Strictly By The Book

This is a fairly new discount bookstore that is located on Route 28 in Salem, NH.  I don’t know the exact address, but it is in a store that used to be Linens & Things, in a shopping center that has a defunct CompUSA store, a Best Buy, a Michaels, and a PetSmart.  It’s a couple of miles south of the Mall at Rockingham Park , on the same side of the road as said mall (right hand side when driving south on 28).  The shopping center is called the Village Shops.  I hope this is enough info to help you find the place!

We were up that way in the eternal search for Purina Cat Chow in the red bag, something we’ve sadly determined that they don’t make any longer, even though it is still pictured on the Cat Chow website.  The PetSmart in that shopping center is one of the places we looked, but they didn’t have it.  Since we had plenty of time, we decided to walk over to this Strictly By The Book place and check it out.

Some of these ginormous book warehouse stores totally suck.  But this one is actually very good.  It’s not fancy…as I said, they took over a Linens & Things store after that chain went belly-up.  There was still much L&T signage there, including shelf tags.  They just brought the books in and piled them on shelves and tables.  Their signage is printed from a computer on cheap copy paper.  But who cares, when everything is so dirt cheap?

At this store, EVERYTHING is 80% off publisher’s list.  There are signs all over the place that say that.  When I went to look at the cookbook section, I was kicking myself, because they had many books that I had paid much more for.  Not full retail, mind you, but even Amazon prices are high compared to 80% off at this place.

They had tons of VHS tapes for a buck apiece.  And not crap movies, either…they had good movies, like “Grease”, as well as tons of episodes of various “Star Trek” shows…the original, Next Generation, Voyager, etc.  Although mike is a big Trekkie, we passed on those, as we don’t really want VHS tapes anymore.  And we would not have enough room to store all of the Star Trek shows they had, anyway.  DVDs last longer and take up a lot more space.  But hey, if you don’t mind VHS tapes, go for it!  For die-hard Trekkies on a budget, finding these tapes at this price is right up there with finding a fantabulous sale on gold rings!

They also have a TON of kids’ books, for all ages from babies/toddlers to young adult.  About half the store is children’s books.  If you are looking for inexpensive gifts for kids, this is the place to go.

I picked up two cookbooks there today…Michael Chiarello’s Flavored Oils & Vinegars (list price $18.95) and Daisy Cooks! (list price $29.95).  Both of these books are still being sold for full price, and both authors still have cooking shows on Food Network and PBS.  Why they were in this store, I don’t know.  But who am I to complain?

Okay…so I had almost fifty bucks worth of cookbooks here, and guess how much I paid? $9.78 for BOTH!

I love books, especially cookbooks, and I will definitely be checking back at this store once a month or so to see what’s new.  Remember, stores like this get new stuff in all the time.  Also, if you see something you want, buy it when you see it, because often, once it’s gone, it’s gone.

Strictly By The Book accepts cash, credit and debit cards for payment, no personal checks.  Not having to deal with bounced checks helps keep costs down.

I’m already looking forward to my next visit to this place.  I hope it stays there for a long time!