Denton: Books & More / Record Hound

From the outside, Books & More looks like a one-room dive with limited inventory. That appearance is the store’s best-kept secret. Step inside and keep walking.

Books and More in Denton opened in 1994 as The Bookshelf — strictly a used book shop. Debra Newton took over the University Drive location in 2002 and expanded into vinyl, CDs, and movies. The record side belongs to Cliff West, better known as Record Hound. West is the store’s exclusive vinyl supplier. He brings vintage pressings, rare albums, and framed posters of Jimi Hendrix, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Elvis, and the Beatles. Those posters line the walls. Brave Combo horn player Jeff Barnes calls the store regularly. He has them set aside hi-fi sound-effects records for him.

Six Rooms of Things You Weren’t Looking For

From the road, the store occupies a mini-mall two miles north of the Denton Square. It sits between a Dollar General and an AA headquarters. But inside, the rooms multiply. It opens up like a storage unit auction that never ended — more rooms, more vinyl, more finds. Six different rooms hold more than 20,000 records and as many books. Singer/songwriter Daniel Markham described it simply. “They always have everything, exactly what you’d want,” he said. The vinyl selection runs from the expected to the genuinely obscure. Record Hound keeps it restocked.

For the purple landmark on the Denton Square since 1983, Recycled Books is the anchor of the city’s record scene. Books & More is the one most people haven’t found yet.

Books & More has been holding its corner since 1994. Most people in Denton still haven’t been. That’s their loss.

I’ve been here ♪