About Us

Peruse the Stacks is co-owned by Brandon and Mallory Wilhelm. Mallory is the daughter of a book collector and started collecting books as a child. When she met Brandon 2009, he was fascinated by her book collection. He quickly learned about collecting and books have been an integral part of our lives ever since. Mallory collected mainly Children's Literature, focusing on Newbery winners and the works of Madeleine L'Engle while Brandon focused on Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror. We opened Peruse the Stacks with the intention of side-hustling until we left teaching later in life - our degrees and teaching experience are in music. The store was more successful than we anticipated and now bookselling is our full-time job. Both Mallory and Brandon are graduates of the Colorado Antiquarian Book Seminar and Brandon is a member of the Antiquarian Booksellers' Association of America.  We live and work in Gig Harbor with our two kids, adorable pup, and lots of books. 

Our store is exclusively online, but we sell at regional book fairs and have a booth at Pacific Antiques Mall in Tacoma, shop 59. We are also open to in-person shopping by appointment. Please reach out if you'd like to peruse in person! Our specialties include Children's Literature, Genre Fiction, Occult/Esoterica, Western Americana, and Book Arts.

We are always interested in the purchase of new items, from the single book to the large collection.  Don't hesitate to reach out if you have material for sale.

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Prior to our timely opening as an online store on February 28th, 2020, peruse the stacks was just what folks did when visiting our home. ("Would you care to peruse the stacks?" Brandon beckoned each guest.)  The shelves were full of various accumulations and a couple collections from our 10+ years of bibliophilia.  With some gentle nudging from friends and the realization that putting that sought-after volume in a collector's hands was as fulfilling as having it in our own, we transitioned from collecting to selling rare books.