Hooked On Books — Local services in Wildwood

Hooked On Books is one of the best bookstores I’ve ever visited! I first went there in 2005 while in Wildwood on vacation. I was 8 years old then and was a fan of Enid Blyton, a British author of kids’ books whose books are very hard to find in the US. Found 8 of her Secret Seven books there, all for a reasonable price, and snatched them all up.

Ever since then, whenever I’ve been in Wildwood (with family, friends, or by myself) I’ve stopped by Hooked On Books and never failed to be amazed by their selection! They have an extensive collection of books in pretty much all of my areas of interest (like the classics, the history of Wildwood, music, architecture, urbanism, vintage Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew books, humor, LGBT, etc.) and I’ve always walked out of the store with a book that’s not only interesting, but often tricky to find as well! If you don’t know what you’re looking for, it’s easy to spend hours browsing their jam-packed bookshelves. The owner, Kieran, is one of the most kind and knowledgeable bookstore owners I’ve ever met, and it’s a pleasure to see his familiar face behind the counter whenever I’m in town!

During the COVID pandemic I haven’t been able to visit Wildwood, but I’ve ordered some books from Hooked on Books and Kieran has been really accommodating with having them shipped. Hooked On Books exemplifies the type of local business you should make sure to support during these crazy times. It has my absolute highest recommendation - if I could give it 10 stars out...

I'm glad they are here, and especially glad the are open now that the Corona-crisis has been going on a while.

As one would expect from a used bookstore the have low prices, a friendly-knowledgeable staff, an inventory that far exceeds their shelf capacity and NO PUBLIC RESTROOM.

They don't seem to have a NATURE (fiction and noniction) section at all, although a few nature books are mixed in with their LOCAL INTEREST section in front of the register and in their TRAVEL section. Still, Cape May County has a half dozen summer campgrounds and is a destination for clamming, crabbing, fishing, boating, seafood-eating, hawk-watching, duck-watching, and butterfly-watching, and so many Wildwood visitors also garden or hunt when not on vacation that the local dollar stores sell hunting hats and garden supplies, so the absence of a separate nature section seems...

Great books, great prices but odd they dont take donations. Ive been a customer for decades of summers & always found something. Recently My parents died & I offered to give HOB as many or as little of the books from their collection as possible. For free. Tons of classics & modern authors (elmore leonard, james patterson, ludlum, robin cook, michener, harris, herbert, doug adams, etc etc). I was told "they have enough inventory, way too much". Um...ok. Too much inventory usually means one needs to start selling things cheaper. Quality, sellable, Free inventory is something most of us would beg for in business....but not here. Im not surprised brick & mortar are vanishing with this type of business model. Very strange. But still a good place & I advise everyone in the area...