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Seekers Books
Category: Shopping Books, Mags, Music and Video Bookstores Bookstores [Edit]
509 Bloor Street WToronto, ON M5S 1Y2
(416) 925-1982
- Price Range:
-
$
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- No
11 reviews for Seekers Books
11 reviews in English
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Review from Mauricio A.
Toronto, ON
This is the anti-Indigo! By far one of the best bookstores in Toronto. Hidden in a nook at the corner of Borden & Bloor, this gem is what a book store used to be and in some ways still should be.
Indigo is more of a showroom for books, cd/dvds and with a Starbucks attached. This is a large room where books are stored and kept until someone who wants them finds them.
Yes, the musky incense along with the musty old books give it charm. In fact, I would say this store has its own very unique smell, it's Seeker Incense.
Tons of English literature, history, some large New Age collection, (not a fan however), comics and sadly as of recent (a few years actually) an ever growing collection of CDs and DVDs. Boo.
As far as the staff? Normally just one guy at the cash, he himself reading a tome and always willing to chat if you are willing to engage. Also and without fail an avid reader himself. Yes, "the guy" at the cash might not be the same from visit to visit but one thing you can expect, whoever works there, will knows his genre of books and will be interesting to chat to about books.
Prices are pretty good -- in the $7-$9 range and most importantly, you are helping your local bookstore. Wink, wink, pledge, pledge!
If there is one small nuisance is that sometimes you might not find the "latest" books, so you have to wait a few weeks or in some cases months if want something that was released last weeks.
I used to find myself on weekends swinging by this place and just browse until a book or two picked my fancy to add to my collection. Good times.
THIS is a place worth going and check out!
Highly recommended. -
Review from Bund W.
Toronto, ON
12/28/2011
Great bookstore! The owner has been in business in various locations for the past 20 years. Where to start? The ambiance is old school bookstore. It's well organized despite the shelves bursting with books (which is a good thing). The selection and pricing is fantastic. This is a nice change from all the anti-septic bookstores out there. The conversations at the front counter are always a hoot. Upon overhearing them, you want to participate...and you're welcome to! The service is very friendly and helpful. The owner will either know exactly what direction to point you to or take you there himself. The 12PM- 12AM hours are great too.
Highly recommended. -
Review from j w.
Toronto, ON
6/25/2011
I love this store. I love that it's dishevelled yet organized. It's unpretentious. It's musty. The sci fi and comics are placed in the centre of the store like a shrine to all things geek. The obscure reference material available is endless.
The thing I love the most is that the staff doesn't sneer at me when I ask a question or if they know where to locate a specific book. I went in, knowing the name of the book I was looking for, but I had forgotten the author...a situation met with hostility a few months ago at another bookstore down the street...
The gentleman behind the counter didn't just tell me the name and point me in the right direction. He dropped what he was doing and helped me search through the stacks. -
Review from Giselle g.
Toronto, ON
6/9/2010
I hope Seekers Books will be around forever. But not really for the book selection or prices, which I don't find that amazing.
1) The Smell. (Yes!) It's a combination of incense and musty old books. I love it.
2) The conversations overheard. It reminds me of late-night call-in radio shows. I've heard discussions about Noam Chomsky, Why toothpaste is unnecessary, How the world will end in 2012, How cancer is caused by negative thoughts...
3) Nostalgia. It reminds me of a lost bohemian annex which I find comforting. Now if we could only bring back the Blue Cellar Room
4) It's open until midnight, Sometimes you just want to look at books late at night. -
Review from lucinda k.
Vancouver, BC
7/11/2011
One of (if not the) Best bookstore in Toronto~ Soooo many titles at great prices, packed but organized. Friendly staff who look like they love their job adds to the experience. Open pretty late for night owls.:)
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Review from Angela H.
4/3/2009
This might sounds weird, but I really like going to Seekers because of the way it smells. I don't know what type of incense they burn, but I can always smell it from the street, and it's like it hypnotizes me, and lures me downstairs to their basement store. After successfully finding a used, well priced book, or just browsing for a few minutes, I continue my walk on Bloor, with a faint smell of their store on my clothes for the rest of the day.
I once found a really nice hardcover, gold bound copy of "Girlfriend In A Coma" at Seekers for only $9. You need to dig a little, since it's overflowing with books, but sometimes you'll get lucky and find a sweet read, for mega cheap.
The staff also seem to know every single title that comes through, so do not hesitate to ask for something. The floor to ceiling piles of books may look intimidating, however if what you want is there, they will pull it out for you! -
Review from A V.
Toronto, ON
4/10/2010
You can't criticize the hours or the selection. Seems like it's always open and they have a lot of books on just about any topic you could want to read about.
It's a little 'new-agey' in there sometimes. I'm always worried I'm going to get tractor beamed up into a UFO, like some cow in a field, and then...well you know...
Nah, just kiddin'. It's a great store. -
Review from Terry H.
Toronto, ON
11/6/2010
This place is a dump and I hate the dismissive attitude of the staff (except for the girl with the glasses, she was cool).
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Review from Alejandro A.
Toronto, ON
11/20/2008
Open from noon-midnight every day, Seekers is a basement level used bookstore that is hemorrhaging books from every possible seam. You walk inside and not only is every shelf bursting with paperbacks and hardcovers, floors also have stacks of books in all directions.
Seeker's specializes in occult books, not in the sense that they exclusively sell them, but more in that they have the largest collection of occult books I've ever seen for sale. If you're interested in, or curious about, that kind of thing, this store is definitely one to check out.
As far as the rest of the store goes, I would have to say it is on par with your average used book store. Because there are only so many books that can be put into any one store at any one time (and this is despite the fact that this store is packed packed packed books) there's a good chance that if you're looking for something very specific, you won't find it. That said, never count a used book store, including this one, out of a book hunt. -
Review from Jimi S.
ON
11/28/2008 5 photos
i dont know which part of the first exposure made this feel most sneaky to me. was it that i was walking down into some shady looking store? was it the purple neon glow that emanated from the ghostly light silhouetting the fenced door? or perhaps the stark operating hours of 12 to 12 that intrigued me the most.
yet inside this book lovers den is a clean, cozy, shop filled with fresh new and mildly used books that seem to disappear in a gridlock of aisleways, shelves and back rooms filled to the brim and beaming with colour.
after combing the shelves of another used book shop, on a whim i slithered down here and straight away was lead to a tome of five in one dashiell hammett books. more over, i spotted the watchmen in full display for half price.
and after a few giggles with the guy at the front (perhaps the owner) i was given a book for free!! (lucky day.)
id come back here again in a second for the owners knowledge, for the seeming secrecy of it, for its variety of old and new and because its not bustling. -
Review from Matty K.
Toronto, ON
8/15/2008
A place full of sorted books in which it is possible to find traces of the esoteric amidst the exoteric. More than often, if you listen in, the shoppers discuss mysterious topics in this hidden gem underground. A gem that is, if the book finds you !
