Booky Joint

This is my favorite book shop. I wish there were more around, especially down in the oc, but I guess I’ll have to stick to Barnes n nobles whenever I’m not here on vacation. This is a must stop every trip! I also use their website to make online purchases which arrive timely and in perfect condition.

Love this place! Was a little bummed it’s only half the size now, but still the best place to get books!

What a great selection, thank you!

Great place with SO many choices. One of my favorite places to visit when I’m in town.

My wife often tells me that I spend too much time reading. «John S.,» she says, «youth is wasted on the wrong people.»
My wife doesn’t really say that. I don’t have a wife. You would have known that if you had pored through my 1,899 Unilocal reviews to date. Now, I guess an argument could be made that if I’m not even going to name my younger niece, I might not mention my wife, but I’ve mentioned at least a dozen relatives in my Unilocal reviews, so all of you should know that I’m not married. You should also know that Iris is not Depeche Mode, but I could understand that mistake. In a way.
This is review No. 1,900 for me, and I started it that way because I’ve never started a review with «My wife.» Go figure. I’ve started reviews with all kinds of phrases and clauses and especially words because it sometimes bothers me how many of my reviews begin with the word «I.»
My sister, who really and truly exists (she has existed longer than I have), likes to look at the first and last sentences in novels and short stories. Once she pointed this out to me, and I became obsessed with it. For a time. In the 1990s. I didn’t pay attention for a few years, if not a decade, but I’ve gone back to it.
Reading reading reading reading.
In case you didn’t know, «Youth is wasted on the wrong people» is a classic line from It’s a Wonderful Life, which might be my sister’s favorite movie of all time. Jimmy Stewart might definitely be her favorite actor of all time, followed closely by Michael J. Fox. Or at least that was the order in 1989.
Nineteen-​eighty-​nine brings us squarely to Mammoth Lakes, California, and almost as squarely to Booky Joint, the finest business in Mammoth Lakes. I don’t write that lightly, but I don’t write much lightly, so you’ll have to excuse the pounding of my keyboard. Booky Joint exists because books still exist. Long before books will cease to exist, Booky Joint will cease to exist, but I’m trying my hardest to delay that day, because books and especially independent bookstores are more important than most things you think of as important. Like your phone. And your hair. And your mortgage. (I won’t even go into property values because I assume you know I’m anti-​bourgeois, even though I am bourgeois, and if you haven’t thought about that, you’re part of the problem, and I really can’t make your life any better than it already is. You’re perfect. You don’t need God or help or other people, and you don’t care about other people, unless they look and dress and act like you. Fine. But I hate you.)
Who doesn’t love a real old-​fashioned bookstore in a resorty town that used to be a plain old mountain town? And they have art supplies. And toys and boardgames. And everything non-​electronic with which to entertain your children and preteens and early teens. The full-​fledged teenagers are too far gone to be saved, but if you’ve done a good job of parenting, then their boredom and disaffection and hatred of you won’t last past the age of 23−−20 or 21 if you’re lucky.
So please come here and read and browse and spend time. Bookstores can no longer afford to be pushy about no magazine reading, but please buy if you do read. And buy some greeting cards.
In case I didn’t make it clear, this is review No. 1,900. Yea for me.

We were in the Eastern SIerras to see the fall colors and looked for a local bookstore. Booky Joint is a great little local bookstore, with both new and used books. Also magazines and toys. Great selection of books on the area. The owner was one of the kindest I have ever met in a bookstore. My husband and I were browsing there for some time, and I listened in to the his conversations with all of the customers who came in. With each and every person, he was so kind and helpful, offering lots of information and help. It was especially sweet to listen to how he was with a couple of kids who were looking for something. He told me that he has lost a huge fraction of the local business to online sales and ebooks, and now the larger fraction of his sales are from vacationers like myself. So please go into this bookstore and browse and buy something when you are in the area!

Tough enough operating an independent bookstore these days much less one in a town reliant on skiers and off-​season sightseers wandering along the 395 corridor. Cozy, abundant, especially with guide books on the Eastern Sierras (there to the right of the counter as you walk in) and photo cards by the local outdoor photo masters. Long may it last.

Great selection of books, maps, art supplies, games, toys, gifts. They even carry a selection of used books which is awesome. Knowledgeable and friendly staff.

Good bookstores are hard to find these days almost anywhere. In a world where people are leaning more toward reading things on their electronic devices, finding a great independently owned bookstore is a true gem. I’ve lived in the eastern Sierras for over eight years now and am thankful we have a few of said bookstores. Booky Joint has changed over the last few years to accompany these changes and still be able to survive. He now carries more Legos and children’s toys to make up for the fact that Mammoth no longer has a toy store.
My significant other and I went in to buy a few things for my son the other day. While originally intending to get him books I realized he’s already got enough to fill the juvenile section of a small bookstore… so I turned to the Lego section. My son has often complained that he doesn’t want a Lego set, but instead an open pack that he can build his own stuff with. Booky Joint had two of these, one in a container which we brought to the counter to purchase. While ringing us up, the owner mentioned that he had another open building set that came in a box and had less specialty pieces. We were more interested in that set since my son already has a container and plenty of specialty pieces from previous sets. He found it for us and pointed out what each set has and how many pieces in each. The price was the same for both, so we opted for the box.
A few days later we had to make a trip down to LA. While there we went to a Target and checked out their Lego section to compare prices. They were selling the same set we had just purchased for only $ 4 less. I was extremely impressed with that. Given that Booky Joint is a small store and therefore does not have the same buying power as the big box stores, not to mention is hours away from any major town, he still manages to offer toys at competitive pricing. So I get the satisfaction of supporting my local bookstore, getting great customer service, AND knowing that I got a good price as well.

The decline of book storefront retailers makes me sad. The good news is that the Booky Joint has diversified. If you want board games, jigsaw puzzles, calendars, awesome stationary, and even some toys the Booky Joint has it. The variety of books for sale is good considering their size, and if they don’t have what you are looking for they can order it for you. I ordered a book recently, and it only took a couple days to arrive. They also have the best magazine variety in Mammoth. Much better than Vons.

Great store for those looking for some books. Unlike Book Chalet a block down the street, the selection here is mostly new books at sticker prices, along with some toys, games, mangas, magazines, etc. They have a few shelves of used books at a few dollars each, including some good bargains (Freakonomics hardcover for $ 6). Come here if you’re used to big stores that include many things related to books like Barnes and Noble, but for dirt cheap, library-​like selection take a look at Book Chalet.

This is one of my most favorite stops in Mammoth without a shadow of a doubt. It seems to be as famous as Schat’s which is close by and it has a similar phenomena. When you get inside the cozy lil shop, your sense go wild with the sights and smells (yes smells) of this place. Its almost like new car smell, but instead its new book smell!!!
I always love to come in here to see what is available in their eclectic collection of random codexes and tomes. They sell books literally on every subject under the rainbow as you can see in the others comments. The workers in the store can discuss hundreds (perhaps thousands) of different authors/​works.
I highly suggest taking a step back in time 20 years and setting down your tablets and ereaders and picking up a paperback and enjoying a real book again. These guys have outstanding prices on new books and a decent selection to boot!

You know, if you are going to Mammoth you would think that going to a bookstore would be fairly low on the list of Things To Do.
Well if this is true, change your list. This is a Good bookshop. Its small, but I will quite often find books there that I could not find elsewhere.

Such a cute little bookstore! Feeling so warm and cozy in here. Actually has a great selection of best sellers. And lots of great children’s activity books.

This joint is smokin’. Actually, scratch that, it’s a bookstore. Don’t smoke in here, you dolt. But being interested in book learning, I’m sure you get the idiom.
The spread in here starts out with some pretty cool stuff, so you know it’s okay to wade in further. Some sort of hardcover «low brow”/street art manifesto type book, a book on Banksy (hipster stuff, I know, but something for everyone, OK? Geez), some stuff on tattoos, and then, down below what do I see but some of the coveted (for me) Dover coloring books OH YES. They have Classic Tattoos, Butterfly Stained Glass, Mandala Stained Glass, Dragons, and some others. They also have a Mammoth Lakes cb and a Bodie ghost town cb. Rock on, Booky J.
The fiction section is good, though heavy on the Palahniuk and Vonnegut and lighter on some other things that certain people might like. I heard the staff discussing the phenom of «chick lit» as something unfamiliar (not that I blame them, good lord!).
There’s also some Mammoth memorabilia, some nice candles for ya, greeting cards and the like.
If you have a child or a child-​like friend, or are like a child yourself, definitely come here. The kid lit section is pretty rockin’. Lots of activity books, art supplies, and books. The game section leaves nothing to be desired either. I would loooooove to see them get some Dover historical fashions coloring books up in heyah!