Diskovery
Categories: Bookstores, Music & DVD's [Edit]
569 Washington St(between Bigelow St & Brackett St)
Brighton, MA 02135 (617) 787-2640
- Price Range: $
- Accepts Credit Cards: No
- Parking: Street
- Wheelchair Accessible: Yes
18 Reviews for Diskovery
This place is pretty rad. I wandered in one random rainy Sunday afternoon and was lost amongst the piles of books for about an hour. I agree with others it's a bit chaotic and disorganized but it was worth it when I checked out and found out that 3 books cost only $4 (which was seriously discounted from the original price). Cheap books and a friendly cat is a recipe for a good business.
I'll be back soon to support a local independent book store. I say down with big business man!!
So I like the store, there's a lot in there and I spent about an hour and a half looking through stacks and the records. I had read up about it here on Yelp before walking down the street and saw how a lot of people talked about receiving discounts. I bought a couple of records and 2 books and the owner said she'd give me a discount, which ended up being about $2.50 off my total. I paid $30 for my transaction and realized when I got home that I had paid about what the books cost brand new and they weren't in the best of shape.
I guess the deal with this place is you should definitely make sure you're getting decent stuff and not overpaying for some things (ie. the Abbey Road album is $40 there... I have a 2nd copy if anyone wants and I paid 50 cents). I just wanted to voice that you aren't gonna get the best deals and steals every time here.
A huge random selection of books and a very comprehensive selection of vinyls. This is a great place to peruse. You can sit in a corner, or more likely, on a stack of books and read to your heart's content. Or just buy the thing as it is likely only a few dollars.
Tip 1: Check to make sure that the record is inside. I bought a record here and there was a record shaped piece of plastic in its place. I brought it back and she apologized profusely and let me trade it for something else AND gave me a discount.
Tip 2: Cash only, folks.
Tip 3: The cat sheds. A lot. I was reading my book and kept wondering why my eyes were watering and bloodshot. Be careful if you have allergies. Or stock up on Sudafed and Visine.
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I went in for the first time today (easily spent over an hour there), and Yolanda is great! Her cat was snoozing on a chair by the window, sunning itself. There are books, records, magazines, and cds stacked as high as they can possibly go. She could probably fill a store twice the size with all the stuff she's got. We chatted a little and she says that she was forced to move from Allston due to the rent shooting up to $8k a month, where she'd had her store for 25 years. The Brighton location has been open for 2 years. Also, she happily discounted my purchase, and accepted a couple cds from me in trade, and discounted my $35 order to $25. She says she always trades for books/cds, and likes to deal with people so she can give them discounts. Definitely bringing my parents when they visit me. Two thumbs up!
A great place to get lost on a free day. Loquito, the cat, will sometimes keep you company as you hunker down among the stacks and hunt for treasure. Yolanda can help you sort through the chaos (how she remembers what's in there is beyond me); she's known for discounting merchandise, especially if you purchase a few items. Once, when I was caught without cash, she offered to let me take the books and come back to pay her "next week?" That's good people.
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This place is down the street from where I live and it's quite frankly, the best lil get away place in Brighton...I used to go here all the time when the store was in Allston and now that it's in Brighton, it's even better...I love that things are stacked in piles and that you have to comb through stacks and stacks of books and find that gem...
my brother is into parlour magic and old fashioned magic books so he was delighted when he found 2 rare books...the owner (yolanda, I think is her name) she is awesome and she will help you find whatever you need, and most of the time she gives a couple of bucks off when you get something...I've found my mecca of true crime books in the back and it's just a great rainy day place to go. She also always has interesting people coming in and she's very friendly so you don't feel awkward if you're the only person in there...
and if you're not into books, there are records, random magazines, cd's, etc.
Also, her cat is sooo cute. He just sits there on top of the cd's and chills. Love it!
I love this place!
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packed from wall to wall and floor to ceiling, this is what an ecclectic cd/record album/bookshop should be. pushed out of it's original home in Allston due to forces of gentrification, they are now in Brighton. though the space is new, Diskovery remains an ideal place for folks to stop in, have a look at some books, listen to good music and pet the nice kitty cats in the store.
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I honestly believe that the secret of life is hidden somewhere amidst the many, many stacks of books at Diskovery.
I love used book stores like this!! If you are a used book store lover like I am, you could honestly spend an entire day here sifting through the stacks. The owner is so nice and helpful, and more than happy to go the extra mile to help you find what you need, including discounts!
And even though the books aren't organized in an obvious way, I often find titles I've had in mind forever but never been able to find, sitting right on top of a nearby stack.
Like I said, if you are a used book store lover, I definitely think this store is worth the trip out to Brighton. Make sure you have plenty of time and don't have to carry your purchases far, because you'll want to leave with a lot of books! And yes, there is a very cute cat sunbathing somewhere on top of a CD rack...
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Diskovery is the original "long tail". Great selection of used SF and fantasy paperbacks. The owner is intensely knowledgeable about 20th century music and literature so feel free to ask her for help. Trust her recommendations!
Since the store was bumped out of Allston, it is important to keep making the trip out to Brighton to support Diskovery!
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This Place is Magic. i really mean it. I will walk in, and think to myself "Self..you want to find Dh Lawrence", and lo and behold it is right in front of me. Diskovery taps into my literary wants, and tells me exactly what i am looking for.
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This is one of the oddest, most unique shops left in the city.
It's basically one large room with piles of books in the middle and on shelves and piles of records and CDs up against the wall.
An older Asian woman (and her cat) run the place.
Most items have a price scribbled on them in pencil, but pay no attention to it. Depending on whether or not the owner likes you, you can walk out with the item at several times more or less what's written - usually less!
It's a nice place to go if you have some time to kill, as nothing's organized and things are just placed together randomly.
Still, I've found everything from cheap comic books to out of print LPs to interesting short reads, and I don't think I've ever paid more than $3 or $4 for a single item.
Recommended!
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As other Yelpers have written this used book and record store is chaotic, but I love that aspect of it. Just ask the owner what genre your looking for and she will point to the shelves that fall under your specified topic. The prices can not be beat in any other Boston used book store---el cheapo. The bookstore has a strong lit section, although the history section is not that great. Then again Diskovery's old space in Allston was much much larger, and this new location is very small in comparison. So maybe Diskovery does have a strong history section- it might just be in off site storage. The new location is in Brighton's Oak Square on Washington Street, which is about a 20 min walk from their former location in Allston Village. Oak Square is what Boston was like before gentrification.
There is no place I've gotten more unlikely gratifying book purchases.
If you don't like stores where organization or presentation are not the top priorities, you may be rubbed the wrong way by Diskovery. But if it's the bottom line that matters to you -- both the value for your money and the satisfaction that results -- Diskovery is hard to beat.
The epitome of the scattershot used book and music store, Diskovery concedes order in the name of breadth of selection. It is, simply put, designed for browsers. Books are shelved, but sometimes stacks need to be pushed aside to get to those. And sometimes another stack needs to be moved to even see those.
The woman who runs Diskovery, who I think is named Yolanda, is unfazed by any questions. She'll unashamedly do the best she can, guiding you to the section you're looking for, maybe knowing what you're looking for, but quite happy with her set-up. Her cat (every used bookstore should have one) will give you the occasional nod in agreement.
I've walked in here knowing exactly what I wanted and found it, once atop the first stack in front of the door. I've gone in with a blank mind, looking for something to read, and come out with what turned out to be a handful of winners.
Based on my profound experiences with their books, I've admittedly been a little intimidated to delve seriously into the music. But if the crazy-quilt display of classics in the window is any indication, this is where to dig out those cheap impossible finds that only a place with this degree of chaos can afford.
A note: I haven't been to the new location in Brighton (the address info above is for the former Allston location), but I have some confidence that Diskovery will keep the reliable fun surprises coming.
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Did you know you needed a book about your cat's astrology signs? Or a Tina Turner record? This woman is awesome, her cats are so cute,and she's got a great selection of stuff, all piled high and hard to manuever through, just like I like it. And a book/record store combo is always cool. The prices are never what they're listed, she'll knock off some of the price, especially if you buy more than one thing. I hope this place never closes. I like the front door, too.
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This place looks like your basement or attic. It reminds me of a flea market or a tag sale, and is about as organized as one. A crazy asian woman and her cats run the joint. It is a great place to buy used books and records, especially classics. I tend to think the prices could be better, but the market is definitely to pocket heavy trendy college kids. It is definitely cheaper than buying the books new, though maybe not off the used amazon.com boards. When the apocolypse hits, this store and the woman will survive and she'll have precisely the book you'll need to survive.
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Allston Village is the type of place that *should* have a store like this: a bookstore (80% of the space is devoted to used books) where everything is stacked and double-stacked and cluttered nearly to the point where finding a specific title is hard... but you don't go in there looking for anything in particular, you go in there to browse and you usually come out with twice as much as you'd expected to find. The owner has great taste in jazz, and two very charming cats; there's a shelf of 25c books just inside the doorway (I've found some nice ones there), and some damn good titles available for not much ($2-3, most paperbacks) elsewhere in the store.
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A little 2nd hand book store right on washington street. They have tons of good books and other things like posters, definitely a good place to pickup summer reads.
I walk into this store and I get anxious-I worry I'm going to knock over the huge stacks of books this store has. Piles of books towering over your heads comprised this store. They also sell records and have the best window front around. The ladies that run the stores are nice, as are their two friendly cats that like to sleep on the various books
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