New Las Vegas bookstore to specialize in rare books, with a side of conversation

A new bookstore is opening in the south Las Vegas Valley, specializing in antique and rare books.

Mad Red Books, at 9480 S. Eastern Ave., Unit 105, is the Valley’s newest independent bookstore, opening Friday. The bookstore will offer new and used books, local art and community events.

“We’re really trying to be one of the more specialty stores in town, although we are going to offer a wide variety of books,” said owner and UNLV graduate Joshua Dana. “My goal is to really build up the rare and antique bookstore vibe here in town, as well as linking up with a lot of local artists and craftspeople and expose people to as much as possible as far as literature.”

Majority of the rare books the store will be selling are coming from the Antiquarian Books Association of America, but they will also be buying books on a case-to-case basis. Currently, some of the rare and antique books up for sale include a first edition of Stephen King’s “The Shining” and Wes Craven materials.

And what about the store’s name? Dana’s mother and sister’s initials lend themselves to the name, his mother’s being “MAD” and sister’s being “RED.”

Love of rare books

Dana grew up in Washington, D.C., and was always encouraged to read by his parents. Although, he got his start in rare and antique book collecting when a friend gifted him a 1775 register of England around 12 years ago. From there, his love was ignited.

“A lot of what I personally read is older material, just because I enjoy the way they wrote back then, as well as the type of storytelling they did,” said Dana. “You read a book, you realize someone in the 17th century felt the exact same way as you do now.”

Dana’s particular specialty is Revolutionary War materials, with his personal collection including writings by Thomas Paine, Thomas Jefferson and James Madison.

Last year, Dana decided to quit his job at Kay Jewelers to work at a bookstore in the hopes of potentially purchasing it off its current owner. When the owner wasn’t willing to sell, he took matters into his own hands and started Mad Red Books as an online book retailer, prior to putting in an application to rent a storefront.

Dana’s goal for Mad Red is to invite all forms of literature and viewpoints to foster all forms of conversation.

“We’re really promoting the ability to talk to people, not get upset, not get angry,” said Dana. “A lot of my staff, we all have very differing views on a lot of different things, but the fact that we can come together for our soul vision is kind of what I feel like makes us special.”

The grand opening will be held at 10 a.m. on July 4, with discounts starting at 10 percent off for teachers, veterans, students and first responders, raffle giveaways and opening day offers. Events will take place throughout the week, including a wine tasting event in collaboration with OneHope Wine and Battle Born Veterans Hockey on July 5 and a bookmark coloring children’s event on July 6.

In the future, the bookstore hopes to hold book clubs, writers groups and silent reading nights.

Contact Emerson Drewes at edrewes@reviewjournal.com. Follow @EmersonDrewes on X.