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Joseph-Beth Booksellers
Rating Details »
Categories: Bookstores, Newspapers & Magazines [Edit]
161 Lexington Green Cir Ste B1Lexington, KY 40503
(859) 273-2911
- Price Range:
-
$$
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Private Lot
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
10 reviews for Joseph-Beth Booksellers
Joseph Beth is my favorite place in the world. Over the years it has changed quite a bit, and now there's literally something for everyone. Whether you are into reading about history, the environment, or simply want to brows the cook books you'll find something interesting inside.
The staff are friendly, helpful, and knowledgeable (they have actually read the books). Each staff member chooses the section in which they work so that they will be able to give accurate and insightful advice when recommending titles.
J-Beth is a place to come and relax, it's a place where you can pop in and out, and it's the only book store I've ever encountered that will send you to a different store because they don't have a title. (If they don't have they will order it for you free of charge...just takes a few days for shipping) Also, if you need a book you are welcome to call ahead, and a staff member will pick it up and hold it behind the counter for up to a week. Just come in and head directly to the check out. This is so helpful when it comes to reading for school.
The cafe is excellent, the bar downstairs is tons of fun, and reading by the fire on a rainy day always a fantastic activity. You can sit down and read for hours without interruption. Actually , the store encourage people to come and hang out.
I am seriously in love with this place. There's nothing else like it. It's what I miss most about Lexington.
I stop in at Jo-Beth's when I'm home visiting my family. In terms of independent bookstores, it's good: lots of local flavor, knowledgable sales staff, overall friendly.
My biggest gripe with this place, though, is that it's not multicultural AT ALL. I usually ask about an African American bestseller (urban lit or otherwise--usually otherwise), and they can always order, but never have in stock (though they want to point me to a book they think I'm interested in that's written by some White person--NOT what I'm looking for, but thanks).
The ONLY time I was pleasantly surprised was when a young woman in the children's department pointed me in the direction of new urban fiction featuring African American teens--she'd read them and even hooked me up with an advanced review copy for my students. She was a library science grad student at UK and that was her area. She was spectacular (she gets five stars, but she's not been there in my subsequent visits).
It's also sad, depressing, unacceptable that in the 50+ times I've been there over the last five years that I've only seen two Black folks working there, and never at the same time. Really? Is this my hometown?!
And don't even THINK of asking for Kwanzaa cards; that question led me on the wildest goose chase around the store that I've ever been on and didn't even result in Kwanzaa cards. Harambee, indeed!
I guess I'd hope that independent stores would at least push the envelope a bit, or at least feature books that are multicultural (it's not like Lexington is all-White!). Nonetheless, I do stop in when I'm home; after, of course, I adjust my attitude, and content myself with one of its kick-ass chocolate chip cookies from the cafe (a steal for a buck!).
Giving this store less than 5 stars would be like telling an old friend 'thanks for always being there for me but I don't need you anymore'.
This store helped me through graduate school. How you ask?
First, it was a place to escape.
I could go down to the travel section and read about all the places i wanted to visit. The children's section to see the kids giggle with glee at the stuffed animals. The mystery section to buy my popcorn books that I would exchange with my friend. The stationary and cards reminded me of all the people I needed to write or call. The bargain bin, books I could afford. I could spend hours in this store just looking around and there was never a problem.
Second, the cafe was a comfort place.
The BEST dessert place in town. Cheesecake, apple crumble, scones, triple chocolate cake, carrot cake and anything else they could think up which would go well with your latte, lined the bakery shelves and begged to be consumed.
My friend and I would meet and eat cake and bitch about our grad student lives almost every Friday night here. If we were hungry, they had a full lunch/dinner menu with light and delicious food.
I miss Joseph-Beth Booksellers. I miss their cheesecake. I miss the comforts of their shelves. I miss sitting with my friend in the cafe bitching about school.
This is, without a doubt, the absolute best bookstore I've ever been in. The selection is unmatched. The staff is knowledgable and very eager to help.
I want to live inside this store.
i would have given JB's five stars, but they are just not as awesome as they were 10 years ago. They are still head and shoulders better than B&N or Borders, but it's sad to see they're just not what they used to be. The books have slowly but steadily been losing ground to all the gift stuff and knickknacks. Thankfully they have good taste in knickknacks, so it's a great place to go gift shopping.
I was going to say something comparing them to chain bookstores, except they are themselves a chain, albeit a regional one. This is the flagship but they also have 4 other stores in Cincinnati, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, and Charlotte. They also own the Davis-Kidd bookstores in Tennessee.
Anyway, their strongest sections are Kentucky books, children's, cooking, and magazines. They are currently moving around/re-working their business section, and it is woefully thin, even though it has been very strong in the past. They carry a great selection of specialty items like molskine notebooks and Uglydoll toys. Their music selection is large, probably the largest selection of classical music on CD in Lexington.
The cafe is a little hit-or-miss. It's a wonderful gathering place, after all who doesn't enjoy meeting with their friends, getting a bite to eat, and browsing a great bookstore. That said, when it gets crowded, the kitchen can't seem to keep up, and it seems sometimes the food quality suffers.
The most enjoyable part of a trip to JB's for me, though, is the new-books display on the right when you first walk in. I love that it's not just new hardbacks, or new fiction, but that it includes paperbacks and specialty books as well. also, the employee-suggested section has never steered me wrong.
Bookstore: Three stars
Cafe: Five stars
Average: Four stars
Don't get me wrong... I love independent booksellers, and I love Joseph-Beth, but I have to be in the right frame of mind when I go there. Here are my thoughts.
Barnes & Noble is for getting in, finding what you need exactly where you expect to find it, grabbing a white chocolate mocha, and getting the heck out. Joseph-Beth is for meandering, browsing, admiring the fancy stationery, and eyeing (but not buying) a pomegranate-dill candle. Joseph-Beth is for loitering. It's amazing but true: Joseph-Beth is enormous, but everything gets picked up, fondled, and misplaced so often that not even the booksellers themselves can find anything. On top of that, all of the chairs are always taken... literally always.
So what's a girl to do? Take thee to the cafe! This is no scones-and-cheesecakes- only operation. It's a full-service restaurant, and everything is excellent. Now and again, they feature seasonal recipes from recently published cookbooks, and that's always a treat. I can't tell you how many times I've come in the back door (by the Hilton) and eaten dinner without ever going into the bookstore. Eh, I'll just run by Barnes & Noble later.
I don't know what it is about bookstores, but i could spend HOURS in them, and i don't really read! But they have everything! Music, Mags, BOOKS BOOKS BOOKS, great travel section, coffee, huge kids section. They really have it all. And a lot of it.
It is indeed a small, regional chain -- nothing compared to the "bookstores" (those vapid, hypercommercialized monstrosities you see at the mall or in a huge shopping center) that dominate the US now. But their selection is just as good, and with a true local flavor, not just some crappy "local interest" table. The ambiance is nice in the cafe and in the bookstore proper, despite it's hugeness. Staff is hit-or-miss.
They have a nice fireplace surrounded by really luxurious ergonomic chairs. People fall asleep in them a lot.
Some weird things about JB:
1. The (men's) bathroom. The urinals aren't private at all. I used to get the creeps there when I was younger.
2. They put Jeff Buckley in the folk section.
3. I stole a dungeons and dragons book from there once. I think they need better security.
I have nothing but praise for JB Books because every experience I have had with them has been quite positive. I have found fairly obscure books there as well as some pretty good deals on others. In the event they did not have what I was looking for, they were very willing to find and order it.
Prices are decent and although online ordering can sometimes be cheaper, the ability to pay only slightly more and have it in-hand is quite nice.
One complaint would be the high prices in their media section. I have found both CDs and DVDs that were quite expensive, though I have been able to find rather rare EPs there. They have an amazing local music collection as well.
Great atmosphere, and a great store all around. Highly recommended.
It's too bad that Joseph-Beth hasn't stepped in to fill the gap left in Louisville by the assimilation of Hawley-Cooke (into Borg-er's).
