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Category: Bookstores [Edit]
Neighborhoods: North Berkeley, Gourmet GhettoMon-Sun. 11:00 a.m. - 9:00 p.m.
"In the six years I lived in the Mid-Atlantic region of the east coast, I never once ran into a music store anywhere close to this.…" read more »
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It is sad to see they've closed, with no certainty of reopening on San Pablo/Dwight or anywhere else. That said, I'm sticking with my three stars and my belief that they, not the community they have so often deemed illiterate and unwilling to buy books, brought about their own end. I'm not sure what it is with indie bookstores claiming that people are unwilling to read and therefore dooming their industry, but they need to wake up and smell the 21st century. We're in a recession, people, and if readers can get it for cheaper elsewhere, they will.
Okay, jumping off my soapbox now. RIP, old friend of North Berkeley.
I'm with Dennis H. The staff is wacky, unhelpful and sullen. I also resent the attitude (as… Read more »
http://www.berkeleydai...
This is a black day for Berkeley. Please read the Daily Planet story and look for their new retail outlet when it opens. Book shopping at the corner of San Pablo and Dwight? You can buy a newly published novel and start it during the happy hour at Sea Salt. See you there...
PS: When I biked up College Avenue this morning, it pained me to see the large number of businesses that had closed up in Rockridge. It's amazing that property owners insist on keeping their theoretical rents high, even if this means having a vacant storefront. Wouldn't it be better to lower rents and have an income stream?
As a recent transplant to Berkeley, I'm still in that blissful honeymoon phase where the Gourmet Ghetto feels like Mecca, and their denizens don't poop, they are THAT awesome. The upside of this is that I never experienced the old ownership of Black Oak, and can objectively judge this shop for what it is: a great independent bookstore.
I'd actually read the reviews slamming the new management before even setting sights on the place, so I wandered in not expecting much. Yet GLORY BEHOLD there were books that made me drool puddles. Now, I'm no collector, so I can't weigh in on that regard, but from the used to the cooking, cyberpunk to physics, the classics to the poetry, my word starved brain and palms soaked up every title with glee.
They even had the ever-elusive Rainer Maria Rilke "Letters to a Young Poet" translated by Snell instead of the more modern take by Norton. And a copy of "The Captain's Verses" by Neruda at a price which Amazon + shipping couldn't beat!
Wide aisles conducive to browsing, my only advice be that they more clearly mark the sections (maybe from the ceiling?). Oh, and put in a couch so I never have to leave, please.
Disregard the naysayers - people are going to kvetch about any sort of change - and give it a gander!
Me and Black Oak Books are done.
A few months ago we tried to use our book credits there and they told us the new ownership wasn't honoring the book credit anymore. Thats $75 of not-honoring book credit. And this after 4 years of us spending way too much on books at that store. I used to love this place, and going back on the promises made to loyal customers in not the way to keep a floundering book business afloat.
I still wish them good luck because they are at least not a chain bookstore... but I'm not going back. And that makes me sad.
This place gets my weekly (and sometimes daily) patronage. There is just always something new to… Read more »
This is my favorite Berkeley bookstore. I have found so many of my favorite books here in the used section. I really love to buy books, to hold them, to possess them; I don't have a lot of money to support this desire though, so used book stores are it, and this one always delivers. It's clean, well organized, and near the Cheeseboard.
I always find what I was looking for here, even when i wasn't looking for anything in particular.
It's kinda got that cool Powell's Books vibe-70's, cabin-like interior & with a nice & helpful staff, although much smaller & by law must charge tax. Shucks. Still, great place for new & used books; their stores are sprinkled about the Bay Area. Go indies!
PS. Found something to satisfy my inner tween too...Twilight.
Read on.
One of the best brick and mortar bookstores. A new owner, a HUGE selection of used books (fiction and non) that are laid out just as nicely as new books, and the requisite tchotchkes (blank notebooks, nice cards, little books) that draw you in.
Good staff; they will order books for you if they don't have it.
Nice quiet atmosphere, clean, big enough, plus a back room with old wooden floors and nonfiction new and used treasures.
It is in the heart of the gourmet ghetto. Buy a book then head up to the wine store on Vine and the Cheeseboard on Shat tuck and call it a perfect day.
The website sucks, but I guess if you want a great website you can go to Amazon. Let's keep this place alive and buy some books!
My heart broke into a million pieces when Black Oak in SF closed.
When I walked into the Shattuck store to buy a book to read this weekend I figured it was the last days of that location.
Thankfully I was told that this store was not closing! They're getting a new load of books and will be restocking their store and keeping this great independent bookstore going.
I was elated! I love reading....love, love, love, love reading.
A bookstore should be run by bookish people...
Like this one!
To curl up with a dusty tome's
their favorite kind of fun.
The best part is how truly, really
Berkeley they can be;
with local authors, maps and guides
to this town's history.
The gaping hole inside my heart
where Cody's did reside
still bleeds and aches, but so long as
Black Oak's here, I'll survive.
This is a great store if you could find what you want. Fortunately for me, the used mathematics section was substantial enough, and I did find some odd-finds. I'm guessing that either past grad students or profs are donating books they used to study off of. A book I bought was 50+% off from the original price - was still on the pricey side, but I thought it was worth it. I do echo with the dissatisfaction with the staff's attitude ... well, I thought they're always like that, and I figured I'll just deal with it.
Thought it's not a fantastic bookstore, I'll support a place in a college town that carry the used books.
I am not an individual who liberally gives 1 star reviews. More importantly, I am an avid supporter of used and independent bookstores. I just happen to hate black oak books.
First, the staff are rude as hell. There are those who are not knowledgeable in the slightest and those who think they know more than everyone else and scoff when you ask questions. Additionally, I have been reprimanded on one occasion for not leaving my bag at the front counter and then laughed at for offering to leave it there on a separate occasion. They also seem to have a condescending air when you make purchases that do not seem to fulfill their academic expectations.
More than that, the prices are steep for even the trade paperbacks. I must credit them for their selection and layout, especially their extensive classics section, but the architecture of the store is depressing, dark and at times cave-like in the back corners. But this is all nullified when you discover that you can't find anything due to the winding corridors.
More than that, the staff really try to swindle you in their antiquarian books section. They want you to purchase sight unseen and are reluctant to give you details about the materials you're buying if there's anything wrong with it. I called once to buy a book for my dad's birthday and they quoted me a price.
"How's the jacket condition?" I ask.
The man on the phone avoids the question and continues on the condition about the rest of the book.
"Yes, but how's the jacket condition?" I ask again.
I later find out that there is no dust jacket on this copy, thereby knocking down the value of the book by AT LEAST half. The price he quoted me might have been reasonable with even a poor dust jacket, but without one, it was simply robbery.
Not my favorite place. Not at all.
As much as we all may love independent book stores...this one is not worth the money or effort. Everything about it is pretentious as hell!
The books are pricey, even the used ones.
The staff is very....very rude.
They're really particular about the bag check rule and if you're in the store for more than 2 seconds after you get your checked bag...they stare you down and ask you to leave. I don't really understand...it's the Gourmet Ghetto, I doubt they've ever experienced anything to warrant their SEVERE mistrust of their customers.
I suggest you go elsewhere, like Moe's or Pegasus, even Barnes & Noble is better than this place.
Take your money to Moe's, or even shop Amazon. The staff here is rude, as many have noted, and the used section is really freaking small, with little new blood coming in. A lot of the used books in my favorite sections (including music and languages/linguistics) have been around, stagnant, since 1999-2000 (my first year of undergrad), and many of them are still overpriced. I've also tried to sell books here before, and they were quite unpleasant to me.
Blah.
It might be useful to point out that the financial difficulties that led to Black Oak's demise were not related to the decline in market share. The market was changing, but Black Oak could have competed, had they not fallen into a sand-trap of debt through fiscal mismanagement. The owner who bought the store from its original owners in 2008 was not experienced in the business; estimates in the bookselling community of Black Oak's probable closing varied between 6 months and a year; in the end, they closed after less than 9 months! The new owner seemed to know nothing about how to sell books, new or used. He fired all the old staff and turned to high-quality remainders and new books. Predictably, that didn't work. Both Cody's and Barnes & Noble in Berkeley had closed trying to sell new stock, but that didn't seem to deter Mr. Cornell.
The announced probable relocation is rumored to be unlikely. A warehouse where the internet stock had been transferred may, or may not, survive. This is no time to open a brick-&-mortar bookstores.
As open bookstores continue to disappear, good books are getting harder and harder to find. Certainly Amazon isn't the answer.
For those who think booksellers have been crying wolf, this should be a wake-up call.
Bay Area book junkies are spoiled. As the pressures on retail new and used bookselling increase,… Read more »
Do not sell your books here. Period.
Sadly, my Dad passed away the end of 2006. Over the past year my brother and I have had to go through the painful and emotionally draining task of sorting and clearing out our parents' home that they lived in for over three decades.
My Dad was an avid book collector and loved independent, used bookstores, so my brother and I thought it fitting to contact a few of them to see if any were interested in his prolific collection.
We made some calls and had gotten lots of interest. One of the first to respond was one of the owners of Black Oak Books, who asked to view the collection during the week. Since both my brother and I work during the week, a friend of the family--an older, grandmotherly woman--offered to let the man from Black Oak in to check it out. We were supposed to be notified if/when any offer was made. We received no calls.
A few hours later I called our friend and she informed me that the man from Black Oak had taken several bags of books and left a check for $150. This did not seem right. She thought we had a prior arrangement set up with this person. We had no such arrangement. Prior to this, both my brother and I had done some research on the collection and deduced that even on a wholesale level, the books would be worth several thousand dollars.
I called Black Oak and was told in a snippy fashion that the man who came to my Dad's house had not returned yet. Finally, I was given his cell phone number. When I called this man, he was on the side of the freeway with a flat tire (my Dad's revenge from above, perhaps?). He came clean and told me he had hundreds if not thousands of books from our house. When I asked him how he thought he could take so much and only $150, he giggled and said he "had to make it worth his time...and pay for the gas."
I was incensed, and told him this situation needed to be fixed, ASAP. And, that I wanted the books back. To his credit, he said we could have them back, but that we would have to come and pick them up the next day, which happened to be the one-year anniversary of my Dad's death. This also meant that my brother would have to drive for two hours to get to the store.
The following night, my brother and I arrived at the store only to be floored by the sight of 26 boxes of books (some of the boxes even were labeled in my father's handwriting!). These were not small boxes, and filled up both of our cars.
At the end of loading our cars, the owner of Black Oak Books asked for not only his check for $150 back, but if he could keep three bags of books that he had pulled out for himself--obviously the best of the batch, which included a couple of beautiful box sets in pristine condition. He claimed this was for HIS time! How he had the nerve to ask for these was beyond us.
After taking advantage of us, we viewed this motion as rubbing salt in the wound. Needless to say, we did not leave him any of our books, unless of course, he pulled some out prior to us arriving (which I do not doubt at this point).
Whenever you enter into business with another party there is always a leap of faith in the process. The unprofessional and unethical behavior exhibited by this business has forever violated that faith and trust. Furthermore, it was an insult to my Dad, who once enjoyed that store.
Hopefully, you will have better luck than my brother and I did. As for the books, we brought them back to the house and they were recently sold to a reputable book dealer for several thousand dollars.
After reading the previous Yelp reviews I've felt there are several levels of staff that work here. In regardst to the selection, i've felt they do have a pretty large collector's selection, however difficult to really know because you pretty much need to buy unseen. If you are after a title, certainly be wary of its true value before spending any money.
If you are destine to sell your book here, get a really good idea what its worth.
I really dislike this bookstore. I am in the neighborhood nearly daily and generally avoid it. The staff is rude as hell, and their vaunted book knowledge really varies by staff member. (My favorite example was the woman who refused to even look up a book for me because she decided, over my protestations, that it must be some kind of foreign language book and they don't carry those. Of course, it was a perfectly normal English language book, though out of print. I got it from amazon dot com in a week.) The women who work there are particularly rude and condescending, and are perpetually having a bad day. What's more, whatever I prefer to read is clearly beneath their contempt (unless it's a classic or by a handful of staff-approved authors).
Ordering books is impossible- if their particular distributor doesn't carry it, I'm out of luck. (If I were them, I'd order it from amazon dotcom and then sell it to me at a premium.) If their distributor DOES carry it, well, when are they doing orders? Not today. Not tomorrow either. Well, probably they'll put the order in next week. Christ, people! Get with the times!
I'll be sorry on a theoretical level if they close- but they shouldn't fool themselves that it's because of Barnes & Noble or amazon dot com crushing the little guy. It's because Barnes & Noble and amazon dot com don't give their clientele attitude.
Not my fave used bookstore by any means. To me, this bookstore is reminiscent of a public library, especially perusing the sections in the back of the store. It just has that cold, dead, sterile feel to it despite the wealth of knowledge that patiently awaits to be consumed, while gathering dust on the shelves. I usually head straight for the travel section, which is an anemic version of what other used (and new) bookstores have to offer. I have yet to really find any books that are worthy of filling the last empty space of my bookcase.
Plus it has old man stink and reeks of hippies, not to mention the stench from the young Greenpeace do-gooders standing outside who annoy the hell out of me. How many freakin' times a day do I need to be asked if I "have a second for the environment"? Damn do-gooder whores. Stop preaching to the choir in hippified Berkeley, and go stand on a street corner in freakin' Pleasanton or Benicia or better yet...how about the corner of International Blvd. and 98th Ave. in East Oakland! Ok, I'm done ranting.
They hosted a party to watch the 2004 elections. The invitation said "We might even celebrate." Thats the politics.
This place fulfills all my time-wasting, useless knowledge acquiring, intellectual englightment, and academic needs.
I like to spend time in the back with the local berkeley books...they even have Cal yearbooks from the 60s - priceless. They've got those spirited oldies and an impressive collection of used pocketbooks.
The staff is really friendly and helpful. They will gladly engage in a debate or get down and dirty to help you find that really obscure short story that may or may not exist in print. (it did and they had it - and this poor elderly woman actually got down to help me - i felt bad)
If nothing else, they have awesome events and workshops.
Jim K.'s review below relates a scenario that is all-too-commonly associated with this business. Their predatory tactics, unethical business practices, and outright hostility to their customers are what did Black Oak in. There's a good reason Bay Area bibliophiles referred to them as "Black Joke".
This place gets five stars for the most incredible math selection of any book store I've ever seen. Seriously, this place surpasses even the campus bookstore when it comes to stocking advanced texts. Visiting this place is a real treat, and if you have a passion for math (or physics) it would probably take you days to really comb through the bookshelves just trying to get a grasp on the raw amount of material that they have to offer. The selections of other subjects are also impressive (although these areas aren't my specialty, so I don't feel as qualified to comment here).
This place is catercorner to Cheeseboard, and in the heart of the "Gourmet Ghetto," so it shouldb't be out of the way at all. If you're in this part of Berkeley and want something to do, you owe it to yourself to drop by this store and peruse their selection.
As much as I love independent bookstores, I have trouble supporting this one. Their prices are at the absolute high end for anything used and their selection is - odd. It's very clearly an academic and professor's estate dumping ground.
Since word came that they might close their selection has gotten even smaller and I don't go.
Fantastic selection of books. I mostly wander through the used paperbacks, which are anywhere from 1/2 off the cover price to a $2 minimum, so basically, pretty darn cheap. (For those who say you can buy the same book cheaper online, that may be true until you add in the shipping costs and the annoyance of having to wait 5-21 days for it to arrive....)
There's something calming and peaceful about wandering through a bookstore without a care in the world....
There's something very special about this bookstore... it's, well, run by people who know books! Go figure. On the tables are always books I realize I should read, if only I had the time. I can't pin it down, but there's a very deliberate way they choose their books... just go there and see what's on the tables. When you go to Cody's, it feels as if you're looking at contents of the NYT book review right in front of you. With Black Oaks... it's... Harpers? Z Magazine...? something else?
But sadly, Black Oaks may join Cody's on Telegraph in the great bookstore graveyard in the sky!
http://www.sfgate.com/...
Great place for old books, or books that have a life story of their own.
I found a bunch of hard-to-find Colette and Hemingway novels at a really cheap cost. Black Oak is magic.
The way books are supposed to smell. Like old men.
Didn't have a few things I was looking for. Overcharged me after saying a book was a different price. Whatever.
Black Oak does have some great books, but the staff is friggin weird.
I asked this one woman for help finding two books. Not to look for it physically, but just if they were in stock. But she offered to go find it and I said "sure." I went to go look for the other. The one I went to look for they didn't have, so I went to see if she had found the other about five to ten minutes later.
While I was going to find her this other woman who works there had a kiniption fit that I had a bottle of water with me--it was sealed up tight , but she grabbed it from my hand and put it on the counter near the entrance of the place. Whatever. It just seemed like an overreaction. She could have just asked me to put it on the counter---but apparantly they have a special spot for scary, scary water bottles.
Meanwhile, the lady who had gone to look for the book was back at the counter ringing people up. So I waited and when she was done she looked at me like she had never seen me before. I asked if she had found the book, and she replied that she only checked on the table, but not in the section so she wasn't sure. Hello Planet Zeon. So I checked the section and there it was. So I got my book and it was great because it's hard to find, but sheesh. If you don't want to look for it, that's fine I guess, I didn't request her to look for it, but if you are going to say you are looking for it and then drop the task that's strange.
Eerily, the woman who snatched my water bottle and the wondering lady who didn't really bother to look for the book have the same voice which is this high pitch quivery whine that almost projects fragility, but really you can tell it's kind of a facade and they know it's THEIR bookstore and you are just the punk kid they assume is illiterate. Maybe they have voice implants or something, because they were almost identical.
This place has been my favorite bookstore - since I was a freshman in high school! I read an article yesterday saying that they're looking to sell it, & if I had the money...
Stay away from those HORRID chain book stores. B&N at the EC plaza has probably really hurt these guys. Not to mention... the internet book stores! Anyway, I ADORE this place & would be heart-broken & sick if it ever closes.
Great readings/booksignings. Awesome selection of rare first editions & out of print stuff & they'll order anything under the sun for you, if you ask.
I suppose it began when I was a teaching assistant at Penn State. I was grading papers for a Professor I was working with on a large grant studying suicide in urban vs rural gay teenagers. I received credit for my teaching assistant position and the professor did not have to read the absolute dribble that people tried to pass off as writing. Thus began my intense hatred for poorly constructed prose.
Papers that were hand written, papers that were quadruple spaced in 18 point font, papers that had the website they were purchased from on the upper right hand corner of the page. The list of my laments went on and on, so much so that I decided to not continue the position the following semester. I thought I had dealt with this hatred of mine, this loathing, this utter disdain for mediocrity bordering on finger painting but the overall dumbing down of Yelp has rekindled this hatred.
I like finding the good writers, the funny writers, the very VERY few writers who are actually experts on food or fashion or car repair on this site. Lately, when I search for these individuals they are absent replaced with......well......boobs. A pair of tits does not make you a good writer, it does however get you a huge following on this site, particularly if you post pictures of those tits in various scenarios. Drunk tits, tits in a bathing suit, tits at home, tits at the beach, and so on and so forth. Now I don't want to be a titty hater as they are plenty of amazing writers on this site who also possess splendid bewbies but they have been replaced as of late with young, unfunny, disorganized, creating their own lame vernacular type writers who remind me of the sorority girls who used to ask why I gave them D's on their papers as they batted their eyes and leaned over a bit. I wanted your grade to match your cup size dear......now go eat some lettuce and throw up, you'll feel better in the morning.
Well thank goodness for Black Oak Books. It seems every book I pick up in this store is a treasure. And slowly but surely I'm kicking this idea of mine that people on Yelp are actually writers, that they and I are actually relevant to the Bay Area dining scene. We are not. We stoke the flames of our narcissism, we take pictures of our boobs, and we try not to fall in the pond. Two titties does not a writer make but two new books makes for a wonderful Saturday afternoon.
I have enjoyed coming here for years to browse, buy, and listen to some great authors.
I have found the staff friendly and helpful. And as far as the previous observations about attitude and psychological abnormalities go, this is Berkeley afterall. If I want normal, I'll go back to Iowa (Go Hawks!).
And as Allison L. all but admitted, sometimes High Tech (online shopping) isn't enough. You need the High Touch bookstore experience too.
I really hope this place does not close it's doors.
I used to live about two blocks away from this Berkeley location of the local bookstore chain - and every single time I walked away with something in my hand.
The knowledgable staff has consistently impressed me with their book savvy - there was one time I asked if they had a particular book used - he strolled over to 5 or 6 enormous stack of used books, stuck his hand in one of them... and pulled it out! Needless to say I was speechless! Now that is service...
Parking is a challenge here especially on the weekends, read the signs and I do hear that they do ticket, so be careful. Large used section in the back, up a ramp but didn't see the metaphysical and science books my friend was looking for. Large retail section in the front. A few chairs sprinkled around to preruse a book. No public restrooms.
I like used book stores. You can find good deals sometimes and books that you are looking for.
I'd go here more if I lived closer.
Hrs daily 11a-9pm.
I've upgraded Black Oak to four stars because they are a great neighborhood establishment. I have heard that they are considering moving. What is happening to all of our independent book stores? Please support them! I know I can't always get the book I want at Black Oak, but sometimes it's just as pleasant to pick up an unexpected read and enjoy that (as Forrest Gump says..."it's like a box of chocolates..."). It's true that Black Oak doesn't have the biggest selection of books, but they will have some more interesting reads and their workers seem to actually have read a lot of books (I can't stand going to Barnes & Noble and talking to those dolts who don't even read! No, you should not be working at a book store if you only read magazines or newspapers!). Anyway, I also really appreciate the fact that they wrap my books with their nice little emblem and ribbon. Please do not leave the Gourmet Ghetto, Black Oak. I will miss you so. First Cody's, and now you?! My poor heart won't be able to stand it.
3.5 stars. I haven't had any experience with rude staff, as noted below (I usually go after 7 pm),… Read more »
I love this bookstore. I can browse for hours in the vintage sci fi, or wander over to the new political section. I think they try not to be too biased which is very amusing given where the bookstore is located. :)
Perfect Sunday mornings are comprised of 3 elements, a walk to Saul's for a great breakfast, a cookie at Masse's for dessert, and then a serenade around black oak books for something old, well read and loved, and yearning to be purchased.
This is one of the grand old bookstores of the East Bay, complete with readings, used book section, rare book room, and well-read staff.
Everything I could say has been said, except that they have the best selection of used Judaica in the East Bay. It is a great place to build a library without spending too horribly much (especially if you recycle the books you weed out and take store credit.)
Moe's on Telegraph has a bigger selection, and Pegasus has more new titles (I think) but Black Oak is more fun.
Black Oak has a really good used math section, with lots of Springer-Verlag titles (the yellow books). I found an out-of-print title here that I had been looking for for years.
They also have a decent children's section.
Why choose between Moe's, Pegasus, and Black Oak? Visit all of them if you have the chance.
This is a great bookstore for both new and used books. They have a great selection of random and more mainstream stuff.
My only minor beef with Black Oak is that they tell me to leave my coffee at the front cashier while I shop. Number one, that's gross. Who knows what may happen to my coffee while I'm browsing for who knows how long in the back. Number two, I don't spill coffee, I don't look like I spill coffee, and I'm not gonna leave my coffee cup on one of the book shelves. I'm a responsible coffee drinker. And yes, I do understand that prior coffee drinkers may have ruined it for me.
I'd likely stay longer in the store, and likely end up purchasing more books, if they let me get my caffeine infusion while I browse. Instead, I'm so worried about someone spitting in my coffee that I browse for 5 minutes, then pick up my coffee and leave. Pegasus and Cody's lets me bring in my coffee while I shop. OK, I will stop now.
I'd normally deduct one star for that, but I'll turn a blind eye since I like this bookstore so much!
The workers are soooooooo rude. It is definitely their store and customers are definitely an interruption. Every time I've been there they have ignored me standing at the register. I've even been rung out without them even talking to me.
I've been holding off on reviewing Black Oak for a while since I'd heard they might close and felt a little sorry for them, but upon my last visit I found the same problems that have plagued the place for years to still be an issue. Mainly, the owners are greedy fucks who stupidly opened two stores in SF thus bankrupting the Berkeley store (hello, Cody's! when will independent stores realize this kind of gamble is a stupid mistake?), the Black Oak staff turns over every five minutes because the owners are jerks, the patrons are pushy and rude (another reason for staff turnover), and the reading series, which was formerly interesting and informative, has dwindled down to a few readings a month, none of which are compelling. Take your money to Pegasus or Moe's instead.
Neighborhood: UC Campus Area
Category: Antiques
Neighborhood: East Solano Ave
Category: Cards & Stationery
Neighborhood: UC Campus Area
Category: Bookstores
Neighborhood: North Oakland
Category: Bookstores
Neighborhood: Old Oakland
Category: Bookstores
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