We may earn a commission when you buy through links in our articles. Learn more.

Where to find the Stardew Valley bookseller

Here is our complete Stardew Valley bookseller guide showing you what you can get, how to find him, and what you can trade with him.

The Stardew Valley bookseller next to a hot air balloon in Pelican Town

Good news, my fellow bookworms, there’s a Stardew Valley bookseller that visits Pelican Town now, letting us get our literary fix twice a month. He may be new to the 1.6 update, but if you recognize the bookseller Marcello, it’s because he’s the man with the hot air balloon that features in Harvey’s ten-heart event.

Now that you’ve got some fresh XP and new skills, why not catch some more Stardew Valley fish, then gift them to Stardew Valley characters like Stardew Valley Sebastian and Stardew Valley Elliott? Except, maybe not Seb, as he doesn’t appreciate them much.

Here’s everything you need to know about the Stardew Valley bookseller:

Where is the Stardew Valley bookseller?

So, how do we find the Stardew Valley bookseller? At first, it can be hard to find this pesky merchant and his balloon as it does not appear on the map. There is, however, a small sign on the wall above Pierre’s store – which is, admittedly, easy to miss.

Follow the path to the Joja Mart and then go behind and above it – there’s a set of stairs often blocked by wood and stone. Clear the path and then head up to a new area where Marcello has a stall next to his balloon.

A map showing how to get to the Stardew Valley bookseller location

When does the Stardew Valley bookseller appear?

Marcello doesn’t appear on any specific days each month, as the dates have to fit around birthdays and events in Pelican Town. The bookseller arrives twice a season on random days, always in the same place.

You can check your calendar or the notice outside Pierre’s store to see when the bookseller comes. Just look for the mark on the calendar with a balloon icon. Plus, when you wake up on a day that the seller is in town, you get a notification in the bottom left corner.

Which books can you get from the Stardew Valley bookseller?

Here are the books that you can buy from the bookseller. You can actually find some of them in the wild as you play as well – books now drop randomly as you go about your day. You can keep hold of them and then trade them with the bookseller for items, too.

Book title Price Effect
Way Of The Wind pt. 1 15,000g Makes you run a bit faster
Way Of The Wind pt. 2 35,000g Makes you run a bit faster again
Horse: The Book 25,000g Makes your horse run a bit faster
Ol’ Slitherlegs 25,000g Makes you run a bit faster through grass or crop fields
Bait And Bobber 5,000g Gain 250 fishing XP
Combat Quarterly 5,000g Gain 250 combat XP
Mining Monthly 8,000g Gain 250 mining XP
Stardew Valley Almanac 10,000g Gain 250 farming XP
Woodcutter’s Weekly 8,000g Gain 250 foraging XP
Book Of Stars 15,000g Gain 250 XP across all skills
Jewels Of The Sea 20,000g Treasure chests found while fishing can contain roe
Friendship 101 20,000g Friendships form faster with villagers
Queen Of Sauce Cookbook 50,000g Learn any Queen Of Sauce recipes that you don’t already know
Jack Be Nimble, Jack Be Thick 20,000g You get +1 defense
Treasure Appraisal Guide 20,000g Artifacts sell for more money
Price Catalogue 3,000g The selling price of items shows up in the description

Other Stardew Valley books

The bookseller isn’t the only place you can get some fresh reading material from – books can appear in other stores or as random drops while you’re fishing, farming, or mining.

Book How to obtain Effect
Animal Catalogue 5,000g from Marnie’s shop in year two Gives access to Marnie’s store even when she’s out
Book of Mysteries Found in Mystery Boxes Bigger chance to get Mystery Boxes
Dwarvish Safety Manual 4,000g from the Dwarf in the mines Bombs deal less damage if you’re caught in the blast
Mapping Cave Systems In Marlon’s room in the Adventurer’s Guild – you need to slay 1,000 monsters to access it 50% discount on Marlon’s item retrieval service
Monster Compendium Rare drop from monsters Monsters can drop double the loot
The Alleyway Buffet Found in the golden trash can behind the Blacksmith Better chance to find items in trash cans
The Art O’ Crabbing Iridium tier reward at the SquidFest Crab pots have a 25% of double drops
The Diamond Hunter Exchange for ten diamonds at the Dwarf in the Volcano Dungeon All stones drop a diamond when using a pickaxe
Raccoon Journal Reward for completing the raccoon family’s second quest Weeds have a better chance of dropping mixed seeds
Woody’s Secret Drops from chopped trees When felling trees you have a 5% chance to yield double the wood

A menu showing the books on offer at the Stardew Valley bookseller

Stardew Valley bookseller trade items

If you happen across a second (or third, or fourth) copy of a book, reading most of these books again gives you 100 experience in the skill listed in the book – or you can trade them in for items once you’ve gained the power they grant. There are some other books that you can’t buy that you can trade-in. Here’s what you can get:

Book Trade-in item reward
Bait and Bobber 30 pieces of deluxe bait
Book of Mysteries Seven Mystery Boxes
Book of Stars Eight bags of Fairy Dust
Combat Quarterly One bottle of Monster Musk
Jack Be Nimble, Jack Be Thick Three lots of Stuffing
Jewels of the Sea Three cave jellies
Jewels of the Sea Three river jellies
Jewels of the Sea Three sea jellies
Mining Monthly 20 pieces of coal
Monster Compendium One Slime Incubator
Monster Compendium One Slime Egg-Press
Stardew Valley Almanac Two lots of Pepper Poppers
Woodcutter’s Weekly 100 pieces of wood
Woody’s Secret 20 pieces of hardwood

Well, now that you’ve got plenty of books to read, maybe it’s time to think about your next Stardew Valley co-op game to show off your skills or expand your farm with a new Stardew Valley silo.