Read, Reuse, Recycle

There’s a special kind of atmosphere in a local bookstore. Whether it’s the sentimental smell of a used book, soft yellow pages cluttered with marginalia, or the crisp, bright feeling of a new release from your favorite author, the shelves are filled with worlds to traverse. 

If you’ve ever been to “Recycle Bookstore” in San Jose, you know exactly this feeling. Owner, Eric Johnson, has cultivated a warm sea of soft lighting, used books and very friendly cats, where readers can “wander for quite a long while, just looking through the stacks.” Here you can meander through the store’s seemingly never-ending collection and in “the pleasant experience of browsing and just getting lost.”

With an inventory of over 100,000 books, some dating back as far as the 1500s, Johnson prides himself on his ability to offer titles from every genre and era.

“I want to get books that people want to read,” he explained, describing his approach to filling Recycle Bookstore’s labyrinth of shelves. 

Johnson discovered early the importance of learning what books to buy by talking to readers about what they like. He aims to give readers the kind of bookstore where they can go to find their favorite books–and then some. Each shelf holds a carefully curated collection that serves as a recommendation list from fellow book lovers. The store’s inventory offers the opportunity to grow and explore, spine by spine.

“You always see something you’ve never seen before,” Johnson said. “And the store’s a little better each week.”

New books are always welcome at Recycle Bookstore. There is no strict template, making his collection ever-changing and unpredictable by design. Johnson has long seen the value of used books. 

“The used ones are cheaper,” Johnson said. “That’s why I went to the used bookstore when I was a student.” 

Fyodor Dostoevsky’s “Crime and Punishment” was one of Johnson’s favorite books growing up, and perhaps the first to immerse him in the world of literature. 

“It blew my teenage mind,” he said. 

Throughout high school, Johnson found himself engrossed in the psychology presented by the author’s choice to present the first-person perspective of the murderer. From that point on, reading was Johnson’s chief passion, leading him to get his master’s in English literature, and later to own and manage the bookstore. 

Johnson and his wife acquired Recycle Bookstore almost 25 years ago.

“We transformed the store, just one book at a time,” he said. The task was daunting at the time and continues to keep Johnson busy.

“People come for the books, but they also come for the feeling of being around books,” said Johnson. “How we engage with the world today is digital. When you’re reading information or content from a page in a book, it’s a different experience than taking in content online.” 

Johnson finds that physical books are typically more “thought-out” and more beautifully written than media you can find online. He believes books offer readers the opportunity to “slow down a bit” and absorb information more intently, to think about it deeper. At his store, Johnson implores his readers to talk about books with each other.  

“People like to have human experiences, not digital experiences,” he said. 

One can’t converse when they buy from an online bookstore, but Johnson values that, in person, readers are immersed in the bookstore experience. People come, they read, they talk, they explore–that’s Johnson’s vision. His love for physical books revolves around providing genuine and fantastic experiences.

“It's a great opportunity to ‘hang’ with people and talk about books,” Johnson said. 

Community is a fundamental aspect of Recycle Bookstore. Ultimately, though, it all comes down to finding a book to curl up with and lose yourself in. 

As Johnson puts it, simply and beautifully, in his unofficial motto: “If you’re reading and enjoying it, that’s great.”