiasm shown by book lovers everywhere make us work harder to ensure that the little bookshop remains a landmark.

We will have been in this location for three years this coming Mother's Day! Thank you, to our readers and to you our customers.

Winter Hours:

Wed. 11 - 5; Thu. 11 - 5; Fri. 11 - 7; Sat. 11 - 3. Or ~ Please call if you have run out of reading. 905-577-5635

Backlists, Out-of-Print and Current Publications

Used bookshops generally sell the books that are on publisher's backlists (best-sellers published before the current season and still in print), out-of-print books, antiquarian books (rare books) and, of course, current publications when available. We pride ourselves on bringing to our shelves, books that give the visitor a sense of never knowing what he might find. The Neat Little Bookshop also sells new books by local authors.

We struggle everyday with the question of accepting literally truckloads of musty boxes of books -- will there be that one book worth rescuing? Households can accumulate an unmanageable volume of books that end up in unfriendly environments like garages, basements -- even barns. Eventually, the inevitable question arises: what to do with this abandoned (not to mention, heavy), bulk of paper! The consensus seems to be, to take it to the nearest used book store! Musty books are not only unsalable, they are unhealthy and end up in the recycle.

The Neat Little Bookshop has posted a notice that we no longer accept books for credit, other than those purchased in our store; however, well-meaning donors continue to bless us. Meanwhile, our commitment is to make available good, clean books of literary value at affordable prices.

The Skunk

"Not skunk!" the officer said. "That's pot." Not amused. (Certainly not your typical old-book smell.)
I cautioned the upstairs tenants and we have not again smelled skunk ~ until this week. It is a row of old buildings -- businesses downstairs, apartments upstairs, old dungeon-like basement. One expects the odd incident but it wasn't until a customer noted that "It smells like old books!" that our concern grew. The Neat Little Bookshop takes great pride in presenting, yes "used," but absolutely "like new" clean books. They don't smell. The lawyer next door pronounced it "Skunk!"

We try not to draw attention to this latest incident -- freshly perked vanilla coffee helps -- I learned not to mention it to our OPP customers. The landlord rattled some junk in the basement. Shuffled stuff and made a lot of noise. No evidence. We are not convinced that rattling the undesirable (or even the desirable tenants) is the best approach? But who does one call about skunk?