Browsing for Books : Prices at A & M are always good, but twice a year--at sale time--they’re twice as nice.

With the frenzy of the holiday season behind us, perhaps we can return to a favorite pastime--not shopping but just browsing. Bookstores are the natural habitat for the chronic browser, and there’s a spot in the San Fernando Valley where the selection is vast and the prices extraordinary.

A & M Book Cellars jams quite an inventory in its 1,300 square feet, since about 85% of the books are in the compact paperback form. For devotees of romantic fiction, there are works by Danielle Steel, LaVyrle Spencer, Dorothy Garwood, Victoria Holt and Johanna Lindsey priced at 50% of the original price. In the Western section, readers of Louis L’Amour can almost always find about 60 of this prolific author’s titles, ranging from $1 to $2.

The science fiction section is one of the more popular, with such authors as Piers Anthony, Isaac Asimov, David Eddings, L. Ron Hubbard, Larry Niven, Robert Heinlein, Ray Bradbury and Jerry Pournelle. Star Trek novels are featured; there is also a shelf of movie-related science fiction.

For young readers, the preschool section is popular and includes picture books and storybooks, but selection varies widely.

There’s solid inventory for young adults with choices from Sweet Valley Twins and Babysitters Club to Sweet Valley High and books by Judy Blume and Beverly Cleary.

I found an excellent variety of mysteries by such authors as Dorothy Sayers, John D. McDonald and Agatha Christie and modern writers such as P. D. James, Dick Francis, Joseph Wambaugh and Martha Grimes.

A special feature at A & M is the bargain room. Separate from the regular shopping area, this is a collection of 5,000 to 7,000 paperback and hardcover books. The price for paperbacks is 25 cents each, five for $1 and 15 for $2. These books may be older titles in less demand or may not be in as good condition as books in the regular sections. There are also back issues of magazines.

Each week, owners Alice and Marty Massoglia move 2,000 to 3,000 books and magazines into this bargain section.

About 15% of A & M’s inventory is devoted to hardcover books, which are priced individually, usually at half the original retail price or less. Most range from $1 to $5. Earlier this month, there were several of Stephen King’s later books, all priced at $6.

Prices at A & M are always at the bargain level, but twice a year, it’s twice as good. A major sale brings every book in the main room (this excludes the Bargain Room) down to half off A & M’s regular price. This means that recent bestsellers, for instance, which retailed at other stores for $20, will be marked $5, and all paperbacks are half of A & M’s original price. One sale is held in July and the other is in January, this year starting Sunday and running through Jan. 23.

Where and When What: A & M Book Cellars. Location: 19801-D Vanowen St., Canoga Park. Hours: Week of sale only, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday, 1 to 5 p.m. Sunday. Regular hours are 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursdays and Saturdays, and 1 to 5 p.m. Sundays. Cards: None. Cash or personal check only. Call: (818) 716-6259.