ABSW	Our abbreviation for Annie's Book Stop of Worcester.
Adventure	A deep section of the kind of tales of spies, mafia dons, treasure hunters, soldiers of fortune and international conspiracies that take you around the globe.
ARCs (Advance Reader Copies)	Did you know you can actually get FREE books at ABSW? Advance Reader Copies, also called ARCs, are sent out by publishers to the book trade, even before the first editions, to get stores interested in ordering them. From the reader's perspective, these are typically about the same as the original book that's published. From the perspective of collectors, if the first edition of something is collectible, the ARC is typically even more desirable. Since these are not intended for resale, we offer many of these to our customers at no charge! FREE READING! And yours to keep...a better deal than the local library! We do ask you to consider the donation of a quick summary of the books to be posted on our web site, especially if you liked what you read, to encourage others to get copies from ABSW when they're in print.
Biography	On a given day, it's amazing the assortment of subjects in our biographies section. From the Dalai Lama to Seabiscuit, from Ted & Jack Kennedy to Jim Morrison, from truly inspirational stories to cautionary tales, from the simple to the complex, it's often the stories of real people that are the best.
Charities	ABSW participates in Worcester: The City That Reads, has held numerous events for charitable causes at our store, and has donated literally thousands of books to charitable causes. Our firm belief is our community matters.
Children's Literature	ABSW has one full room set aside for picture books and early reader materials, and another for middle readers, pre-teens, and young adults. In the quest to find something kids will read, between classics and the latest titles, we're bound to have something on hand they'll look forward to reading!
(Coming In From The) Cold	It's New England. Cold weather is a fact of life many months of the year. Come in out of the cold, sit and read for a while, and we'll usually have coffee to help warm you up while you take a break from the harsh weather.
Contemporary Fiction	A variety of modern tales from romance to slice-of-life stories, and a good bit in between.
Events	ABSW looks to promote books in a way to add to your enjoyment. We try to hold events often, featuring every section of the store and every type of book, and giving our customers a chance to meet and talk to authors in-person. But, we also make a special effort to try to promote local authors, and we're sometimes the first in the world to offer new books after publication! Look at our events calendar on this site, and see what you're missing...or, if you attend, what you're NOT missing!
Fantasy & Science Fiction	Perhaps the price of success, but we heard from a customer recently we had "too much sci-fi and fantasy" in ABSW. Well, if there can be too much of such a thing, we at least hope we're on the way to the kind of selection to give readers of every taste within the genre something to enjoy! From lighter reads like Terry Pratchett, the Piers Anthony Xanth series and Robert Asprin Myth Adventures series to Ray Bradbury, Neil Gaiman, Isaac Asimov, Andre Norton, Eric Flint, Jack Chalker and Anne McCaffrey, this is the section of real and unreal, of past, present and future, of infinite possibilities. Where most stores are carrying less of these titles, and going with only the commercial successes of the day, or are phasing out their Sci-FI & Fantasy genres as much as possible, we're proud to have a deep selection, including more than a bookcase of imported sci-fi audios. And, that's just talking about written and spoken word...we also have a specialty in British sci-fi magazines, toys, and action figures.
Hardcovers	Durable and sturdy, our new hardcovers are 20% off cover price, and used ones are typically $3.99. Most of the $2.99 sale section is also hardcover books.
Historical Romance	For those who want to read a tale of taking time to dally with a Duke, or cavort with a Queen, from authors like Mary Balogh, Philippa Gregory, and Julia Quinn, a whole section of the store devoted to your favorite reading!
History	From scholarly writing to the tales telling about an era or an event, history and historical perspective can provide great understanding while sometimes being better reads and better stories than a fantasy novel.
Horror	Bram Stoker, Stephen King, Dean Koontz, Jonathan Maberry, Rick Hautala, and many other authors have their books reside in this section of the store. Horror tales are the most gruesome, just because of the stories being told, but they're often the deepest tales there are. Our fondness for these tomes is one of the reason we work regularly with New England Horror Writers and have them at store events whenever we can!
Literature	The center aisle of the store, and a centerpiece of great reading, with Pulitzer Prize winning books, and a diverse assortment of great reads from around the globe.
Mail Order	So, you know we've got some things you want, and we'll save you money with them, but you're simply too busy to get to ABSW. Well, why not ask us to ship them to your door? For a modest price to cover the costs of shipping, we can ship to you, and you can save the trip during that busy day! The quickest way to contact us is by phone, (508)796-5613. Also see our Mail Order Services pages on this site!
Mystery	Whodunnit? Was it Mrs. Plum in the study? Or was it her cat, with the telltale canary feathers lining its puss? Is your favorite a Hercule Poirot, or the tales of Kinky Friedman? It's easy to find books here you've loved, and others you're about to love.
New Arrivals	Right near our front entrance, books we've taken in trade that haven't yet been put in section shelves. As ABSW handles on average hundreds of books like this daily, this gives you a place to look for what wasn't in the store yesterday, or even earlier today, if you're anxious about finding books coming into our hands.
New Books	We've had some customers tell us they think our new books are hiding away. But, there are new books mixed in with the used in each section of the store. However, we're enhancing our selection of new items with special displays of new books, including spinner racks prominently displayed near the front counter, or typically at the front of the store, and often in other areas when there's a special selection ready to highlight. All new books are sold daily by ABSW at 20% off cover price.
Paranormal	A trip through time? A vampire neighbor who's a nice girl but not "sparkly"? A lover who's willing to howl with you when the moon is full? This section is bursting with fun reads you'll love taking home!
Picks	Both on this web site and in special locations in the store, we feature a selection of employee picks of books they feel are special reads. If you're looking for recommendations, great ones are already here, not just computer-generated matches of what someone hopes you'll buy, but of great books we hope you'll read.
Religion, Books On	The depth of the topic of Religion is something that gives it a pride of place in any bookstore. From philosophy to spirituality, from ancient texts to modern writings, the topics of faith and belief contain an infinity. Come investigate the slice of that infinity we've got on our shelves!
Sale Books: $2.99 Hardcovers	More than three full bookcases of great reads from all genres, priced to give you outstanding value in the age of $30 & $40 cover prices on many new books!
Search Service	Is it just impossible to find that out-of-print book you want? Well, we've been known to find what others can't. Let us look for you!
Special Orders	Was there something we didn't have when you stopped in? Typically, for any books in print, we can place a special order and get it for you in mere days!
Store Events	ABSW offers fun events, serious events, author events, and reader events, and many other types of event...all year long, almost every week of the year. And all for YOU!
Teacher Resources	We work directly with many techers in the best local schools, and offer them special pricing to help them get value for their classrooms. When provided with Summer reading lists in April and May, we can also be certain to have books on hand for your students' Summer reading, in addition to the many classics we keep stocked always on our shelves. Give us the opportunity to get you the selection you need without the expense of the big chain stores expecting you to blow your budget on just a few books. We know how tough it is to get the books you need for your classes, and, new or used, we're here to get you good value.
Teen Readers	We have sections in the store specifically devoted to teen readers. Some of these books may be very interesting reads, some may be the kind of book teens need to select for school assignments. All are a bridge to further and better reading, and to some of the great reading available in other sections of our store.
Trading In Books	While dealing also in new books, the community of our customers loves our selection of used books at value prices...that we get from our customers. Trade in your used books in good condition and get a store credit for about 15% of cover price for mass market and softcover books, and $1.99 per book for most hardcovers. You can use that credit against half the merchandise price of your next purchase at the register.
Used Books	For a long time, this has been the main stock-in-trade of the various Annie's outlets. Even as we expand beyond being merely a place for used books, we're keeping most of these at 50% off cover price, with sales on select used books taking price on those down to $1.00 or less.
Vintage Books	As we've acquired some books we just can't offer at half cover price...some for which we give more in trade credit than the books would sell for at that kind of pricing...we've moved some books into the category of Vintage. Many of our vintage books are only $2.99. For more expensive ones, we've looked at competitive prices, and look to price ours lower, so they'll still be attractive both to readers and collectors. This lets us go beyond just carrying recent used books, and lets us offer you a selection of books not just out-of-print, but some great and collectible reads that are hard-to-find!
Westerns	If you're looking for Zane Gray or William Johnstone, Louis L'Amour or even Roy Rogers, there are many great reads here at outstanding prices!