Angel City Books & Records - Santa Monica, California

Daria Walker

Great place for used records and books. I only wish it were larger, and near more restaurants open for lunch.

It's a small, quiet place, so probably more of place that you'd go alone. I met someone for a date here, and a whispered conversation still felt like yelling. So, while I won't do that ever again, I'll definitely drop by if I'm in the area.

SC

One of my favorite used books and records stores. I’ve been going here for years! I could be here for hours going through the books and the records. Rocco, the owner, knows his store from front to back and has an exceptional collection of first editions. This store is tucked away off the busy streets and is a gem in the neighborhood.

Pedro Veloso

Really nice local.bookstore and record label. Many albums from the 60s and 70s from popular names in rock, including some rare originals. Book collection is also very interesting and well curated. Not your average bookstore, this one you'll definitely find more of the literature classics rather than the latest releases. Definitely worth a visit for it's unique collection and ambience.

TYZ

I've been coming here for about 16 years, it's like a secret jewel, on the casp between Venice & Santa Monica - tons of treasures, great selection of books, both fiction & non fiction.

Delicious collection of vinyl records and CDs, and gorgeous abstract artwork, by the owner, who is a local artist: Rocco Ingala. My personal fave is 'The Flesh Madonna', seen here above a book by Brâncuşi (OMG!!!!) I have my eye on....

Very clean, very well displayed, it's a place where a book & music lover can spend hrs of staycation time!!!

I LOVE it, it's always an exciting treasure hunt & eye candy!!!

Ari Kemppinen

I evaluate this store based on it’s collection of vinyls.
I have started to like these bookstore/recordstore combos. When my significant other loves books (and can’t understand my fondness of vinyls) we both can enjoy stores like this is.
They had vinyls upstairs and downstairs. The downstairs also had a separate section of “rare/collectibles” albums. From there I found the 1st pressing of Jefferson Airplane Surrealistic Pillow. With gems like that, who could not love this place.

bruno lemgruber

Rocco and Angel City are these special one of a kind gems. Great selection of classics in excellent conditions organized and all known precisely by Rocco

Neil Robertson

Came originally for the vinyl and was more than pleasantly surprised. Though they cater more 60-80’s with a lot from the usual suspects, I was happy to find some really amazing gems both classic and modern. Their used records are nicely curated seemingly to only feature high quality used. And they have a lot of hard to find, first editions. Ask to see the special collection. Definitely on the pricey side though and do your research on the special selection. I thought I bought (and paid the price for) a first edition but I should have noticed the Portuguese on the label and it was, in fact, a later year import. I also later explored the books and also found a few gems. I look forward to returning! Nice people behind it too. Not one to give recommendations, however.

Jared Erwin

This is a great used bookstore just off Main Street in Santa Monica. I walked in on this particular day to a quiet space, that felt like it was waiting for something. I realized the person behind the counter (the owner presumably?) was switching out the record (a specialty of the store) and after a minute or so, the store filled with the groovy, head banging sounds of late 70s-early 80s rock. I browsed through the stacks with a smile on my face. Books of all kinds, music, the feeling of being in a place that was cared for dearly—it was simply fun. On a more practical note, I’m a language nerd and always spend the most time in any foreign language section. For a medium-small store, the number of foreign language books and dictionaries and language guides was enough to keep me busy and interested for quite some time. Highly recommend this place for any book lover.