Open: Monday - Saturday 10.00 - 5.30.
A general stock of perhaps 100,000 books and, according to some, the largest secondhand bookshop in Scotland - although it's owner, Charles Leakey, is the first to admit that: "size isn't everything". TBG
This ex-church has transformed nicely into a place of earthly promise. A huge stock of books and prints, with the comforting scent of coffee brewing in the choir stalls above, offer immediate sensual gratification rather than a vague promise of unspecified delights in the afterlife. The fire and brimstone of past preachers is replaced by something you don't expect to see in the middle of 100,000 books - a roaring log fire (possibly a useful place to dispose of superfluous stock, I wish I had one.) I very much like to browse in warmth with the promise of coffee or a bowl of heartening soup on hand when I flag, therefore all my needs for comfort and well-being are met here. Carol Argyris
What can I add about this excellent shop that hasn't already been said? A short walk from the main Inverness shopping area, it would certainly give the largest of the Glasgow and Wigtown shops a run for their money in size. It is well laid out and despite the huge amount of books and prints, retains a spacious atmosphere. The mezzanine level, reached by a large circular metal staircase, is mainly a café/coffee shop which, unlike Books and Beans in Aberdeen, complements rather than interferes with the rest of the shop. Jeremy Briggs
There is a remarkable sense of arrival here: mouth-watering display cabinets in the porch and beyond the door a great galleried cavern of books awaits. This is a shop that weaves it's magic slowly. The longer you linger and browse, the better the books get. Disappointed at no coffee; perhaps the cafe is just a weekend thing? TravellingLibrary 18.07.15
Just as a rider to the above comment, I understand from the proprietor that the cafe closed last year. Such a shame. But all is not lost: you can fuel up with coffee at Sunset Cafe opposite, in one of Inverness' most historic buildings. TravellingLibrary 15.08.15
Large stock and a welcome real fire in an impressive interior, the shop being on the edge of the city centre. Prices varied (some books a little overpriced) but my two purchases were good value. SteveBrissle 04.05.17
Well a couple of days after visiting Barter Books I feel better at appraising very large bookshops. This one claims only 100,000 books and that seems realistic, making Barter's claimed 350,000 look optimistic.
The cafe is long gone but the open log-burner was in action and welcome on a cold spring Inverness day. First impressions; fiction is carefully selected, with large crime, SF, classics and more unusual modern novels and none of the mass market paperbacks that bulk up lower end shops. On the highest level of the shop is a spacious and elegant display of modern firsts and more important books.
The non-fiction was rather patchy. Quality was OK but subjects were very unevenly stocked. Very little science and medicine. Huge transport section.
Arrangement and indexing were not good. A photography section was claimed to exist but I found a mere handful together at the end of the (admittedly huge) arts section, others randomly hidden amongst the painters and sculptors. They seem to make do with a small fraction of Barter Books' staffing levels which would explain this. But then prices were better than there, though more than some. Adrian 10.04.22
I agree with Adrian (10.04.22) that the arrangement and indexing is somewhat haphazard. There is plenty of interest to be found but you may have to work to find it and when you have tracked down something of interest you may end up putting it back on the shelf as being too expensive. It may be that I am setting my budget too low and if I had come across that elusive title that fills a key gap in my collection I would have paid up and been glad to but all I found were books that might (possibly, perhaps) have been interesting and on which I would have taken a punt if they were half the price. But I enjoyed browsing and while I would not make a detour to return will gladly go back if ever I am in the city again. Steven 23.04.22
A visually impressive shop with a large stock, but if you fight through the hordes of tourists who seem to regard it as a photo opportunity and clearly have no interest in the books, then it becomes less impressive. Much of the stock seems to be old, tired and tatty and in need of a good ‘cull’. If they were cheap they might find a home, but prices are generally very high and at times laughable - minimum price for a p/b is £5 and many non-fiction titles seem to have a default of £30, if you persevere you may find something at a reasonable price, the extensive Scottish interest sections seemed slightly better priced. The better internet listed stock seems to be kept hidden away. Probably better visited out of season to avoid the crowds but NWAD for the serious buyer. Ghost of Driff 18.06.24
This is apparently Scotland’s largest second-hand bookshop - although there’s a certain Wigtown shop that also claims to hold that distinction. But there are certainly plenty of books here, including whole bays devoted to popular fiction, history, military, theology, Scottish interest and biography. Upstairs (accessed via an iron spiral staircase) there is the largest collection of Folio Society titles I’ve ever seen assembled in one place, along with an extensive range of hardback fiction. Prices are generally higher here than you’d see elsewhere. Hardback fiction titles are mostly between £8-£12. And if it should happen to be a first edition, then you won’t get much change out of £30. Personally, I couldn’t care less whether a book is a first edition so I was a bit peeved when several books I was interested in turned out to be firsts with a price I wasn’t prepared to pay. The shop itself is undeniably beautiful, being housed in an old church building. I see they’ve put some signs up saying they now refuse entry to organised tours with more than five people so it’s clearly a place people want to visit (just not necessarily to buy books). Maybe this will address the criticism of the previous reviewer regarding hordes of tourists. There’s a huge log burner in the centre of the shop and it is quite nice browsing the shelves to a background noise of logs crackling away. Unfortunately, it did nothing to heat most of the vast cavernous space of the shop so I was glad I wrapped up warm for my visit on this cold December afternoon. Jon R 11.12.24
I find this shop a frustrating experience, but I am glad it exists. The chief drawbacks: steep prices; a slow turnover in some sections owing to some tired stock in tatty condition (lowering the prices might help to shift some of it); a rather haphazard arrangement (there is no justification for not having all the novels on one floor, for example, or for placing the literary criticism, poetry and plays so far away from them); and the presence of numerous random tourists parading around aimlessly, barely even looking at any books, causing bottlenecks as they wander. Quite apart from the awesome surroundings, there are major plus points, however: the stock is so large that there are decent-quality offerings in almost every section, and you stand a fair chance of finding books that are difficult to obtain elsewhere.
The Scottish section is very large and very good - quite exceptional for books on the Highlands and islands - although the prices are high. Other than the main holdings of Scottish history and topography, there are many Scottish sub-categories: clans, whisky, wildlife, walking/outdoor pursuits, as well as a strong Gaelic section, which currently includes about 100 editions of the defunct quarterly magazine 'Gairm' at £5 each.
Other than Scottish books, strong non-fiction sections include theology, transport (especially rail and maritime), natural history, travel/exploration, mountaineering, literary criticism, and hunting, shooting and fishing (the last the strongest of the three). Also a good stock of military history, marred by depressingly high prices. Only fair for social sciences/humanities and not too strong for the physical sciences. A large selection of British topography, some of it tired and overpriced. The art section has decent stock at reasonable prices. The music stock is diverse, but the quality is not exceptional. About 150 Pelicans (mostly £4-£5). Very good biographies, steeply priced.
For fiction, there is a large stock of classic novels (Penguin paperbacks £4.50). Plenty of sci-fi and even more crime fiction (mostly around the £4 mark). A large and very nice stock of hardback novels, with many uncommon titles from the early and mid-20th century (including first editions), some of which are not too expensive. About 1,200 Folio Society volumes, many significantly overpriced. Quite a good stock of poetry, although the drama is less impressive: prices for both are broadly OK. Finally, a large and good selection of vintage children's books - in common with so much else here, though, they're not cheap. This behemoth of a shop divides opinion. But if you are anywhere near Inverness, I'd say it's worth a visit. It is within a five-minute walk of the bus and railway stations. Booker T 09.06.25
In life there are certain rites of passage, leaving home, buying a car, losing one's virginity and whilst I can't recommend achieving any of these in Leakey's one could move in here for some time in the fond hope of finding that missing volume and it is a bibliophiles rite of passage. It's vast and the sorting is chaotic and you wonder if the wood burner is the final crematoria for Mills and Boon. That said there is plenty to choose from and no section is vastly under-represented. What is under-represented is value for money. After half an hour of chortling at the prices, I left empty handed. misterg 11.06.25
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