Bookbarn International Review

It's a nice warehouse that filled with millions of donated books some are dated some are fairly new, there are also new books and a small cafe which was nice.

You could honestly spend hours in this place (I did), enjoying all the books, eating the lovely food (amazing cake) and speaking with the friendly staff. A very special place indeed.

Lovely cafe, very chilled and child friendly. Don't go expecting to find a specific book but instead you'll be surprised by what you do find!

My book arrived on the stated day. It is out of print and I was delighted to find it, I should have bought it in 1989 but I wouldn't have got it for 1p plus postage. Good condition as described.

Books galore and a nice friendly vegetarian cafe. This place is huge and very popular, for a good reason.

Very interesting enjoyed the first of many visits I hope.

I love this place.

(As an update from June 2020);



(An update for May 2020, my review below is now a year old (2019)):

The Bookbarn has been undergoing a dramatic refit, with the main book area being reduced in size and re-organised in order for greater emphasis to be placed on their international and web sales operations. The floor space is being tidied up, but it's loosing some of its jumble sale charm as a result. I'm not surprised as revenue has not been sufficient, so their MO (Modus Operandi) has to change in keeping with financial pressures. It's still a lovely place, chock full of bargains).



I manage to read a book a month and now have over six years worth of reading courtesy of this place.

Don't expect it to be like a book shop. It's a shop in a barn selling books. The books are sourced from libraries refreshing stock and estate clearances, where someone has bequeathed a collection of books or a house clearance.

The books are categorised loosely into subject, e.g alphabetical by author for fiction and then subject matter for non-fiction, such as military, sailing, aviation, etc.

You'll need to be patient and the experience is more like a treasure hunt, which (personally) means I enjoy it more as it's brilliant when you come across a hidden gem.

Yes I love it a million books. Been a good few times. Never disappointed. Now nice food slow service at times but if not in a hurry OK.

Visited a few times over the years. Disappointed today to find the size reduced from last time. No more 'unsorted' section, and an overpriced 'vintage' book area. Also irresponsible parents letting kids run amok between the shelves. All in all a poor experience compared to my previous visits. Not much fun.

Great bookshop with thousands of 2nd hand books. They also have a good vegetarian cafe with lots of home made savoury dishes and cakes.

Lovely place great books and delicious food as well.

Great way to spend an afternoon, literally a million books, plus a great cafe that does some vegan options

If you are a bibliophile, this is definitely a place you should visit. It houses a good selection of books, especially vintage ones. There is a cafe and parking is good.

As usual a great experience. If you like books just get lost browsing or take a book and have a read in the cafe having a nice coffee and freshly cooked vegetarian food served by very friendly staff. And if you cannot find what you are looking for staff will be happy to help!

This was my first visit!! Will be visiting again soon.

Excellent for books, good cafe. Pity it is all vegetarian.

Love this place, and constantly find myself purchasing books from them from Abebooks. Only one complaint, I would like better signage, peering from shelf to shelf is less user friendly. Some big signs pointing out the sections would be great!

Just received a book in the post from Bookbarn and I am delighted. Service and price was excellent and I would definitely use them again. Highly recommended!

Always worth a visit. Interesting place and super selection of books.

Looking for something to read study or a quick coffee or donate some books this is the place for you.

Worth a visit if you are in to your books and like to find hidden gems.

Great place to find a book. Nice coffee whilst considering.

The bookbarn is exactly what it says on the tin, a barn filled with books, tons of second hand books, all sorts of categories, fiction and non-fiction. A small cafe on site for tea/coffee and cake.

Been visiting here since my childhood, now I'm bringing my own children. Amazing place, astonishing selection of book, great cafe and lovely staff who can't do enough to help. A true treasure.

When you first walk into the Bookbarn you don't initially see how big and extensive the place actually is. It was nice to be greeted by staff on the front desk aswell. For me the book choice wasn't that great as not all of the books are More

A great place but will avoid weekends. Ruined by the parents sat in the cafe as the kids ran around the aisles. Treated as a playground. Parents had a nice peaceful coffee and chat, no enjoyment for the book hunters

BBI Order : 455959. Delighted with book, which was just as described. Grateful for amending delivery address as per telephone call. Thank you.

Promises more than it delivers. Claims to have over a million books. Well if they have them they were certainly not on the shelves which had large amounts of empty space, making it look like a cold war eastern bloc bloc shop - more empty space then stock. Also had dim lighting making it hard to see what there was in some areas. The last time I went to this place it was bigger but badly organised. This time it was much smaller, better laid out but with half the premises given over to a staff-only stock room, which from a casual glance, had a a lot of books just not out for sale.

Compared very badly to the relatively tiny Oxfam ship in Keynsham was was packed with choice items. I told them about the sad state of Bookbarn. The staff at Oxfam were proud of having packed shelves and said they immediately filled empty space with more stock from the stock room.

Seriously, Bookbarn are clueless when it comes to retail. Very disappointing.

A great afternoon out with singe surprisingly good food!

Lots of books
All very cheap
Good cafe

I ordered a used book from this store, I can't praise them highly enough, Great prices and VERY fast delivery as well, the book was 2nd hand but in excellent condition, Will definitely use and recommend them to all.

An amazing treasure trove! LOADS of books to browse, but also a lovely trip out, especially on a rainy day. It is snug and cosy. Great little coffee shop. Children's area with books and toys. Friendly staff. And interesting side rooms with antique books, also middle eastern rugs and artifacts. Good facilities, clean, toilets, free wifi, parking. Some curious books too (see photo)

#books

I went looking for something. I came away with 7. And with enough money left from a tenner to buy coffee. Brilliant

Not as good as it used to be. Maybe that is just a sign of the times.

A visit to bath is not complete without a visit to the book barn. Love this place.

I haven't been TO the place but if the service at THE place is as good as the service via the internet and subsequent dispatch then it must be a great place!!

Full of books, which you would expect, and an ace cafe that you wouldn't. We go just for the garlic mushrooms on toast! This year offering free 50 Shades book if you can't find something better to read.... ..think this is probably a little joke, but it was a funny one!

Brilliant spot to find inexpensive books for yourselves or the children/grandkids - they have pleasure of choosing for themselves and it does not cost a fortunate. Cafe is also excellent.

Great concept and their systems always seem to be improving. Amazing to see they were celebrating Veganuary, they had an incredible array of options.

Always find something there, cant go in without my purse haa

A tranquil afternoon browsing books and enjoying tea and cake. What could be better?

Lots of books for sale. They even sell your old ones for you.

Love this place, it's so nicely organized great for browsing and everyone is so friendly definitely would recommend this place for a wander!

A book lover's Mecca. The cafe is cosy with a great selection of tasty food, will be coming back.

I used to love this place. Worth the journey if only for the fabulous cafe.
Sadly there has been a major refit and the old charm has gone. There is more of a Waterstones look to the place now.

Sorry to say I doubt I will come again.

Bit of a haphazard state inside very difficult to find anything unless you want a rug! Very poor selection of books

Prompt service, books in excellent condition. I shall be back!
!

A bit of an Aladdin's cave this place, a wonderful place to lose yourself.

Really lovely place- loads of books and a great cafe

Found some rare gems here. Very refreshing, love books love this place

My wife and I deliberately went to this area in our caravan so we could visit this shop. What a disappointment! I have bought books on line which has been fine, but this is definitely not a shop for browsing. The car park was full which was encouraging but everyone was there for the cafe, not the books. The shelves were more than half empty and what there was on display was very poorly organised, and poorly lit. Like a previous reviewer I believe that the stock on the shelves is what they can't sell on Amazon and all the good stuff is out of bounds. They do offer the facility to look on their computer, fill in a slip and they will get what you ask for out from the warehouse, but that is no good if you're a browser, and what a palaver. My wife would normally leave a large retail second hand book shop with 6 or 7 books but not this time. There were lots of notices posted saying that they were in the process of making changes to the stock on display, but I note from a previous disappointed reviewer that these were on show at least five months ago! As we were in the area for a holiday and were visiting Bath etc the trip from our pitch to this shop was 70 miles in total. The day was only saved by seeing Brunel's Box Tunnel on the way back to our van. I don't understand any serious second hand book buyer giving this place 5 stars unless they liked the cafe!

Enjoy visiting this quiet place. Expanded children's area since last visit. Fantastic hot chocolate, and good range of second hand books.

What more can I say! Books galore at great prices. Some really interesting finds

Loved it there, would have been better if we had more time there, oh well maybe next time

If you like reading, and books at bargain prices, then this is the place to go. We only went to main downstairs section, which is mainly secondhand books of numerous subjects.
Added bonus is the very good, reasonably priced Cafe, also Persian Rugs.

I ordered two used books from Bookbarn International to be shipped to Canada. Unfortunately, the books never arrived through no fault of the seller; nor were they returned to Bookbarn International. Despite this, they were extremely responsive to all my inquiries and totally respectful. They refunded the total cost of my purchase which means they were out that money since they didn't get the product returned. I would definitely order from Bookbarn International again in the future. I just wish our respective postal services were as efficient and respectful as they are.

I love this place. It's all about books. Big books, small books, old books, new books, strange books, rare books.......oh, and not to forget the cakes and the lovely corner upstairs with old maps and paintings. This place is more than an experience, it's an adventure !

Rapid delivery of the book I ordered only 3 days earlier! Thank you for such speedy service.

Quite wide and interesting book range for a really good price. Super cute cafe

Books for 1 pound, excellence cafe, takes about 2 hours at least to look round

A good place to find a book you didn't think you wanted. Make sure you have any of time .....

Lovely shop with great food and coffee. Some amazing finds.

Very large selection of books. Reasonably organised but can be a little frustrating when having to browse 1000's to find something. Coffee shop serving a selection of food and drink

Packed full of books of all types with a lovely cafe

My husband and I are avid readers so the bookbarn is just the place never leave without at least two bags full. The cafe is also great . well done bookbarn.

A shadow of its previous self when it really did have a vast stock of books. Now far smaller with far less books available to browse. Nice warm cafe with plenty of easy chairs for you to rest in whilst reading, eating, or chatting. Stairs More

Almost overwhelming selection. Can be difficult to look for something in particular as the ordering can be a little haphazard

A book lover paradise! Food is also served, and it is very good indeed, big cakes!