Hawthorne Books Reviews

Best. Bookstore. Ever.

Powell's stores have a brilliant selection of new and used books. The Hawthorne location has a large selection of science fiction and fantasy, as well as a good selection of rpg and board games, and a few good collectables and toys, too.

If you need a little time to select your final purchase, you can enjoy a hot beverage and treat from Fresh Pot, located inside.

The store staff are very friendly and knowledgeable.

Lots of fun books and great prices. I love being able to wonder around and get lost in the books!

This is always been one of my most favorite places to go as a lifelong Portland resident.

If you like books and you happen to be on Hawthorne in Portland...

A love this store as well as the coffee shop joined to it. Fresh pot has good coffee as well as some wonderful murals by a local artist Josh Burd. I may not always find the book I'm looking for but I often find a book I didn't know I was looking for. Check out the staff picks!

Really enjoyed our visit. Great selection. Only problem was used books mixed with new, so if you are explicitly looking for used books, you have to dig. The used selection is good though.

I love the coziness of bookstores, especially Powell's. Not as large as the one downtown, but still has a variety of a selection

Plenty of used and new titles. Knowledgeable staff and warm environment.

A rather diverse selection of books, despite the relatively small footprint of the store. The only complaint is that there is no dedicated parking, so you have to fight with all the rest of Hawthorne . A great place to go if you live in the neighborhood!

Always a fun place to walk around in, fun little date place too!

This Powell's location is fairly easy to access with free street parking. Especially enjoy their metaphysical section.

The smaller version of the Burnside City of Books. Geared towards home & garden selections.

After fighting crowds at the other Powell s, this location a way wonderfully calm place.

I love Powell's Books, but had a bad experience selling back books. It was just really bad customer service.

When I arrived at the counter, the person working at the sell books area did not even look up. I asked him if it was the right place to sell back books to which he replied yes and continued to work on checking in books. After about five minutes, I asked him if I should return at a later time. He seemed offended by my question and said he would be able to help me when he was done. When he finally helped me, he mumbled something as he was going through my books and ended up saying 4 out of the 5 they did not need. After some prying, I found out that they did not need them simply because they were overstocked in those titles. I could take them to the downtown store and they may be able to take them.

I would have appreciated it if this person would have looked up when I came in and simply said he was working on something else, but could help me shortly and then explained the process of why my books were not needed. Instead, it seemed I was bothering him by being there. Not good.

Great selection, knowledgeable employees, their reputation sustains itself, at this location, also.

Such a fun place to walk around and check out different books. They have such a great variety of topics for you to explore. The best part is the cozy atmosphere in the bookstore. It makes you want to buy so many books even though you might not even read it

Been going here for years. Convenient location if you want to skip a downtown visit, but still want to go to Powell's.

Love Powell's! Easy to get around and find books though not particularly wheelchair accessible. Staff are very helpful.

Almost always have what you need and tons you don't

Not the Powell s you re thinking of. The one you be heard about is on the west side.

This Powell's is smaller than it's Pearl District sibling, but not lacking in any way! Still has a great variety and selection of books, decently priced, and lots of other fun stuff, too. They're always packed when I go by, but it's never an issue. I've never waited longer than 3 minutes in line. The staff is always great, too.

A satellite store o# Powell Books, it's compact with a great variety of selections.

What an awesome book shop where you can buy new or second hand. Great service... loved it!!!

Has the same feel as the city of books, great satellite store

Probably the most expensive used book store in the world.

Helped us find a somewhat obscure book in no time! Lovely store!

Besy book store in the United States!
3 stories on a whole city block!
Every single spot is filled with books!
You can 99% of the time find your book!
This place is filled with not only any book imagemable, but the magic and joy one would feel from just walking into this place is heartwarming.
I simply would not want to shop anywjere else.
This is a happy place. <3

A great mini version of the Powell's from downtown. You can find pretty much the same stuff.

Powell's books is awesome. Support local businesses!

Biggest and best bookstore on the planet. Attendants super helpful. You can use the place almost like a library, though it's virtually impossible to exit without purchases in hand.

I prefer this location to the downtown one just because it's less crowded.

Something about this store gives me bad vibes. The selection is okay, but it feels like the place is about to cave in, and I don't know why. Several of my friends have the same feeling. It's just not a very inviting location, which is disappointing since the other locations are wonderful.

I dont really read a book very often but my wife does and she loves this place and so do I because she does!

Great book store there is always a gem or hidden treasures just waiting to be found...

Great bookshop. You can sell your books easily online (and purchase used books very affordably online and pick up in-store). They've got a nice selection. I've even been able to find a nice variety of books in other languages for book-drives and things. Highly recommend!

A cozier location then the store downtown but still completely stocked with lots of variety and bargain prices.

Whatever your taste in books, you'll find it here at Powell's. Just wish they had more books to choose from.

Awesome satellite branch of what is arguably the best bookstore in the world.

While this location doesn't have the extensive selection available at the downtown store (what other store does though?!), if you're looking for cute Portland souvenirs, to get a recent release, or to fill your child's OBOB list, you'll find what you need here. Another perk of this location is that there's a Blue Star Doughnut shop right down the street.

This book store is bigger than you'd expect and goes way, way back. If you don't feel like parking downtown or don't need a full city block worth of books, this a great alternative to the downtown Powell's City of Books. Also great gift options and board game selection!

If I had more time, I could easily spend a couple hours in Powell's Books! I their main downtown store, as well as the two stores on SE Hawthorne Blvd. Powell's is a wonderful place to get lost, lol!

Folks working were so friendly and helpful, especially when I had to make a return because I bought the wrong book.

They were friendly and knew just where to find what I was looking for.

Powells on Hawthorn is another resource for good new and used books, but it is nowhere near as big or impressive as the downtown store, and because of this, the individual sections are much smaller...

Lovely Hawthorne edition. They had Snow Country by Yasunari Kawabata for $5.

Such a fun place to visit. A warm and cozy atmosphere with dark wood stained shelves and tables. They have a lot of new and old books including a whole dedicated section for kids--I believe there was a children's book club meeting/discussion while I was there. Toward the front, in a separate section, was a tempting coffee bar that I have yet to visit. I will be updating this as I explore this awesome bookstore in the future!

Great selection of books, but the guy that "helped" me with the selling of my books was rude and failed to explain how he decided value...

Though i could often beat the price at Powells by web shopping, I find I like to patronize them so we keep this great bookstore in our neighborhood, and it is nice to look at the book in person first!

Not as great a used book store as years ago, and the technical / science, and languages seems to be under represented, but that perhaps more a commentary on our community. The folks there are generally helpful if they feel like it, but not helpful as could be by a long shot... very up and down... that is when they feel it. I often am made to feel i am interrupting some really important conversation they were having with a co-worker, and like I am bothering them.

All the same I keep going there, more for the books than the folks that work there.

Great book selection. Lots of nice used books for half price or less. Staff is a little stuffy and hard to get along with.

Quintessential Portland! Many rainy afternoons perusing the shelves, both new and used books, helpful staff, coffeeshop and so much more.

A great place. More than just the books on the shelves.

I give it a four stars because I found a condom in a romance book but apart from that it was pretty good.

Who doesn't love Powell's books?! Better than going to Barnes and Noble.

Great bookstore to visit or purchase. Organized well and love that a brick and mortar store still thrives.

This place is huge! Expect to take a whole day to go through the store. They do have a coffee shop so you can rehydrate.

I used to shop here and direct tourists here until they helped promote NO on measure 97, which asked very profitable corporations to pay their fair share in taxes to fund basic services for the poor in Oregon. Now we all have to make up for it or suffer huge budget cuts to healthcare, education and senior care. Hey, Powell's take a hint - don't get involved in politics, just be a bookstore.