Magus Books

Magus Books has bought and sold used books in the University District since 1978 and calls itself one of Seattle's oldest independent bookstores. Dave Bell bought the shop in the 1970s, and Hanna McElroy and Chris Weimer took over in 2004. The owners added a second shop, Magus Annex on N 45th Street in Wallingford, planned for an October 2022 opening, and it stocks brand new books. The Seattle Times calls the University District store a fixture for University of Washington students for over four decades.

About 80,000 titles fill the store, which McElroy has called the largest all used bookstore in Seattle, and the shop's own listings promise hard to find, out of print and rare books. Most of the stock comes from locals selling their books back. The University District counter buys on Tuesday, Friday and Saturday from 10am to 4pm most weeks, for cash or trade credit, and skips the first seven days of each month. New books can be ordered and delivered within the week, and the store sells Magus shirts, mugs and stickers of Octavia, the store mascot.