Last weekend I decided to venture to Hemel Hempstead to a Book Warehouse and I wanted to share my experiences of my time there. So 66 Book Club is a place which is open to the public once a month, it is a huge warehouse that stocks over 15,000 titles and is 70% off all books. If your buying for a school it is 80% off ( you need to let them know this). Also you need to pay £2 for membership but that gets you the discount and that includes your household. You can only buy membership at one of the weekends, the book club is closed during other times. Opening times are 9am – 6 pm, I wouldn’t advise going after 5pm because you will need time to peruse and look at the vast selection of books.

I have posted the dates that they are open each month, please don’t turn up on any other day and you will not be able to enter. Check the website for any other information.

https://www.66books.co.uk/monthly-book-club

Book Club Dates 2023 are:

January 14th – 15th

February 4th – 5th

March 4th – 5th

April 1st – 2nd

May 13th – 14th

June 10th – 11th

July 8th – 9th

August 5th – 6th

September 2nd – 3rd

September 30th – October 1st

October 7th – 8th

November 4th – 5th

November 11th – 12th

December 2nd – 3rd

December 9th – 10th

So, my experience of the place, we got there at dead on 9am and there was a queue already to get in, they do have a car park and we did get the last spot thankfully. Before I forget the do have toilets as I needed to go whilst waiting in said queue, it is through the black door on your right. They are plenty of staff members who will show you where they are. There is a staff member that keeps a check on the queue and anything else you may need. We waited in the queue for an hour, which I don’t think was too bad, I was expecting a shorter queue to be honest but it was not too bad. They were letting 180 people in at a time and everyone seemed to be fine with it. When you get in, we were met by a friendly staff member who told us to take a basket. When you walk up the stairs, I was like yes this is my kind of place, some people can feel overwhelmed with the sheer size of the place, it is a warehouse and spans over two floors and it is packed. It was like a dream come true. The aisles are quite narrow but it was easy to look, I had the idea of just scanning the shelves for authors I wanted not particularly hovering for two long, everyone was really polite and I felt at ease. A little tip is look high and low as books at the top and bottom shelves always seem to get missed and they are usually the best ones. There is no real structure to the place, the books are just as you find them. So don’t expect it to be easy to find a specific book. The books are mainly older books, so none of the latest releases but there is a wide selection of genres. I also found that the majority of hardbacks, I did see paperbacks for them in other places. The basket I found tricky to manoeuvre as you have people coming from both ways and then you have this basket that just keeps getting in the way. But I made it work. It was also interesting for me to see what books other people were looking at or had in their baskets, Book people are just the best kind of people on the whole. We spent just over an hour and I picked up 7 books including one for my husband.

If you get to the queue to pay and suddenly realise you didn’t want a book, you have to go back and put it where you found it, as otherwise when the place closes the staff have to go around and put all the books back.

We waited in a 10 minute queue to pay and had to sign up to the membership where you just fill out a form and they give you a membership card for next time. The staff were all really friendly and helpful, my total came to £69.99 which made my heart drop until I realised she had not taken the 70% off. I paid £22.95 with the £2 membership included in the price. I think it was a really good price. When leaving the building at about 11 am, the queue was snaking it’s way outside of the warehouse carpark and into the road. It is a very popular place.

Would I go back?

Yes I would, probably not every month but I am already planning to go back next year. It overall is worth the trip and I would highly recommend going, especially as book prices are going up (as is everything in this world) and it is more affordable for people. It was a nice morning out. I didn’t expect it to be so popular but I can now see why as it is such a brilliant. The staff were all wonderful and do a sterling job, they run it really well and I cannot wait to go back.

If you require any other assistance have a look at their website which is listed above.

66 Books Ltd

Unit 2 Eastman Way,

Hemel Hempstead

HP2 7DU

With Next and the recycling centre on your left look out for the sign on your left. They are at the end of the cul-de-sac.