Rodney's Bookstore — Local services in Cambridge

I was so stoked that another bookstore was replacing Raven but when Rodney’s first opened, I visited a few times and really found the selection lacking. There was hardly any literary fiction (mostly just Clive Cussler, Stephen King, etc. — nothing wrong with them, but nothing you couldn’t find at goodwill for a buck) and the nonfiction selection paled in comparison to Raven’s academic focus. I didn’t visit again for a few months but just went in today to give it another chance and was pleasantly surprised that the selection improved significantly! They have far more titles with shelves overflowing onto the floor, the fiction selection was much stronger and more diverse, and tons of unique nonfiction titles. While still not as strong as Raven (especially on the academic press front), I’m glad that there’s a quality used bookstore in Harvard Square again. Looking forward to being a regular, especially since the prices...

My reason for giving this bookstore a 3 are as follows. It's a big store, but cluttered with boxes of incoming books. The prices are reasonable but many books have no price indicated . The selection is huge, but it's not what I would consider curated. There shelves are somewhat organized, but once you find the general section the books are not organized in any meaningful way. If you're looking for a gift, or a vacation read this is a great place, but if you're looking for anything specific, or an important publication in a particular field I would go elsewhere. The main reason being is that you will have to search through so much stuff and likely come up empty handed. Don't get me wrong, you can always find a get, just be prepared to work. They also print vintage posters and maps, these are legit and probably better than the books, they are...

I had missed the news that Raven closed, so I walked in excited for my traditional end of term spree. My first impression was that they were re-organizing the store but I was gradually struck by how much worse the quality of the books and the curation was. The fiction section is dominated by Tom Clancy-style books, the categories are randomly placed, there's seemingly no curation, all sorts of books in wrong sections (non-fiction in fiction etc) and the areas that Raven excelled at are not there. It's great that a bookstore replaced Raven, and I hope it does well as the quality of stores around Harvard sq needs it. And the prices are fine. Maybe it's unfair to compare with Raven and I wish the new store the best, but, man, what a...