What an excellent independent book store. Helpful staff who made great suggestions for classroom reading books. An excellently curated selection of new and used books for adults, made browsing great fun. And of course they had the independent bookstore sine qua non: a cat with his own tip jar. A wonderful store you never think to find in the massive suburbs which are south Los Angeles County.

Excellent --best literary heart of Long beach

A small but great independent bookstore in LBC, friendly owner is knowledgable and ready to help, but gives you space to browse the shelves.Enhanced safety protocols during COVID19, masks required and limited capacity.I love the vinyl collection, you can choose one to play while browsing the store.Will be back!

Great little bookstore with a great and varied collection. I bought some cool Koala socks there. They have different socks that sales proceeds go to different charities.

Very nice & quaint, lady in charge is very nice and friendly, easy to talk to, lots of great books here for good prices. cat is fluffy

Old time bookstore that is so rare today. Dont forget to check out Ruby, the store cat!

Awesome selection if books.

Excellent experience and a excellent staff and most amazing selection of books.

Won my heart ♥️ DANNY was so sweet, and the bags in front of check out... sweet soul to provide for his customers. MY FAVORITE BOOK STORE THUS FAR

I do most of my reading through books now, or listen to audio books for convenience, but theres just something about walking through a bookstore that makes me happy. Perhaps its the sense of community from being near your fellow browsers, that you wouldnt get when clicking through amazon. Maybe its the personal touch of getting book recommendations from a human instead of from an algorithm. Highly recommended you stop by; this place is pretty big for an LB bookstore!

Very good selection of books, prices were super cheap

Love this place... every self-respecting community has to have at least one of these.

Unique organization and sections - I dont usually see sections for topics such as shamanism. It would be good to visit if youre hunting for unusual used books on particular topics.

A good general used bookstore.

They have all the classics and a cat!

Excellent selection of used and some new books. Could get lost for hours in there. Very positive customer service experience as well. Instant fan

I love this place. lots of books, good music and helpful, knowledgable staff

Quaint and aesthetic book store with a wide array of used books bound to peek any book fanatic! Make sure to say hi to the resident cat 🐈

One of the best book stores Ive ever been to. The person running the store at the time was great fun to talk to. Fantastic theology and philosophy sections.

If you love the smell of old books and the thrill of finding a treasure among the stacks, this is the place for you! Brought back great memories of the used bookstore a family friend ran when I was a child and, to be honest, totally made my day. So wish I had found this place years ago!

Sunday October 20, I was mesmerized by 9 brilliant writers with their novellas and reconstructed fiction. Running Man by Desiree Kanell. So glad I went. I needed a strong dose of writers zeitgeist. Gatsbys is a literary treasure Long Beach is lucky to have.

Love this place left Ruby a good tip for purrfect customer service 😊

Good selection of books, as always. My husband found the mystery he was looking for. Ruby purred at me.

Nice little place.

This is my favorite bookstore. They have an excellent selection of books and knowledgeable staff. The owner seems to truly care about the books he has and the people who come into his store. Hes helpful, kind, and always hosting events for the community to attend as well as participate in.

Neat little bookstore with LOTS of books. Pretty well organized - by genre. Id rather it was by author, but I can understand the reasoning! Friendly staff - have been here twice and have been greeted both times with offers to help me find anything. Although I didnt accept help, customer service is very important to me.

The place has a cool vibe. It has open mics for poetry and a ton of great finds. I got distracted by the stores cat while searching, but managed to find a book that I had been looking for. Will definitely be going back.

Staff is always nice and helpful

Definitely recommend this small bookstore. Spend your time here instead of a Barnes and Noble or whatever. Bring the owner a beer. Be nice to the cat.

Great place to get books

This a nice little book store. The prices are great and they have a great collection of books as well. Oh and the cat. The cat is adorable and really calm. Also the employee is extremely friendly.

I liked the place overall very welcoming, and the feeling you get when you enter the store it feels homey

A fabulous used bookstore that is loaded with finds. Friendly staff and some like new books too. Of course there is the bookstore cat. Its a wonderful place that smells of old books and is the best kept secret of Long Beach!

Usually, bookstores like Barnes & Nobles or Borders have that I just want to look here and walk away with a free reading.This bookstore has that I need to leave or else Im going broke and carrying 5-6 books within an hour.😂Its an awesome store, Im trying not to hype it or over-sale it. Come in, check out their .50 cent section books. Maybe they got 50Cents, the rapper, autobiographies? I dont know.If you are looking for something, speak up and they will guide you to what you truly desire (maybe).A closed mouth never gets fed.And their books conditions, its practically brand newish. If Im wrong, oh well. Im happy with their environment and my purchases. Adios! 😃

Very nice place. Organized and excellent service. They had a book reading when I walked in, which I though was pretty neat. Support your mom and pop book store!

The rarity of great community bookstores is why Gatsbys is important. Sean gives the gift of his love for literature to the Long Beach area by showcasing local writers and their books that you wont find anywhere else. The featured storytellers night and author presentations make it a great venue for books that deserve an outlet. Plus, great selection for everything else.

New and very old, a real book lovers pleasure.

Sean runs a great used book store with events for writers and book signings. I always find what I need or Sean finds it for me. This unique place deserves our support

Great choices in books. Local authors are featured. Book signings are interesting. Great asset to Long Beach as an independent bookseller.

Imagine an avid bibliophiles horror at discovering that she has nothing new to read in the house (insert scream here)! I did a quick search for used bookstores in my neighborhood and this place came up, which is hilarious because I go to the 24 Hr Fitness right there and had never noticed it! Well, it turned out to be an awesome experience! There was no one else in there on a late Saturday morning so I was free to browse in companionable silence with the adorable store cat, Ruby. I found a couple of used books that looked interesting (they also sell some new books) and asked the girl working there (I forget her name but she was SUPER nice) if they had any books by Chuck Klosterman. This is where Gatsby Books shot up very high in my estimation: not only was she able to look up on a computer if they had any books by him (they did), she was able to lead me to a section where those very same books were. When does that ever happen in a used book store?! I picked up a volume I didnt have and my book shopping day was complete. I also found out they regularly have events like book signings, open mic nights, etc. Good selection, helpful staff, community-minded and cat-friendly--Gatsby Books is a win all the way around! They are now my go-to when I need more reading material.

Best bohemian bookstore with artist readings in Long Beach. And, of course, a truly wonderful bookstore cat wandering about.

Best bookstore ever! Enjoy a cup of coffee and pet Ruby the cat while you browse...

Love this place. Their cat is sweet

Cute little book store with a great selection

I love this store,but last time I went they sold me a book that was in bad condition on the inside. Luckily, they gave me a refund, but they should never have had it available for sale in the first place.Check the inside of the books before you buy!

Someone called this the literary soul of Long Beach. I think it is. Lots of community events, readings, and groups.

Great service, nice people, lots of events. Check out this wonderful community asset.

Cool cat great book selection and free coffee!

Clean. Well-organized. Friendly staff. I grabbed a book before my flight out of LGB and was quickly in and out. Wish I could have wandered more.

Very relaxed vibes and super helpful people! Loved it

Not the best store that will sell you a good price for a textbook. Nevertheless, Gatsby Books has amazing books, nice employees including the manager, and a classical record player.

ZERO STARS! Sean was rude when I called inquiring about an old heirloom book. He hung up on me twice. It is my opinion that people that are this rude should not be allowed to deal with the public. Im a small business owner with thousands of satisfied customers. I nor anyone I know will be patronizing his establishment.

Fun bookstore with live performances by local poets.

I love to buy books from there

Found a book there Id been looking for for 15 years. Made my day!

Love these places theyre dieing out so help them go buy a book once in a while ezpand your horizons

Great selection, good prices

Great small bookstore feel. Lots of local events.

Nice place to just stop by and hang out and read a book. They have a cat too.

Sweet store, friendly owner.

Good books

Sean is the proprietor & is amazing!

We love Gatsby!

Awesome

Do you have a membership for one year?

The employees are wonderful