It’s been a Long Time since I’ve Bought Books Full Price

Lately I’ve been stumbling upon a lot of places that sell books at some sort of discount, whether secondhand or just on sale, and it’s gotten to the point that when I’ve had to buy a book for the price printed above the barcode, it feels outrageous. Half Price Books is great for armatures, but there are plenty of other places to find books at a reduced price. This Friday my friend Grace and I are planning an outing to some of the discount bookstores she’s noticed around the neighborhood, and in honor of the event I’ve decided to list some of my favorite places to buy books cheap(ish).

Library Book Sales: The library by my house hosts a book sale every Fall and Spring, with paperbacks for $1 and hardcovers for $2. They always have a huge collection including bestsellers, classics, and other random books I’ve coincidentally wanted to read for months. Last year I bought six books for $6, and felt like I’d gotten them for free. Plus, many of them still have the library’s barcode laminated to the cover, making it look like I stole them from the library when they sit on my bookshelf. I feel like a rebel.

Secondhand Stores: It depends on the store whether or not there will be a good selection, but every once in a while I luck out and find a book I’ve been wanting. Last year I found the next three books in a series my sister and I had been reading in hardcover for $6. Thrift store books seem to consist of mainly teen fiction for some reason, but everyone needs a guilty pleasure every now and then.

Garage Sales: I’m partly basing this one on the fact that my garage sale this summer had for sale the entire Twilight saga, most of the Clique series, and dozens of other books. Adult fiction was included too, I promise.

Target: This one is kind of lame, but I always end up shopping here for books because they have all of the current bestsellers, often at 20% off. Whenever I don’t have a specific book in mind but am not in the mood for the overwhelming amount of browsing a library or Barnes & Noble requires, I shop for books at Target.

Stealing Books from Friends: How I ended up with my copies of 1984 and Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, just to name a few. I do this more often than I should probably admit.