Located at 2803 University Blvd, Pea Picker Books is one of the largest bookstores in Tyler, second only to Barnes and Noble. If you’re looking for relatively current or even recent dime back fiction this is the place for you. Paperbacks run wall to wall (and everywhere in between). Again, for the person looking for good beach reading, or an easy traveling companion for a summer road trip, this could be the place. They have a decent selection of most genres. The highlight of a trip to Pea Picker’s would have to be the biography section. There are more hardcover books here than any where else in the store. Presidents, generals and politicians are all present and accounted for. The western section is also huge, and contains an abundance of both hardcover and paperback fiction.
The classics section is unfortunately small considering the overall size of the Tyler book store; however I’m sure that given its proximity to UT Tyler, it does provide the local students with the cliff’s notes they require to barely pass their lit classes. Their selection of Cliff’s and Spark notes is quite large. All sarcasm aside however, I understand the law of supply and demand, and I realize a store only sells to a market. My biggest criticism of Pea Picker is the huge over abundance of romance novels. In fact there are so many that they are divided into sub groups.
One of the most interesting things about the store is the art on the walls. There is everything from western and military art, to promotional posters for certain novels or genres, to signed photos of authors and other cultural icons. There are also portraits of every president from Washington to Nixon.
My guess is, literary snobs, and book collectors (and I include myself in both of those obnoxious categories), will probably not be crazy about this store. The selection is huge, and if you are searching for a common title you will probably find it there. But Pea Picker is not the sort of book store to shop for those rare finds bibliophiles live for. On a scale of one to five, I’d give it a three. But don’t take my word for it, stop by and judge for yourself. An afternoon spent in a bookstore is never an afternoon wasted.