Where to buy used books in Reading

Updated 01/10/2026

Reading, the Berkshire town where the Kennet runs into the Thames, has its secondhand books scattered over its own borough and neighbouring Wokingham. In the centre, Crunch Comics keeps back issues in Harris Arcade by the station; over Caversham Bridge there is an Oxfam on Prospect Street, and east of town the Woodley precinct holds an Oxfam Bookshop with Helen & Douglas House a short walk along Crockhamwell Road. Thames Hospice keeps a superstore on Richfield Avenue, Sue Ryder has a shop in Tilehurst's Meadway Precinct, Wokingham adds an Oxfam on Peach Street, and Prospect Park hosts a Saturday car boot. Prices and fees mentioned from here on are in pounds sterling.

Further stops lie beyond Reading and Wokingham altogether. Pangbourne, a West Berkshire village upriver, has an Oxfam with its own book department. Henley-on-Thames, in South Oxfordshire about six miles north-east, packs Way's, Jonkers and an Oxfam Bookshop into roughly 200 metres of its old centre. Bracknell, around ten miles east, has Bas Books, a charity bookshop upstairs in Princess Square, and the Moss End field where Bunn's runs its second car boot.

Two mix-ups catch visitors. Oxfam's branch on Duke Street in Reading is a music shop by Oxfam's own listing, while the Oxfam Bookshop on a Duke Street is the one in Henley. And Woodley has two Oxfams side by side on Crockhamwell Road: number 103 handles clothing and homeware, number 105 is the bookshop.

Spot map

The best spots

Oxfam Books & Music

Oxfam Bookshop Woodley

105 Crockhamwell Rd, Woodley, Reading RG5 3JP

In Woodley, part of Wokingham borough and 2.8 miles east of Reading's centre, Oxfam trades its books and music branch from number 105, next door to its general shop at 103. Visit Reading's charity-shop crawl of 2 May 2025 placed both in the pedestrian precinct alongside Thames Hospice, Sue Ryder and Helen & Douglas House. Oxfam's listing for the bookshop, as archived on 19 May 2026, files it as taking books and music and adds vinyl, CDs and DVDs to the shelves. It publishes no opening times, so ring 0118 944 2724 before a special trip.

Website

Antiquarian & secondhand bookshop

Way's Rare & Secondhand Bookshop

54 Friday St, Henley-on-Thames RG9 1AH

In Henley-on-Thames, South Oxfordshire, 6.3 miles north-north-east of Reading, Way's fills a Friday Street shop with stock its own site sketches as anything from a Penguin thriller or a bound classic to aeroplane manuals and a Beano annual, with a wide driveway that usually has room to park. The stacks it calls The Black Hole are £1 a book and printed ephemera starts at 50p, while scarcer editions fill the rest of a shop whose owners are members of the Antiquarian Booksellers Association. Its selling page flagged a holiday closure in September 2026 and tells sellers to phone ahead, since nothing gets valued by email or over the phone.

Hours: Tue–Sat 10am–5pm; closed Sun–MonWebsite

Oxfam Books & Music

Oxfam Bookshop Henley-on-Thames

14 Duke St, Henley-on-Thames RG9 1UP

In Henley-on-Thames as well, Oxfam's Duke Street bookshop promises modern fiction, leisure titles, classics and rare or collectable books, plus a music room stretching to sheet music, scores and tutorial manuals. Its page, identical in a copy archived on 7 March 2026, says the shop sells online and stocks DVDs and computer games too. Its Sunday runs until half past four, later than the Wokingham Oxfam's.

Hours: Mon–Sat 9:30am–5:15pm, Sun 11am–4:30pmWebsite

Charity bookshop (Sebastian's Action Trust)

Bas Books

First Floor, Princess Square, The Lexicon, Bracknell RG12 1LS

In Bracknell, about 9.9 miles east of Reading, Sebastian's Action Trust keeps its bookshop upstairs in the Princess Square shopping centre, part of The Lexicon. Volunteers run the counter, and the Trust's page, as it stood in an archived copy of 13 April 2026, offers books, CDs and DVDs at low prices with the takings going to its work with families in need. Monday to Saturday is its whole week, with no Sunday hours shown.

Hours: Mon–Sat 10am–5pmWebsite

All spots by type

Second-hand bookshops

Comic shop with back issues

Crunch Comics

10/11 Harris Arcade, Reading RG1 1DN

Halfway down Harris Arcade, the covered passage linking Station Road and Friar Street in the town centre, Crunch Comics sells new releases but keeps hundreds of back issues on the floor, bargain-box comics and complete sets among them. The shop says further Marvel, DC and indie titles reaching back to the 1960s wait in storage and can be dug out on request, wording that was unchanged when its homepage was archived on 5 June 2026. Doors usually open Wednesday to Saturday only, and Wednesday is when the week's new comics arrive.

Hours: Wed–Sat 10am–4pmWebsite

Rare book dealer

Jonkers Rare Books

27 Hart St, Henley-on-Thames RG9 2AR

Also in Henley-on-Thames, round the corner from the Duke Street Oxfam, Jonkers deals in first editions, manuscripts and illustration art rather than everyday reading copies. The Henley Standard's Hidden Henley column of 3 February 2025 dated the shop to 1998, recorded a full renovation in 2016 and puzzled over the old pulley wheels and shaft fixed to its ceiling. Go to study scarce editions and their prices; the catalogue list on its site in October 2026 took in children's literature, Ian Fleming and Evelyn Waugh.

Hours: Mon–Sat 10am–5:30pmWebsite

Charity shops

Charity shop (Oxfam)

Oxfam Shop Caversham

12 Prospect St, Caversham, Reading RG4 8JG

Across the Thames in Caversham, still inside Reading borough and 0.8 miles north of the centre, this Oxfam describes itself as a shop on the outskirts of Reading selling books alongside clothing, music, films, toys and bric-a-brac. The same page, unchanged in a copy archived on 18 June 2026, says its volunteers rework damaged donated clothing into one-off pieces. Visit Reading's May 2025 crawl pairs it with the two Age UK shops on Church Street and in St Martins Precinct; Oxfam gives no hours, so phone 0118 947 9232.

Website

Charity superstore (Thames Hospice)

Thames Hospice Superstore

16 Richfield Ave, Reading RG1 8EQ

Thames Hospice runs its superstore on Richfield Avenue, 0.8 miles from the centre in a north-westerly direction and still within the borough, splitting it between a furniture and household floor, an upcycling studio with a repair shed, and racks of preloved and vintage fashion. Its page puts books in the children's section next to clothes, toys, games and furniture, wording already there in a copy archived on 23 April 2026. Visit Reading's crawl of 2 May 2025 located it on the Reading-Caversham border, and the hospice's always-needed donations include books.

Hours: Mon–Sat 9:30am–5:30pm, Sun 10:30am–4:30pmWebsite

Charity shop (Oxfam)

Oxfam Shop Wokingham

44 Peach St, Wokingham RG40 1XG

In Wokingham town centre, 6.75 miles east-south-east of Reading, Oxfam's Peach Street shop lists books among departments running from linen and collectables to electricals and toys. Its page, as archived on 13 May 2026, says the shop receives a large volume of donations and sells ethically sourced new products beside the secondhand stock. Unlike the Woodley and Caversham branches it prints a full week of hours, Sunday afternoon included.

Hours: Mon–Sat 9:30am–5:30pm, Sun 11am–3pmWebsite

Charity shop (Helen & Douglas House)

Helen & Douglas House Woodley

144-146 Crockhamwell Rd, Woodley, Reading RG5 3JH

Also in Woodley, a minute up Crockhamwell Road from the Oxfam pair, the children's hospice charity Helen & Douglas House names books alongside clothing, accessories and homeware on its page for this shop. That page showed Sunday as closed in a copy archived on 17 April 2026, while the version live on 1 October 2026 opens on Sundays, so an older printout will steer you wrong.

Hours: Mon–Sat 9:30am–5pm, Sun 10am–4pmWebsite

Charity shop (Sue Ryder)

Sue Ryder Meadway

16 Meadway Precinct, Tilehurst, Reading RG30 4AA

In Tilehurst, within Reading borough and 2.1 miles west of the centre, Sue Ryder keeps a community shop on the Meadway Precinct parade whose own page offers books beside clothing, bric-a-brac, kids' items and toys. The same text and opening grid survive in the Wayback Machine's capture of 18 June 2026. Closing comes at half past four and Sundays are dark, while donations go in via the car park at the rear.

Hours: Mon–Sat 9:30am–4:30pmWebsite

Charity shop (Oxfam)

Oxfam Shop Pangbourne

5 The Square, Pangbourne, Reading RG8 7AG

In Pangbourne, a West Berkshire village 5.4 miles west-north-west of Reading, Oxfam's shop on The Square calls itself small but high quality and says it has a wide selection in its book department. CDs, vinyl and DVDs sit alongside clothing and homewares, as the page already read in a copy archived on 11 April 2026. Oxfam keeps it shut on bank holidays except Good Friday, and donors are asked to use the back door on the way into the Co-op car park.

Hours: Mon–Sat 9:30am–5pm, Sun 11am–3pmWebsite

Car boot sales & markets

Car boot sale

Reading Car Boot Sale, Prospect Park

Prospect Park, Liebenrood Rd, Reading RG30 2ND

In Prospect Park, 1.7 miles west of the centre, Bunn's Boot Sales holds a Saturday car boot whose 2026 run its organiser dated from 4 April, and its Facebook page said on 30 September 2026 that the Reading and Bracknell sales would be back that Saturday. Entry is free for buyers, while sellers pay £12 per car or £15 per van without booking, may set up from 6am and are asked to stay until 12:30. Bunn's warns that weather or ground conditions can cancel a sale and names no closing date for the season. Its listing says nothing about books, so any crate of old paperbacks on a pitch is pure chance.

Website

Car boot sale

Bunn's Car Boot Sale, Moss End

Moss End Garden Centre, Maidenhead Rd, Bracknell RG42 6EJ

Out in Bracknell Forest, about 9.5 miles east of Reading on the A3095 beside the Garden Village, Bunn's runs its other boot sale on Saturdays from 7 March 2026 and on Wednesdays from 15 April 2026. A Saturday ticket costs £3 between 6am and 7:30am, £2 until 8:30am and £1 after that, whereas the Wednesday gate is a flat £1. As at Prospect Park, the organiser's pages never mention books, and the bank holiday Mondays it listed for 2026 finished on 31 August. The Wednesday sale was trading on 30 September 2026, when Bunn's posted at 9:40am that heavy rain had left few stalls standing, and no end to the season has been announced.

Website

Scan before you buy

At every one of these spots, snap the shelf with BiblioScan: the AI identifies each book and shows its real resale price. Walk out with profitable books, not random boxes.

Try BiblioScan for free

Local sourcing tips

Got books to shift rather than buy? Way's in Henley says it likes buying, mostly rare and older titles, will travel locally to see a large collection and pays going auction rates for rarities, but insists on a phone call ahead of any visit with a box. For the bulk that no dealer wants, a pitch at the Prospect Park car boot costs £12 for a car with no booking, and the midweek Moss End sale charges £10 for any vehicle.
Henley packs three of these book stops into a single stroll: Way's on Friday Street, the Oxfam Bookshop on Duke Street and Jonkers on Hart Street all sit within about 200 metres of each other. Woodley is the borough's equivalent, with Visit Reading counting five charity shops in its precinct in May 2025, two of them Oxfams and one of those the bookshop.
Mind the Oxfam names. Reading's town-centre Oxfam Bookshop on High Street shut for renovation in 2022, and the Reading Chronicle reported on 14 October 2025 that Oxfam had decided in 2023 not to reopen it and was still hunting for new premises. The branch at 9 Duke Street in Reading appears in Oxfam's shop finder as a music shop accepting music donations only, so the Duke Street bookshop you may have read about is the Henley one. In Woodley, the Oxfam at 103 Crockhamwell Road lists clothing and homeware, and the books are next door at 105.
Three longer shots for a free afternoon. Sue Ryder's shop at 120 Wokingham Road in east Reading names books and DVDs among its stock on its own page. The re3read shelves at the Island Road recycling centre in Reading and on Longshot Lane in Bracknell let residents take books away free of charge, a scheme rdg.today said on 7 March 2026 had passed on 18,000 books in its first year. South of Reading, off the A33 bypass at Swallowfield in Wokingham borough, a car boot trades as Reading's Biggest Sunday Bootsale; check the organiser's Facebook page before driving down.
Not everything that turns up in a Reading search sells used stock. Waterstones on Broad Street belongs to a chain selling new titles, the Atrium at Greyfriars church describes its shop as stocked with the latest Christian books, and RGW Books @ The Antique Collective, which surfaces in some map searches for the town, actually trades at 31 Lower Road in Chorleywood, Hertfordshire.

Frequently asked questions

Where can I find cheap used books in Reading?

Start in Henley, where the shelves Way's has named The Black Hole sell at £1 a book, with pamphlets and ephemera from 50p. Back in the borough, the general Oxfam on Prospect Street in Caversham and the Helen & Douglas House shop in Woodley both name books among their stock, and Bas Books in Bracknell prices its books, CDs and DVDs low for Sebastian's Action Trust. For comics, Crunch Comics in Harris Arcade keeps bargain boxes among its back issues. The two Bunn's car boots are the gamble: free entry at Prospect Park on Saturdays and £1 after 8:30am at Moss End, though neither organiser promises books.

Where do I sell used books in Reading?

Way's Rare & Secondhand Bookshop in Henley is the dealer on this list that sets out buying terms: it wants rare and older books in good condition, pays auction-level prices for real rarities, won't value anything by email or phone and asks you to call before bringing books in. Everything else is either a donation counter or a car boot pitch, £12 per car at Prospect Park on Saturdays. A quicker triage than squinting at every flyleaf: shoot one photo per shelf and let BiblioScan match each spine it recognises to a resale value, then hold back the few worth a listing of your own (Vinted, say, or Amazon.co.uk) and send the rest to a boot pitch or a donation bag.

Which charity shops have books in Reading?

Two specialists cover the area: the Oxfam Bookshop at 105 Crockhamwell Road in Woodley and Oxfam's Duke Street bookshop in Henley-on-Thames, with Bas Books in Bracknell as a third bookshop run for a children's charity. Among general charity shops, Oxfam's own pages list books at its Caversham, Wokingham and Pangbourne branches, the last with a whole book department, while Sue Ryder in Tilehurst's Meadway Precinct and the Woodley shop of Helen & Douglas House name books on theirs. The Thames Hospice Superstore on Richfield Avenue places its books in the children's section.

Which day is best for book hunting in Reading?

Saturday. Both Bunn's car boots run, every shop with published hours is open, and Crunch Comics, open just four days a week, is trading. Sunday narrows things to five shops with a printed Sunday grid: Oxfam in Wokingham, Pangbourne and Henley, Helen & Douglas House in Woodley and the Thames Hospice Superstore, since Way's, Jonkers, Bas Books, Crunch and Sue Ryder in Tilehurst list no Sunday opening. Monday is the weak weekday in Henley because Way's is shut, and Wednesday adds the midweek Moss End boot sale to the Bracknell run.

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