I love being surrounded by books. The possibilities of what you can read and learn are endless. Every sentence is a new one, every theme more meaningful than the last. Reading a truly good book is one of the great pleasures in life.

But for me to truly enjoy a book, I have to own it. I have to be able to dog-ear my place at least five times a day, be able to pull at the binding so it stays open without me holding it down, be unafraid of spilling coffee on it in the early mornings or mid-afternoons when I sit down in a quiet corner to enjoy the book.

That being said, books are expensive.

Too many times have I spent over $70 on a couple books at Barnes and Noble. Books that I could get at the library for free, but won’t because I need to own it, as previously mentioned. But I could also get it at a used bookstore, like Book Rack.

Book Rack is tucked away in the corner of a small shopping center off of Manchester Road. It doesn’t look like much from the outside, but inside it is a different world.

Like any bookstore or library, the organization system is by genre then author. But in the Book Rack, every nook and cranny is filled with books. Where the textbooks stop, the romance novels begin. When those end, the young adult fiction picks up and so on.

There is also an amazing variety in genre. Science of ghosts, historic fiction, crime, supernatural stories; they’ve got it all.

There’s an entire room filled with classics as well as a table and two chairs to sit at and read. In fact, nearly every alcove in the store has a place where you can just sit down and read.

When I visited, I spent nearly an hour roaming about the store, looking for anything I’d heard of or a title that stood out to me. Unfortunately, I haven’t even seen 25 percent of the books crammed into that tiny store.

I did, however, find four books, mostly classics, that I took a liking to and bought for $20.

The pricing at Book Rack is truly amazing. Every book is half price from the original, meaning I bought $40 in books for $20. You can also get store credit for books you send in, as well as cash for any textbooks you donate to them.

It’s an amazing store with helpful staff and plenty of opportunity to find something new or old, or something you need for a class or want.

Book Rack is located at 14560 Manchester Rd.,  Suite #4, Ballwin, MO 63011.

Store hours as well as additional information can be found on their website, www.thebookrackstl.com.