Some Stardew Valley books fundamentally change how your day feels. Faster movement, better loot and access to Marnie’s shop are all useful, but buying every book without checking its requirements can waste a lot of gold. Here is my guide to the twenty-six books from the video, with the purchase details refreshed for 1.6.
Watch my original YouTube video for the gameplay demonstration, or jump to the section you need. The written guide includes corrections and additions for Stardew Valley 1.6.
In this guideOpen contents
Where is the Bookseller, and when does he visit?
Look above JojaMart, across the river on the east side of Pelican Town. The Bookseller visits twice each season. His dates are marked with a balloon on the calendar, and the morning message tells you when he is in town.
Buy a Calendar from Robin and keep it near your bed. Never missing a visit is much more useful than trying to memorise a list of possible dates. Stock changes between visits, and several books only join his rotation in Year 3.
Which Stardew Valley books should you buy first?
My early priorities are Price Catalogue if you want convenient sale values, then Way of the Wind for everyday movement. Animal Catalogue is an easy quality-of-life purchase once Year 2 arrives. After that, match the book to your routine: Monster Compendium for combat, Horse: The Book for riding, and experience books when you can comfortably afford them.
There are nineteen permanent power books. The five single-skill books, Book of Stars and Queen of Sauce Cookbook bring the total covered here to twenty-six. The Well-Read achievement tracks the nineteen power books, not every repeatable experience book.
Friendship 101
Friendship 101 helps you befriend people a little faster. I like getting it early because the benefit has longer to work, but you cannot simply buy it on your first Bookseller visit. It is a Prize Machine reward, with a possible Bookseller purchase from Year 3 for 20,000g. Keep doing requests and using your prize tickets.
Way of the Wind, parts 1 and 2
There are two books that you need to obtain as soon as possible, the way of the wind part one and two. Each of these will increase your movement speed by a tiny amount, it’s small but not insignificant. Especially when paired with a food speed buff and a drink speed buff. Buy these from the book seller. Fifteen thousand for part one and thirty-five thousand gold for part two.
Horse: The Book
Speaking of speed, utilizing your horse with these speed buffs will turn you into a speed demon. Fortunately there is a book that will increase the speed of your horse as well! Horse the book for only twenty five thousand gold at the bookseller. The individual boosts are small, but they add up over a whole day.
Book of Stars
Book of Stars gives experience in every skill. Once Mastery is unlocked, it can help with that shared experience bar too. The Bookseller may stock it for 15,000g. I like this book when money is comfortable, but do not sacrifice an important tool or building upgrade just to buy experience. You can also trade a spare copy for eight Fairy Dust.
Book of Mysteries
As you play, you will find Mystery Boxes that Clint can open. The Book of Mysteries can come from ordinary or Golden Mystery Boxes, and its power increases your chance of finding more Mystery Boxes. It does not increase book drops directly. Once you have the power, a spare copy can be traded for seven Mystery Boxes.
Price Catalogue
There is a mod that allows you to see the price of items in your inventory. Well now there is a book that does that. It’s called Price Catalogue and it only costs three thousand gold from the bookseller. You can buy multiple of these but they cannot be traded in for anything, so don't do that.
Woody’s Secret
Woody’s Secret gives felled trees a 5% chance to yield double wood. That is helpful when you are constantly building kegs, sheds and farm upgrades. Find it while chopping trees, or look for it in the Bookseller’s rotating Year 3 stock. If you have an extra copy, twenty Hardwood is one useful trade.
Animal Catalogue
Animal Catalogue lets you use Marnie’s shop when she is not behind the counter. Anyone who has tried to buy hay at the wrong time will understand why I like this. It costs 5,000g from Marnie starting in Year 2. You still need to be able to enter the building.
Jack Be Nimble, Jack Be Thick
Jack Be Nimble, Jack Be Thick permanently adds one defence. It sounds small, but it is another piece of a defensive build alongside your boots, rings and food. Find it from Artifact Spots or potentially buy it from the Bookseller for 20,000g from Year 3. A spare copy can be traded for Stuffing once you have read the first.
Jewels of the Sea
Jewels of the Sea lets fishing treasure chests contain roe. That gives fishing another reward beyond the fish itself. Find the book in fishing treasure, or look for the 20,000g Bookseller purchase from Year 3. Extra copies can be traded for fishing jellies; check which jelly trade is offered before handing one over.
Mapping Cave Systems
Mapping Cave Systems has a strange name for a book that discounts Marlon’s item retrieval service by 50%. Defeat 1,000 monsters in total, then open the box in the back of the Adventurer’s Guild. It can also appear in the Bookseller’s Year 3 rotation. This is useful insurance if your mining trips sometimes end badly.
Monster Compendium
Monster Compendium is one of my favourites. It gives monsters a small chance to drop double loot, so it pairs nicely with a Burglar’s Ring on a resource run. Find it by defeating monsters or look for it in the Bookseller’s 20,000g Year 3 stock. Extra-book trades include slime equipment, but check the quantity required: some take two books.
Stardew Valley Almanac
Stardew Valley Almanac gives Farming experience. It is useful if you want your next farming level a little sooner, and it contributes to Mastery after all five skills reach level 10. Bookseller prices for the ordinary skill books can vary from 5,000g to 10,000g depending on the stock slot. Spare Almanacs can be traded for Pepper Poppers.
Combat Quarterly
Combat Quarterly gives Combat experience. If Combat is the last skill holding back the Mastery Cave, a book can help finish the job. The Bookseller may offer it for 5,000g to 10,000g, and copies can also turn up during your adventures. A spare copy can be traded for Monster Musk.
Queen of Sauce Cookbook
The Queen of Sauce Cookbook teaches the Queen of Sauce recipes you have missed. It does not teach every recipe in the game: friendship recipes and other sources still matter. It costs 50,000g from the Bookseller after you have found 100 Golden Walnuts. If you have been missing television days, this can save a lot of waiting.
Ol’ Slitherlegs
If you are running through crops or grass, you tend to run much much slower. The Ol’ slither legs book will allow you to run considerably faster in grass and crops! It will cost you twenty five thousand gold which is steep for what it does, so maybe wait until you can easily afford it.
The Alleyway Buffet
The Alleyway Buffet improves your chances of finding items in trash cans. Find the golden trash can along the hidden route between the Blacksmith and JojaMart: look for the gap in the fence and clear the way. The book can also appear in the Bookseller’s Year 3 stock. This is a small everyday bonus, not a reason to abandon your other plans.
Treasure Appraisal Guide
Treasure Appraisal Guide raises artifact sale prices. I still donate a first museum copy before thinking about profit, but duplicates become more interesting once you have the book. Find it in Artifact Troves or look for the Bookseller’s 20,000g Year 3 stock. Spare copies can be traded for Artifact Troves or Spicy Eel, depending on the trade offered.
The Diamond Hunter
The Diamond Hunter costs ten Diamonds from the dwarf on floor 5 of the Volcano Dungeon. Reading it gives stones you mine by hand a chance to drop a Diamond. Keep that last detail in mind: a bomb-heavy run does not make every exploded rock a Diamond Hunter roll. It is an extra reward for pickaxe mining, not guaranteed diamonds from every stone.
The Art O’ Crabbing
The Art O’ Crabbing gives Crab Pots a 25% chance to produce double loot. That is one in four, which is very good when you run lots of pots. Earn it through an Iridium-tier SquidFest reward if you have not already received it there; the required catch count differs between the two days. It can also appear in the Bookseller’s Year 3 stock.
Woodcutter’s Weekly
Woodcutter’s Weekly gives Foraging experience. Read it if you still need the skill or want more Mastery progress. It can appear in ordinary skill-book stock, and the Bookseller also has a separate chance to offer a copy at 8,000g. If experience is no longer useful to you, a spare copy can become one hundred Wood.
Dwarvish Safety Manual
Our favorite dwarf in the mines that usually sells us bombs now has a book for sale! The dwarvish safety manual for only four thousand gold. This book will reduce the damage you take from bombs by twenty five percent. This will save you food in the mines when using those pesky mega bombs.
Bait and Bobber
Bait and Bobber gives Fishing experience. If fishing is still difficult, gaining levels can make the bar more manageable. Bookseller stock prices can range from 5,000g to 10,000g. A spare copy can also be traded for thirty Deluxe Bait, so compare the immediate fishing help with the experience.
Mining Monthly
Mining Monthly gives Mining experience. Once Mastery is unlocked, it contributes to that too. Like the other ordinary skill books, its Bookseller price depends on the stock slot rather than one fixed price. Twenty Coal is the alternative trade, and let’s be honest: Coal is always useful.
Raccoon Journal
Raccoon Journal makes weeds more likely to give Mixed Seeds. Complete the raccoons’ second request to receive it, with an additional shop route through the Raccoon Wife for 999 Fiber. It can also appear in the Bookseller’s Year 3 stock. A Golden Clock does not make the power meaningless: you can still cut weeds elsewhere in the world.
Should you read duplicate books or trade them?
Read your first copy of a power book to unlock its effect. Most duplicate power books can still give experience, but Price Catalogue and Animal Catalogue do not. Duplicates do not stack the original power.
Open the Bookseller’s trade list before deciding what to do with extras. Some trade options require that you have already learned the book’s power, and some need more than one copy. If you still need Mastery progress, experience may be the better option. If your farm is short on Coal, Hardwood or Fairy Dust, trading can be more practical.
In multiplayer, the player who reads the book gets the effect. Keep another copy for a friend rather than assuming one purchase upgrades the whole farm.
Watch the original video
Keep exploring the valley
Browse more getting started guides, or continue with one of these related guides:
- Ultimate Stardew Valley Beginners Guide: Master the Game from Day One
- Ultimate Stardew Valley Fishing Guide [1.6]
- How To Farm Every Resource in Stardew Valley: 18 Powerful Methods Made Easy
Game-mechanics references: Books, Bookseller. Screenshots and video by MGaud.