The Iliad Bookshop — Attraction in Los Angeles

Honestly, I came for the cats, and I told the cashier as much.

It's a dreary gray day, so I wanted something to do indoors. I've already been to the museums and even though a cat cafe caught my attention, I didn't want to pay money to spend just a few minutes with cats, or drive downtown, try to find parking, and then pay for that as well.

Meanwhile, I've driven past Iliad so many times and even took photos with the huge books outside a few years ago, but since it was closed that day, today was my first time actually going inside of it.

The architecture inside is as whimsical as the outside with Indian-esque doorways and a colorful bathroom with a purple door that reminded me of the TV show "Friends".

The 2 resident cats, Apollo the orange cat, and Zeus the gray one (Love their names!) were right up front when I came in. Then again, I was the first one there right when they opened and immediately got to pet the cats. Even when I wandered around, I'd still come across them.

They really are a huge part of the entertainment there. At one point Zeus was draped around an employee who was sweeping the floor and a customer was like "Oh, you have a fur coat and it moves!"

Another time another employee said hello to Apollo and he meowed back and the employees said it sounded like a hello back.

As for the store itself, it's a used bookstore and they do a pretty good job of keeping things categorized, organized, and labeled. Even as a first timer there, I could pretty much find my way around.

Although the children's books section was a little messy with a few books on the floor, but what are you going to do? It's kids.

I found a couple of books that I know my sister will love and was so pleased that one of them only cost around $5 and the other around $6. The prices are written in pencil inside the books, so when I saw what looked like $45, I was going to put it back, until I realized it actually said $4.50.

Plus, they take card without additional fees, which is appreciated.

I heard one of the employees say something about a customer buying a book online, so that has to be how they actually make money because with such cheap prices I wouldn't know how else they'd be able to keep this amazing place open.

Anyway, I got my kitty fix, finally got to go inside this interesting building I've driven past hundreds of times, got my sister books I know she'll love for cheap, got a change of scenery and had something to do on an otherwise not so sunny California day. All and all,...

Anyone that's been here know they put out the books they don't want outside for anyone to take for free. Now on numerous occasions I've seen people leaving with boxes of books from the free book section. For some reason whenever I'm there they never say anything else to anyone else out there accept me. Out of no where now there are rules to the freebooks. After going here for years now there's a rule your only allowed 10 free books and after that you gotta pay .25 per book. Keep in mind that no where is this rule posted and therefore how would anyone know?? 🤔🤔 Well the employee seem to have some type of issue with me and because I can be standing out there with several people taking book and he wants to count mine. Wow okay. I visit my grandmothers nursing home and bring books for many of them to read as they are bed ridden or don't have family to visit them so it occupies their time. The funny pary is they also tell me I never bring books to contribute which is absolutely false. When the nursing home is done with them I bring the books back to the book store for others to enjoy. Smh I also help several of my clients with move outs and when they have books they no longer want I bring them to the book store but the book store employee is calling me greedy and yelling with his finger pointed in my face. The worst customer service I've ever experienced. You should be ashamed of yourself sir. I hope one day your not sitting in an old folks home wishing you could read to...

I am a lover of books. In our world of technology, I bemoan the loss of the printed word on paper. Don’t get me wrong…I fully embrace the miracle of the computer and all its forms. I am a writer/author and for the first 35 years of my life I got most of my information from ink and paper sources and I regret the drastically dwindling number of bookstores. Fortunately, the Valley’s landscape is dotted with a rich supply of independent and specialty bookstores. I love books…the look…the feel…the smell and the optics of a book. The Iliad Bookshop is the one place in the Valley where you can go to get all the “booking” you need. I have been a customer for almost 30 years and the owner Dan has a multi-generational family legacy in the business. The inventory is astonishing and if you can’t find what you’re looking for, they’ll search for you. They are courteous, helpful and extremely knowledgeable about books and the business. I’ll stack them up against any public librarian.

Other services include a robust and fair book buy service which can come in handy when you need to sell your books. They carefully check each title for its resale value, meaning you’ll get a fair and honest price. A bonus: you’ll notice that many of the books at Iliad have mylar covers to help minimize dust jacket wear and tear. And if you’re a cat lover you’ll appreciate Apollo, the store cat which roams the premises. A cozy, friendly...