-
January 2024 by Mike Kennedy
My favorite book store! Going here always feels like a treasure hunt! Staff is friendly too.
-
December 2023 by Paul Kelley
Just an awesome little, but packed, mostly used book, record, cassette, cd store with very reasonable price points. A favorite stop whenever I'm in Baltimore
-
September 2023 by Doug McConnell
Excellent selection and prices, and every time I go in, there always seem to be loads of great new and used records, and Lungfish is almost always in stock (need I say more?) Very fair trade-in values too. Highly recommended.
-
September 2023 by Bear Evans
Nice place, cozy, love the aesthetic! Wish they bought merchandise like they advertise, Def call first before lugging tons of books, vinyl etc. Not my first selling it option they will low ball you. All around ok place though.
-
August 2023 by tarbandu
I’ve been going to this store since the early 1990s. Along with the Second Story Books further up on Greenmount Ave, it was a great place to find affordable books and records. At the time it was a pioneer in the sense of stocking a large collection of reasonably priced LPs, at a time when vinyl was considered an antiquated media suitable only for purchase by the aged, or Luddites. Back then, the ‘City Paper’ hipsters would come in for the vinyl. Nowadays, with the resurgence of interest in vinyl, everybody, not just the hipsters, has been coming in to peruse the LPs, but what can I say ? That’s how it goes. Along with LPs and CDs, you’ll find an eclectic inventory of books, plus shelving devoted to indie magazines aimed at anarchists, Marxists, social justice activists, and other undesirables. Normal’s is the kind of place where it’s best to go in with a treasure-hunter mentality, rather than expecting them to have what you’re looking for in their inventory. I will say that the neighborhood has gotten sketchier over the decades, so be careful if you’re stepping out after dark. Be mindful and don’t flourish your new iPhone, your expensive wristwatch, your designer overcoat or handbag. Just leave them at home.
-
August 2023 by Juhi Pac
Awesome local bookstore. Huge selection of books, records, CDs, cassettes. Have some chairs to sit at. There was also an adorable dog walking around. The area is not the most walkable but there is plenty of street parking as well as a large nearby lot where a farmer’s market is held. Looking forward to coming back!
-
June 2023 by Nya Morgan
I visited Normals once last summer and haven’t stopped dreaming about it since. A mecca for curious folk, it’s unlikely you’ll exit without learning something new - perhaps the name of an esoteric jazz band sounding from the speakers or the existence of a defunct zine. Praying they have more copies of B*tch magazine once I inevitably return!The staff were genuine and extremely informative! They treated me like a longtime friend and provided much info about their selection and local events. It was difficult to walk away without one-hundred dollars worth of wonders in my arms. I did not.Normals is a loving reminder that there’s so much to be uncovered in the world. But for Baltimore locals (sadly unlike myself) the journey begins just a block away.
-
June 2023 by Josh Scroggins
I been here I like this place, great selection of records and I think I saw some books here too.
-
June 2023 by Beth Y.
this book and record store is AWESOME! it has a number of rooms that twist and turn, packed with amazing finds, but all organized and displayed in a way that feels accommodating, and not claustrophobic. wonderful and zany collection of art and ephemera decorate the place throughout, and the clerk who helped me and answered all my questions couldn't be nicer. he told me this shop has been around for a few decades now, which is amazing and i hope it stays that way! i'm certainly looking forward to going back to shop around a bit more on my next trip to the area, this is the kind of small business that feels really good to support :)
-
May 2023 by B H
Very good selection of new and vintage records. Great staff. Cool place , worth a trip.
-
April 2023 by Kathleen Ambrose
Not much has changed in this little shop since I graduated college. Perhaps it held more charm for me going through the stacks looking for a particular book on Asian philosophy or tracking down an elusive album by the Bonzo Dog Band. I lived through most of my younger days selling albums when I was short on cash but they no longer seem to accept walk-ins and require appointments. Don't drag over your old vinyl without checking if they're buying.
-
April 2023 by Loren Shimanek
Amazing selection of accessible, known, and esoteric bound paper, text-based reading material and wax discs in cardboard sleeves. This wonderful community resource also has a cozy live music space making it a delightful venue. When in Baltimore, go to there.
-
February 2023 by Steve Chisholm
Terry Pratchett described it better than I ever could. "The truth is that even big collections of ordinary books distort space, as can readily be proved by anyone who has been around a really old-fashioned secondhand bookshop, one that looks as though they were designed by M. Escher on a bad day and has more stairways than storeys and those rows of shelves which end in little doors that are surely too small for a full-sized human to enter. The relevant equation is: Knowledge = power = energy = matter = mass; a good bookshop is just a genteel Black Hole that knows how to read.". Add LP records to that description and you've got Normal's.
-
February 2023 by Stephanie Lorence
Always been a great book/record store staple in the neighborhood. Love to see it still here even though I moved away and haven't been by in over 10 years.
-
January 2023 by Adventure Artist
Totally rad place. If you like used books and vinyl... then this is your Mecca.
