Pulpfiction Books

Pulpfiction isn’t an overly big store, but it doesn’t need to be. It’s a well curated but diverse selection of books, and the prices and exceptional condition of the books are unbeatable. The staff were super helpful, and very kind. I’ve read some of the other reviews about staff attitude, and that hasn’t been the case any of the times that I’ve been in.

This is a great local bookstore with some real gems. I’ve only ever been to the kits location. Friendly and helpful service. If they don’t have something you are looking for they can often order it in for you at a discounted rate. I love supporting this store — it’s the kind of store I want to see more of in our community.

The best book store! The staff are very friendly. I went in to buy my boyfriend’s mom the Jerusalem cookbook to mail to Toronto and the women working there told me to take it to weigh it at the post office first before I buy it just to make sure it wasn’t too expensive to mail! The cookbook was also at least $ 5 cheaper than chapters, so why not support a great local place?!! Highly recommend this place!

I don’t scan pulp fiction a lot. I just go in an order/​get quotes for new book orders which are inexpensive. Even less expensive than I saw at Book Warehouse before it closed. So, if you know your title, this is the place to come.

woman staffing PF 7 August 2013:
«Ewww a tween and his mother came in looking for a book and the mother asked me if the laptop by the register could be used for searching inventory at the other locations. How VERY TIRESOME. I’ll get rid of them by being lazy, uninformed and the least helpful I can be.»
«NO, we’ve only a DOS program for NEW BOOKS. We DON’T carry a lot of sports.» Tweener did find about four books on a shelf: he was looking for Canadian hockey books as they’re hard to find where he lives. «Is the list you have one or two books?» the staffer asks.
Note: Pulpfiction’s website shows that 4000 of its titles are on places like alibris and biblio. Hours later I did an online search through pulpfiction’s website, and a 2004 hockey title came up as a search result, not exactly new. I will be surprised if we had this exchange with the owner. If she did turn out to be the owner this review’s gonna be a one-​star.
Tween mom to staff:“The list we have is one or two books.“
Staff: «I’ll call.» Dials. Hangs up three seconds later. «They’re busy.»
Mom: «I have a dollar-​something left on my phone and it’s a dumbphone so I can’t check via apps. We are also from out of town.»
staff: «Try Book Warehouse (at Ash and W Broadway: close to 20 blocks east). They carry sports.»
I also know Tanglewood and Brigid’s are the closest, and Vancouver Kidsbooks the 5-​star place was five blocks east, but again due to lack of phone features could not identify the addresses but note the poor soul didn’t suggest them. I was going to ask her for the address of Lawrence Books in Dunbar/​Southlands area but gauging from our interaction I suppose that would have been a GARGANTUAN EFFORT for her to undertake with her laptop a whole twenty centimetres from the register. Better to ask her for something more reasonable, like a kidney donation.
Two stars for snottiness because a tween’s come in with a handwritten list of two titles. In this age a good bookseller would’ve been excited to see a young reader.
Bookstores like Michael’s in Bellingham and MacLeod’s or Vancouver Kidsbooks would not have staff who treat out-​of-​town book searchers like this. The poor review is not because PF didn’t carry the titles he wanted: I’ve given stores I’ve picked on a bad day four stars. It’s the snottiness and distinct effort of being jointly uninformed and unhelpful to customers visiting from OUTSIDE the AREA.

This is what every used bookstore should aspire to:
My 5 points that earned them 5 stars:
— a great selection of both discounted new and used books in an easy to navigate layout. Bonus points for witty section titles.
— a great selection of classics and local niche books, including the requisite selection of pulp-​fiction that give the store it’s name.
— a bright and airy feel than manages to maintain the cloistered comfort that bibliophile expect.
— friendly informative staff that will help you find just the book you are looking for, even if you didn’t know it yourself.
— a selection of zines and records to satisfy the the complimentary needs «unconventional and bright» customers. After all – despite out best efforts – we can’t live on books alone!

Organized? With categorized, labeled shelves? It can’t be a used book store — can it?
A great little gem of a store — I entertain myself here thumbing through whatever catches my eye — never intending on staying long, but inevitably winding up wondering where the time went. My favourite section is just above the young teen books — I always seem to find some sort of adult humour comic book that begs me to buy it.
At some point in my perusing, I’ll decide I need to have a mission — a gift for someone, or a new addition to my own bookshelf. And I always walk away with something new… I mean old…

«Our customers are well-​read, unconventional, and bright» Pulp Fiction explains on their website. I like that. It’s a fun place, and perhaps a great place to go meet unconventional bright people. Like maybe you’ll meet someone who has 12 cats?
As for the books– this place is all about quality. They respect the books and take care of the books. Unlike McLeod’s where I put on excavation gear and a dust mask, Pulp Fiction is more of a book sanctuary. Everything has a place, and the inventory is well organized. Because of this browsing is a real treat. It’s less treasure-​hunting, and more treasure-​finding.

I like my used bookstores full of dusty piles and teetering stacks of antique tomes. With this is mind Pulpfiction makes quite the refreshing change.
Walk inside this Broadway store and the lone scent is the subtle pine from the clean, uniform shelves. Books are neatly shelved and titles visible. The quality of books is excellent for the price.
I found myself browsing the shelves just as I do in new bookstores — the displays and sections are well thought out and organized. With the bright red walls, helpful but not pushy staff, and convenient Broadway location there are ample reasons to stop here more often.

According to the Georgia Strait newspaper, Pulpfiction is the best used book store in the city. Sure, it has a great selection of titles to choose from, but the best? You decide.
I will say this. The staff is friendly and informative; they really know their stuff (I have not stumped them once with a question). And the store
offers lots of zines and comics, packaged pulp fiction (from which it gleans its name), and used records… which you can sample on the in-​house record player.
A huge selection of science fiction, too, for all you fans out there. And many Dungeons & Dragons titles, none of which I have ever personally cracked.

This great little bookstore is the slightly smaller cousin of the store of the same name on Main Street. Both have a really good selection of general fiction, literary theory and they specialize in the Beats. Though this store carries a lot of used books, they also keep certain new books as well, and these are sold at a discounted price. The people who work here are quite knowledgeable and pretty helpful. Definitely worth stopping into!