Moe's Books

Absolutely loved my visit to Moe’s! This place is a true book lover’s paradise with stacked shelves on multiple floors and an eclectic mix of new, used, and rare titles that kept me browsing for well over an hour. It feels like a treasure hunt — every corner has something unexpected, from academic texts to quirky fiction and vintage finds. The staff are super friendly and knowledgeable, greeting you when you walk in and happy to help with recommendations or locate hard-to-find titles. Prices felt fair, and the store has a cozy, lived-in vibe that big chain bookstores just don’t have anymore. If you’re in Berkeley and love books, don’t miss this legendary spot right on Telegraph Ave.

For book lovers, this is one of the most amazing places you could visit in the Bay Area! Four whole floors dedicated to books of the most varied kind, from European and Latin American history to fiction and rare books 😻 A huge amount of well-kept used books, those that you feel the story just by their art and appearance

one of the coolest bookstores I've ever visited, every floor feels perfectly archived and you can find some really great stuff

Moe's is an amazing enormous book shop, not cramped. ALL types of books, for all ages, genre, creativity levels, etc! From children, politics, academics to fiction, non fiction, rare books... you name it!! It's a 4 story building... you can imagine the amount of books you can find in here. Their staff are friendly and approachable. They have MANY books on sale on every floor. They even have a section of MAPS!! The maid got me!!

Moe’s Books on Telegraph Avenue in Berkeley is one of the most comprehensive independent bookstores in the United States. It occupies seven full floors, including a basement, and carries an unusually wide selection of academic and general-interest titles across disciplines. Its strengths lie in its depth, organization, and pricing. The store has entire sections dedicated to medieval, Renaissance, and Enlightenment Europe; U.S. and Latin American history; Chinese and Japanese history and art; architecture; dance; art; philosophy; sociology; economics; political science; and, of course, literature, especially American and British. That really just scratches the surface. Each section is large enough to support serious research browsing. Books are shelved clearly and logically. Titles often include multiple editions—older university press printings, out-of-print translations, and newer reissues. This makes Moe’s particularly valuable for students, scholars, and anyone working across editions. Moe’s buyers are skilled, selective, and unusually dedicated to buying only the best. All books are individually priced in pencil inside the front cover. The prices are typically well below market value, even for rare or high-quality academic titles. There is also a dedicated rare books floor with first editions and collectible volumes, accessible without special appointment. The basement includes art books, postcards, and a small selection of games and miscellaneous media. Staff members are knowledgeable, efficient, and unobtrusive. The store buys and trades books regularly and does so with integrity: good books are valued appropriately, and trade credit is fair. What makes Moe’s unusual is its location. It is not tucked away or operating on low overhead—it sits in the center of Berkeley, just steps from the university. Its scale and inventory would suggest a more marginal site. Instead, it persists at the heart of a dense intellectual community. That fact alone makes it noteworthy. Having spent plenty of time on major university campuses and in college towns, I can say there are few if any analogues. Some collections in Paris come close in breadth but are limited to French-language holdings. In New York and Oxford, one finds rare or specialized bookstores, but none with this combination of size, general accessibility, and subject breadth. There might be something like this in Cambridge—either side of the pond—but I do not know and somehow doubt so. Moe’s is not hyper-curated, stylized, or brand-driven. (Though its reputation travels far). It is functional, extensive, and unusually well-stocked. Its value is straightforward: a large, diverse collection of useful books, available for purchase at reasonable prices, in a location frequented by people likely to read them. That’s rare.

I've been coming to Moe's for 50;years and it's just as wonderful today as it was then! Browsing at Moe's is such a fun experience! You'll find interesting books you didn't know existed. On Amazon, you need to know what to ask for, but browsing at Moe's opens new doors for exploration. And it's got a cool, funky vibe that's as far removed from the sterility of online ordering as one could possibly imagine. I love this place!

Great children’s books selection. We were able to snag 3 children’s books to add to our baby’s library. Our adult kids found some great books as well. 4 stories of BOOKS 📚