"for supporting local authors, and for the fireplace and couch in the back."
(in 4 reviews)
"This is what an independent bookstore should be."
(in 15 reviews)
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Diesel Bookstore
Rating Details »
Category: Bookstores [Edit]
Neighborhood: North Oakland5433 College Ave
(between Hudson St & Kales Ave)
Oakland, CA 94618
(510) 653-9965
- Hours:
Mon-Thu. 10:00 a.m. - 9:00 p.m.
Fri-Sat. 10:00 a.m. - 10:00 p.m.
Sun. 10:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m.
- Price Range:
-
$$
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Street
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
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48 reviews for Diesel Bookstore
Review Highlights
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I love this bookstore too! Interesting selection of books for all ages - helpful and fantastic staff - friendly to our dog. Most of all it is so important to support independent book sellers to get something real and not just the vanilla they serve up at the big book sellers.
Go there and have a wonderful time!
The best new-books store in the East Bay. Diesel has impeccable taste and uncluttered style. It's big enough to surprise you, but not so much as to overwhelm.
The staff picks are outstanding. True story: Last year, before traveling abroad, I saw that they recommended _The Raw Shark Texts_. Never heard of it., Bought it and loved it. This year, I came back and said, "Last year, you guys told me to get _Raw Shark Texts_ and I loved it. What's like that?"
The book barista pretended to be stumped for a minute, then recommended _City of Thieves_. which I read and loved, & is now making the rounds among my housemates.
Did I mention they have impeccable taste?
(Last week, another book barista pretended to be stumped by my Kazuo Ishiguro question. Just goes to show they're as polite as they are attractive =)
My cousin and I were walking on College Ave today and we decided to walk in here. There was a few authors speaking with at least 20 people asking questions which lasted for about 30 mins. Afterward, the authors mingled with the people and walked around the store.
The store itself is decently sized and is chalk full of really great books. Most books I have never seen before. I wish I had more money so that I could buy all the books I saw. The employees are very nice and very helpful.
They also sell some shirts with their logo on it. I'll be sure to go back again.
I HIGHLY recommend going here if you are on College Ave. :)
So much eye candy, so little time.
I was introduced to this small lovely bookstore by a fellow coworker. The lack of good indie bookstores in SF has driven me in search of somewhere deserving my hard earned $. Its casual and quiet atmosphere lends itself to some good bits of quiet reads wherever you can find a seat. Their staff is friendly and glad to answer your questions as well.
And their t-shirt says it all...Born to read. That's me.
This is what an independent bookstore should be. Nice taste, inviting atmosphere, good poetry selection.
Their choice of reading events are fabulous, too. If you do not have anything to do in Rockridge, I recommend you should come to Diesel to see if you can find something that interests you.
http://oaklandnorth.ne...
Nothing spectacular. Sort of the standard smaller indie bookstore but without anything to really distinguish it. Worth a visit if you are in the area but really not worth going out of your way for.
Its a pretty good book store, close to my job! I'm actually heading out there today to go check on a book order, they are very timely when it comes to book orders!
Not a huge native American selection or Latino selection, but has the essentials!!
Did you ever get that talk when you were a kid about how you weren't different or weird, that everybody feels like that sometimes, but in time you'd come to see you were just fine? I didn't either, but I did see it on an after-school special, and I thought maybe it applied to me too.
But in time I have come to see that I am both different AND weird, the latest testament to this being that I am amongst a small handful of people in the universe who think "Eat Pray Love" is one god-awful book.
Well, it's certainly not Diesel's fault I bought the damn thing for $16. Or that it's now next to my bed, keeping company with the bottle of lotion I have to shake 50 times to get anything out of and the stack of mysteriously empty CD cases.
And while I can't blame Diesel for my continued attempts to fit in with the rest of society, be warned that Diesel is a master of the seductive display, of creating comfortable personal space, of having just the right ratio of stuff to books, and of giving you the feeling that if you browsed all day, the staff would 'appreciate your thoughtful consideration of their wares' instead of calling security. Yes, be warned: it's very difficult to leave Diesel without buying something, whether you're normal or completely (wonderfully) weird, they just seem to have our number.
p.s. Private message me if you want my copy. Dust bunny wants her place back.
At first I was confused - all I saw hanging in the window were ironic t-shirts. Is this really a bookstore or is Diesel clothing sponsoring a reading program for the well dressed casual male? I had to go in and see.
Well, it is an independent bookstore that sells a small selection of t-shirts, half of which are probably hanging in the window. Since most independent bookstores have charm and a good selection of things I would read, and a few things I wouldn't, categorized in a way that shows they have taken a step away from the likes of Barnes and Noble, I automatically like them all.
What sets one aside from another, especially if they are not housing deals galore on used books, is the little section called Employee Recommendations.
Upon entering head to the middle of the store and hang a left. This will lead you straight to this section. It is pretty phenomenal!
Diesel, a wonderful little independent bookstore on College Ave, is one of my favorite things about Rockridge. Actually, it's one of my favorite bookstores anywhere. I love the space - it's got a cool brick facade, and the inside is light and airy. I like how there's plenty of space to move around - it doesn't feel cramped or crowded inside.
The tables in the middle are filled with books that I would actually be interested in reading, and there's a comfy couch at the back on which you can sit and peruse a book or magazine further (they have a very well edited magazine selection). But my favorite part is the section immediately to the right when you walk in - this is where you'll find cool journals and stationery and many offbeat, quirky books. I could spend a lot of time - and a lot of money! - in this section.
I love this place.. Some excellent new book selections and what I like the most. I really hope this is the kind of bookstore that doesn't get rubbed away with the other similar super cool stores..
Support this business.
I've been going here for over a decade. it's one of the main reasons I moved to Rockridge. There's nothing like a good bookstore to bring together a community.
Small bookstores may have a reputation of being snooty. Well, this store is thankfully not that. They are genuinely friendly and interested in helping you find what you're looking for. If they can't help, they'll tell you just that. If they need to order something for you, they'll get it to you in a couple of days.
Diesel has an incredible selection of books that have been thoughtfully placed on the shelves. The staff favorites bookcase is where I almost always start. I used to follow Hannah, John, and Alison. Now I've found myself moved on to others as Hannah has left. This is where I discovered Jonathan Letham for the first time. This is where I came to chat about Murakami when I was lucky enough to be introduced. This is where I can talk about books with people who love books. And, it's all just a few minutes from my place.
I never get tired of coming in here, talking to the owners or staff, looking for books, browsing magazines on the comfy couch in the back, or picking up a paper on the way to lunch.
Also, you can join their club and receive $20 for every $200 you spend. It's a nice little reward for being loyal. Makes me feel good about giving my money to the little guy.
Definitely worthy of checking out if you like to read. The events are incredibly well run as well. Great authors visit here.
I wandered into this bookstore while exploring my new nearby neighborhoods. I love it, you know you are in a good bookstore when you wander around and quickly have to have about a third of the books on the tables and displays.
I was four years old in Toys R Us again, with six things I wanted, agonizingly crouched on the the floor doing eeny meeny miny mo.
Brilliant.
So my relationship with books is such that I love to touch them, be among them, know about them, amass them...but completing the reading part, that can be hard for me. Reflects my lack of follow through. Perhaps as a metaphor for my life. Who knows - and anyway, that's not Diesel's problem.
Diesel is a well-laid-out browser's paradise, eager (one might deduce) to enable my consumption patterns with books, and also amicable to the task I sometimes take on of keeping up with what's new and hot in publishing. They put out all the smart new fiction and non that I'd be tempted to buy, an intimidating (uh, helpful) number of which have thoughtful reviews dangling from their respective shelf spots. People working here are friendly (you know, in the bookish way, the best way) and knowledgeable, as many other reviewers have noted. Do check out the super cheap used book selection.
I would give them three stars just for the awesome French notebooks for sale. I have hoofed it far and wide (mostly on the internet) for these and they have them right here! Some with them lined the way they are in France!! WOOOOO HOOOOO!
Some of their selection is a little frou-frou, but I have bought one serious medieval treat there. So that gives them their other stars.
Come after six, unless you're willing to pay for parking.
Diesel is my hands-down favorite bookstore around and lemmee tell you why...The people employed here know their stuff! They are as literate as it gets and they LOVE books. I have never come into the store without engaging in some terrific conversations about books, authors, stories themselves, etc. My children love coming here equally with getting something chocolate next door (Bittersweet) and can happily sit for hours looking at books. Fortunately for me, the staff encourages this sort of thing!
I have known John and Allison for over a dozen years and they could not be any nicer and more engaging. They remember details & anecdotes (like when my then-3 year old became obsessed with Julia Child...), they are kind to the dogs I have brought along over the years (and were deeply sympathetic when the beloved-Scottie, Sherman ,went to the vast picnic ground in the sky)...the couch in back has been a spot for stories over the years, the fireplace...all of it has been such a joy. I relish my time here and always think I'll get A book, and come out with several. Independent bookstores need support and we are all the richer having Diesel here. Viva Diesel Books!! If it were possible to surpass the 5 stars, I happily would.
I love this place: extremely helpful and friendly staff. I just special ordered 4 books and the guy went out of his way to make sure the distributor actually had copies of these hard-to-get titles.
It doesn't hurt that it's next to Bittersweet.
I have to agree with Michelle J... not a huge Native American or Latino selection... (hence the missing two stars) but... they have a great selection, knowledgeable staff and right next to a coffee shop :)
A girl's gotta do some SOUL SEARCHING once in while. You know, balance your mental books.
So a few months ago . . . I landed here. My favorite book store. Small. Organized. Eccentric. Helpful.
And what more appropriate than to soul search amongst the words of authors who are essentially doing the same thing?
So after an hour or so. It found me.
DIESEL EMPLOYEE X RECOMMENDS: The American classic novel Catch-22 by Joseph Heller. . . blah blah blah.
And so it hit me. And so I bought it.
5 Stars for figuring out . . .
that he's not a CATCH . . .
. . . but a Catch-22.
OMG, Diesel only has 7 reviews? How come? This is my favorite bookstore !!
I get over to Rockridge quite a bit and I love to spend time in here.
I like to check the Top 100 indie sellers, the top Diesel sellers and the staff recommendations. A couple of folks here are with me on the guilty YA addiction (yes, young adult...I know, I know...I can't help it). And if I'm not mistaken Melissa Lion still works here and she has written a couple herself!
They also have a great program where you spend $200, you get a $20 card to spend in the store. Eek, I think I've done this a couple of times in the last 3-4 years. :)
I really like this place. The events program is interesting and the inventory spans a nice range of interests. The staff is very helpful and I was able to special order a couple of obscure titles with a minimum of fuss.
I loooove this bookstore. Though they've been a wonderful mainstay in the Rockridge neighborhood, few remember that Diesel was first in Emeryville, right outside the Public Market for a while.
When they moved to my neighborhood, I was ecstatic. I've gone to book signings over the years -- my favorite memories are of meeting Oakland cartoonist Dan Clowes and Michael Lewis who wrote "Moneyball." I even went to hear a writing group read excerpts from their novels in progress. Great place for a community of readers and writers to get together.
Diesel was the first place I ever saw Bitch, the feminist magazine. In fact Diesel carried a fine selection of zines back in the 1990s before the Internet took that type of writing online.
You can buy and sell books here, though I don't think I've ever sold any to them. I prefer to shop and I'm very happy when I find a book I want to read and it's marked used and priced accordingly. Their used books are in very good condition.
There's also a good selection of journals and blank books in the front of the store for those who write and not only read.
My favorite bookstore. Independent with great selection, and friendly and knowledgeable employees. They have an excellent location just a hop skip and a jump from Rockridge BART and all the shops/restaurants around there.
Diesel employees will ask what you like, they read what they recommend, and they make sure they know what they have. Excellent "staff recommends" shelves -- Diesel employees seem to be voracious readers and there's sure to be someone in the shop at any given time who is a fan of the genre you are looking for. The shop is pleasantly crammed full of eclectic titles as well as bestsellers. If they don't have it, they can order it, or they will point you in the direction of another independent bookstore that may have it. Props too for very cool author events (They were one of the only West Coast bookstores to host Kareem Abdul Jabbar!), for supporting local authors, and for the fireplace and couch in the back!
Forget the big generic chains where no one knows Austen from Austin and when you ask for a recommendation they point you toward the bestsellers and don't even take into account that you don't like Chuck Palahniuk or Michael Chabon or whoever happens to be the bees knees at the moment. Forget ordering from Amazon because it saves you a couple of bucks. Support this fantastic shop where employees care about where they work, what they have on the shelves, and what they recommend, and where reading, and the reader, are king.
Alright, I'm biased. I live in sin with one of the employees. But (BUT!!) I am also a bookish freak who:
- needs to special order weird psych books for school ASAP
- reads Heeb magazine (represent!)
- absolutely MUST get a copy of Sense & Sensibility at 9 PM on a Tuesday when I realize my copy has gone missing and I need an IMMEDIATE Jane Austen fix
- likes to bump into local authors like Michael Chabon (swoon!)
- loves to read about all things cooking and travel related (but maybe sneaks a Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants in on an off day) and likes tailored recommendations to such
- wants a clean, airy, hip place to find new books that I will love.
And, oh Diesel, you are all of those things.
Diesel only employs people who love to read. And who read often. Not only that, but the owners ROCK. And it's independent. And pretty. Diesel, I love you.
I really like the vibe of the interior and exterior. It's a mix of open brick, wood, and industrial elements. However once I'm in the store I feel a bit directionless. I'm not sure where to go and nothing really grabs my attention. A cool bookstore but not one that I can find myself spending much time in. Independent bookstores are always fun though.
I feel so spoiled having two independent bookstores located within easy walking distance of our house. I go to Pegasus up the block for used and discount books, and I come to Diesel for it's wider selection, art books and just new books in general. Diesel is a gorgeous bookstore - well-organized, great selection of art and architecture books, as well as more modern and popular novels. It's the antithesis of the big box bookstores.
Small bookstore, which is a good thing in my opinion. Good people, nice atmosphere, comfy couch, cool suggestions from staff. This store is the opposite in every way of the giant, overrated, ikea-feeling, chain bookstores.
OH! and if you're like me and you like to dig into your new books right away, head down to the end of the block to the hudson bay cafe--great reading spot.
the best! I drop in here at least once a week, usually twice. everyone is coridal and smart and helpful. great selection of books. a jewel in the crown of Rockridge merchants.
Although I have yet to find a book here when I come in to browse, they have a gorgeous assortment of cards, journals, and stationary.
They are the perfect solution for Papyrus burnout.
It's four blocks from where I live so I don't know why it took me six years to finally set foot in this store but, once I did, what I felt first was an overwhelming joy at how neat a bookstore it was, followed immediately by an utter sense of regret that it took me six years to finally get myself in there.
I bought the newest Murakami book and the nice lady behind the counter informed me that they can take my info and once I hit $200 in purchase I can get a $20 gift certificate. She had me at hello. I gave her my name and numbers then walked the nice four blocks home.
I stumbled on this place via search for David Sedaris. He was in SF the previous night, but I had a commitment to volunteer at a homeless shelter and the guilt got to me before I could dial and make up an excuse not to come that night. Alas, I found the listing for an appearance the following night in Berkeley (well, Oakland, actually). I maneuvered my way to Rockridge BART, had a nice stroll down College (first a block in the wrong direction, but a pleasant trip nonetheless), and then found a rather impatient and growing crowd outside the bookstore. I was again feeling guilty because I already had a copy of his book so I tried to purchase the new Chip Conley tome. When this was out of stock I was faced with the fact that I was pretty current on my reading list, so I went back outside with the masses. There were a couple of grouches wondering why they were not being catered to (no book purchase, no ticket, just an 'I'm here and you should appreciate my presence' kind of attitude) but, for the most part, it was just a bunch of David Sedaris geeks who took the whole business in stride. We waited till after all the 'Ticket numbers 80 to 100' and 'Ticket numbers 200 to 220' were called, and then made our way into the store. It was standing room only (by then), a bit crowded, and a bit warm. HOWEVER, in strolled Mr. David Sedaris and all was right with the world. He read from his latest book, read an piece that was deemed 'not quite right' by someone in New York, and then literally spent another two hours chatting with each and every person he signed a book for.
Diesel is my hero for coordinating this event and allowing any and all to attend (after catering to their very best customers, which I can appreciate). I left tired, weary, and somewhat exhausted but savored my little 'Dear Robert, we'll always have Tomfooleries' inscription all the way home!
A nicely and neatly stocked independent bookstore with an extensive selection of new and used titles.
This is more a review of the David Sedaris reading than anything else. Thank you for having this event. I've been to several Sedaris readings, usually in the balconies because I can't afford the ridiculous cost of sitting in the orchestra seats. What a wonderful surprise that me and my party got seats 4,5,& 6 at the reading. Thanks to my anal ways checking the website and calling into the store to get pre-sale copies of his book we sat front and center. David is adorable! Laughed our heads off at stories from his latest book and one that probably will never be published because it's meant to be read. I thought the night went off nicely, well organized in a small space. We visited the store before the reading started and I would definitely shop here (if I lived in Oakland). These author events are great. Keep Independent Bookstores alive!
Boy, this is a little gem of a bookstore. The titles and genres that occupy this small space keep me coming back for more. As much as I appreciate the inventory at Cody's, sometimes I can't deal with their growing number of pretentious staff members. This is why I can't help but frequent Diesel. The folks here are so helpful and enthusiastic (including the tall fella with glasses, who writes poetry and got me absolutely hooked on John Ashbery--thank you!), it's absolutely refreshing. Plus, they'll happily order any title you wish.
No doubt- a perfect neighborhood bookstore...and I don't just like it because it's small and locally owned (which is also a plus!). The owners and staff are intelligent, helpful and just nice people. They do a great job of book selection, they know their niche and their customer preferences- I always know what books I can find there...and which ones I probably won't (ie: right vs left....) but I don't mean that as a sterotype...but this is north oakland..... They also let me bring my well behaved pooch in while I shop and they always give her a pet or a smile. One of the reasons I love this neighborhood.
Diesel is a great independent bookstore with a wide selection of popular literary works in Rockridge. I prefer the selection of new books here to Pendragon, its competitor down the street. If you are looking for a particular title and it's out of stock, they will gladly order it for you. They also have a larger children's section and travel section than Pendragon. Magazine selection not as good as Pendragon. Various literary events are hosted at Diesel. Check their website for details: http://www.dieselbooks.../
Diesel! I love you! Helpful employees who read, great selection, lovely card section, great mags - I have spent hours here. Your recommendations have never led me astray. This place is what I think of when I think of independent bookstore.
Love this bookstore! I love the staff picks and all their recommendations. I've found really great cookbooks here---my boyfriend even found a japanese cookbook for his mom. I also love browsing the children's section for my nephew.
After the obligatory trip to have some pastry, some coffee and to take care of my Imelda like fetish of running shoes at Transports, I walk down here for something to read. Sometimes I get these flashes of pure need, like a Tiger smelling some prey, I feel the need for a biography of Gaugin or Matisse or Kant or somebody that is not available at my local Walgreens or Target and here I go. There it is, a book, simple, easy to carry and affordable. No gigantic coffee table books for me. Yes, this is the place to stretch the brain, shed pretentiousness and buy a dictionary (something I need to do next time) and read read read!!!!!
See previous review as to why I spent so much money at Diesel today.....Anyway, I love this place! It's close to my house and everything's organized really well. Also, I ordered a hard-to-find book on http://booksense.com and picked it up and paid right in the store! Seriously, dudes. Don't use Amazon and further contribute to the death of independent booksellers when you can use booksense. If you want the books mailed to you so you can pay online and avoid human interaction, fine, understood. You can do that too on the Diesel site. But if you go in the store to pick them up, you can talk to cute book store boys and buy more stuff! My only wish is that they had more used books and they were more obvious. Searching for those little dots hurts my eyes.
