Amber Unicorn Books

Information

Amber Unicorn Books
Location: West of The Strip
2101 S. Decatur Suite 14
Las Vegas, NV 89102
Contact: 702-648-9303
website
Hours: Mon-Sat 9am-6pm
Sun 9am-4pm
Type: Books
Vegas4Visitors Rating: B+

At a Glance

What is it?

A charming used bookstore that has a little bit of everything but specializes in cookbooks.

Where is it?

A few miles west of The Strip.

What do they sell?

Books – lots of them.

What are the prices like?

They vary depending on the collectibility level of the book, but you can get some real bargains here.

What should I be sure to check out?

They have over 20,000 cookbooks so if you are planning on spending any time in the kitchen, this is where you want to go first.

Why should I shop here?

Because you haven’t gotten a Kindle yet.

What else do I need to know?

They will ship your purchases so you don’t have to lug them home on the airplane.

What’s the bottom line?

A treasure.

Full Review

You remember books, don’t you? Those things that you read that are made of paper that you have words on them and have weight and smell and a tactile sensation other than your finger swiping a piece of glass over and over and over? Yes, printed books still exist and although you may not be able to put 100 of them your suitcase the way you can on your tablet computer, there is an undeniable tug at the senses one gets from picking up something real instead of something virtual.

That’s the basic reason for the existence of Amber Unicorn, a charming little used bookshop a few miles west of The Strip that champions the printed word.

Myrna and Lou Donato run the store with the kind of passion that is rare in most business owners these days. Their first store, Donato’s Fine Books, was a Vegas institution for nearly twenty years until the couple retired in 1997. Although they were officially out of the bookstore business, they kept collecting and by 2008 they had so many books they decided to open this new store.

They a little bit of everything (fiction of all stripes, self-help, metaphysical, photography, military, arts, rare and first editions, etc.) and a lot of few things, including more than 20,000 cookbooks. You could lose yourself for days pouring through the collection, looking for classic recipes that could be made new again.

The place is brightly lit, well organized and labeled, and has the air of a boutique library rather than a musty used bookshop.

Fans of real, honest-to-goodness books should make a special trip here. Good news: if you don’t feel like lugging your finds back home on the airplane, they will ship them to you.