King’s Books

Give yourself permission to browse the wrong shelf. King’s carries used and new books in a space the store describes as roughly 4,500 square feet, so a visit can accommodate both a specific title and the book you did not know you wanted until its spine interrupted you.

The shop opened on April 1, 2000. Owner sweet pea Flaherty arrived to work there in 2003 and took over in 2010. Its history includes author events, community gatherings and book clubs, which makes the event calendar worth reading even when your unread stack has become a structural concern.

Follow the event’s address, not the bookshop’s logo

King’s participates in a literary life larger than its floor plan. Its May 2026 calendar lists the South Sound Book Crawl at the shop, while Wayzgoose, the letterpress and book-arts festival, is listed at Tacoma Public Library’s Main Branch. The Classics Book Club page places meetings at the Central Co-op meeting room.

That is the detail to catch before leaving home. A bookstore can organize, support or sell books for an event that takes place somewhere else. For a discussion, check both the selected title and the location; for an author appearance, look for ticket or registration terms.

Browse with a better question

Instead of asking for “something good,” try naming the last book that annoyed you and why. Or bring a subject you have been wanting to understand, plus the amount of patience you have for footnotes. Specific questions give a bookseller something to work with. They also give you permission to leave the algorithm’s idea of your taste behind.

The store currently lists Carmilla and Janie as its shop cats. Consider a sighting a bonus rather than a service the staff must deliver. Cats are notoriously weak on appointment keeping.

If you want to continue the evening, compare the film schedule at The Grand. Buy the book you will read, not the one that would make the outing sound more intellectual afterward.