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Coas My Bookstore
Rating Details »
- Price Range:
-
$
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Street, Private Lot
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
11 reviews for Coas My Bookstore
Easily the best bookstore (new, used, whatever) I've ever been or will ever go to (hell, I'd consider a visit to Las Cruces to go to Coas-no joke! Their sheer selection, customer service, trade program, organizational system are all "the tops."
When I lived in Las Cruces, I could easily go to Coas once a month, spend at least an hour there (not looking real close, just browsing) and come out with 5-6 books each time (a lot of them originals from 30-60's philosophy, psychology, metaphysical-great finds!) and spend about $20. I've never been to the mall location, as it wasn't around when I lived there-I hope to get back to Las Cruces one day, though, and I will be back, Coas!
Oh, Tiffany mentioned Powell's in Portland. Powells may be bigger than Coas, but Powell's is much, MUCH more corporate than Coas-a book you could find for $3 at Coas would cost $15 at Powell's-Powells feels not much different to me than a Barnes and Noble-Coas feels like a used book store.
I'm not sure that Coas is quite as awe-inspiring as some of the other reviewers have gushed, raved, and swooned about, but I get that it's an unexpected gem in the middle of the desert. First off it's huge. They have tons of books--both used and new, including a decent antique book section. And the atmosphere is hard to beat--wood floors, nice staff, coffee shop in the back.
My two main gripes are these: First, I could not for the life of me figure out their organization system. I walked around for a good hour before I figured out that Isabel Allende novels were in the classic books cheapie paperback section (not the general fiction section or the classic novels section). Second, the books were not particularly cheap. Around $5 each for paperbacks.
But all in all a nice bookstore with a good selection of used books.
Sadly, I found out yesterday that Ocotillo Roasters now will only sell beans at the Farmer's Market...I will miss their best in town brews!!!
1 Previous Review: Show all »
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8/25/2009
We just relocated from Portland, OR and honestly I thought COAS was overhyped before going there.… Read more »
Just fell in love with this place today while hanging out at the Farmer's Market at the Downtown Mall. Absolutely love the selection and the prices, too. The cafe in the back of the store seems to be a big hit as it was pretty crowded at 1:00 in the afternoon. I'll have to try it next time.
My favorite finds:
-Love stories in tagalog? Wow! Never thought I would find that in LC!
-Shelves and shelves of sheet music for my piano, clarinet, and sax....yes, I am a band nerd from way back. I plan on teaching my son a few things so Coas is a great resource.
-The selection for kids was pretty amazing too! Journals, flash cards, books in a few languages for kids...
I was also impressed that they have so many used road maps. I figure some may be out of date but i figure the general geography should still be accurate.
Loved it!
COAS actually has two locations; one on the Downtown Mall and one over on Solano between Missouri and Lohman/Amador (otherwise known by me as Lomador). Each has its own unique collection.
Collectively, COAS has a great, if eccentric, collection of used books. For example: they have a HUGE collection of paperback classics, of romance novels, westerns, sci-fi, etc.There are lots of used movies on VHS and DVD. Their recent fiction section is super. Other sections are completely dependent on who lives in town and what they like to read. There are not that many historians in town, and we tend to hang on to our books, so the history section is not great.
Best thing about COAS: you can sell your used books to them for credit and buy more books, shelling out a minimum of cash. It's a great place to spend an afternoon.
One of the things I miss most about Las Cruces is this awesome book store. It's by far the best book store I've ever visited, and have never been to one that equals it!
A friend suggested I check out this bookstore and I am so glad that I did! The bookstore is huge and I could have spent hours in there looking at all the books. There is a wide selection of books beyond just fiction. I have never been in a used bookstore that had such an extensive selection of non-fiction books.
Some of the signage could be a bit better, and I have would have organized the store a bit differently, but hey that's part of the fun of wandering in a used bookstore. The gems that one can find if you spend enough time browsing the shelves.
There's also a coffee shop attached to the bookstore, which is great. I did not have anything there so I can't comment on their service. I'll certainly update this if I do.
Coas is simply, the place to go book shopping in Las Cruces. It's at the Downtown Mall. This could either be a good thing or a not-so-good thing. Good: near Day's Hamburgers and a few other shops. Not-so-good: Not much else to do around there.
I discovered this spot as a student trying to find inexpensive, entertaining things to do. They have a great science fiction selection, and awesome non-fiction. I remember there being a lot of crafts books, vintage ones especially. And the prices were not bad.
And they have games and toys. I mean, RPG equipment.
My wife and I love Coas!!! It is the kind of place we can spend an afternoon, just looking through their extensive selection of books and printed material. Coas has a relaxed environment, with friendly staff, and enough books to make your head spin. A great time to go is during the farmers market on Saturday morning. You can walk around the market for a while and then duck into Coas and lose yourself in their epic selection of books.
I absolutely adore Coas. So much so in fact that my friends have long grown tired of listening to me go on and on, listing it's qualities and wonderfulness. It must be said however that Coas is the largest used bookstore I have ever been in - and no don't start with me Portlanders, I haven't been to Powell's yet, so I don't want to hear it. Anyway, Powell's notwithstanding, Coas is huge and is filled with both hard to find and rare prints on books. This is incredible as usually used bookstores sort their stock pretty religiously to keep any of the books with antiquarian value. Coas on the other hand, doesn't seem to. I have found real gems here. Like a first edition copy of Steinbeck's Grapes of Wrath for 75 cents. Or a flawed edition of the Shakespearian Sonnets, with three quarters of the pages inverted for 10 cents. Maybe you aren't that interested in it, but trust me I was thrilled.
Coas was always around when I needed something to read, and especially wonderful when I was getting ready for the next school year at college. It should be mentioned that I was in a classic's program, so it was pretty easy to find everything I needed there. The staff was always friendly and helpful when it came to finding most books. And you cannot beat the trade-in credit price. They also have a nice selection of comics, dice games, board games and text books that I recommend checking out.
I love COAS. I have found many amazing books there. It is almost overwelming the amount of books. The trade out/ credit system is great too!