A Bloggoversary, and Books in a Basket: a Thrift Shopping Haul

Alright, so this post has been a couple of weeks in the making. But between soaking up the last bits of summer, helping faciliate not one, but TWO sibling moves - one out of state, the other to the other side of the state - blogging hasn't been taking up the brainspace it deserves. 

That doesn't change the fact that everyone loves a good haul, right? 

So, let's flash back to Tuesday, July 27th: where, in order to celebrate my Bloggoversary in high style, I enlisted my brother to join me on a parade through some of my favorite area thrift stores. It's an errand he's no stranger to... only this time, instead of languishing next to the dressing rooms, holding a cumbersome stack of clothing, we'd be devoting our time and attention pretty specifically to the book section. 

Of course, we couldn't content ourselves to just that. But more on that later... 

All told, the day was exactly the kind of exercise in thrifty shopping that I needed, and yet another reminder of how simple and effective it is to find yourself plenty of good reads for cheap. Was this lesson strictly necessary, in a year defined by the realization that I have over 435 unfinished books on my TBR shelves and Kindle? I mean... moving on. 

location #1: Value Village

The location I go to has a pretty decent, typically well-organized assortment of reads in their book section. Unfortunately, because we got there shortly after opening on a Tuesday morning, it seems like everyone else in the area was looking for good reads there, too... and pretty much everything else. I'm not used to having to share elbow room while shopping, but we chocked up the additional presence to the fact that it's summer, they had recently restocked the shelves, and who knows, maybe people just happen to really love spending sunny days in July stuffed inside a large store that smells like mothballs?

Because there were so many people there, I felt a little scrambled for time, and didn't expend a lot of effort in trying to find anything picture-worthy. Though I did find a definitely unofficial Harry Styles biography that made me giggle. 

All told, I grabbed six new-to-me, gently-used titles, and the kid brother managed to make off with a few as well! 

As You Like It, Shakespeare

One of my favorite things to search for while thrifting, is Folger Library copies of Shakespeare. You're almost guaranteed to see a surplus of titles on the shelf; unfortunately, the question then becomes whether you'll be able to actually read them or not, as many of them are marked up and scarred, having been used as study copies. Finding an edition that has no annotations is trickier stuff... but I found one, for a play I haven't read since college! 

The Mists of Avalon, Marion Zimmer Bradley

A Wizard of Earthsea, Ursula K. LeGuin

Another great option to look for in a thrift store, are older copies of long-faved Fantasy. Besides sorting through editions of the Wheel of Time and Eragon series, we found both of these perennial classics. I've been dying for more Ursula K. LeGuin in my life, and I was excited to pick up a title I'd heard so much about. The funnier pick, was Mists of Avalon: while my brother and I had both heard of it before, we didn't have enough understanding to determine whether it was worth picking up. I took the chance, and lo and behold, upon traveling to Barnes and Noble later on in the day, we found an almost identical copy for sale for almost $18 more expensive than what we'd nabbed at the thrift store! 

The Buccaneers, Edith Wharton

Invisible Man, Ralph Ellison

If you haven't gotten the theme so far, thrift stores are a great place to pick up copies of the classics, but what's especially true, is if you're looking for classics that aren't among the expected: while odds would not be high that I'd find a copy of House of Mirth, The Buccaneers makes for an intriguing Wharton selection that hits just left of center. Similarly, Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man is a modern classic, rather than some stuffy, old 19th century pick. The copy I picked up had never so much been opened before! 

The Immortalists, Chloe Benjamin

Okay, so it's not all classics; thrift store bookshelves carry quite a bit of contemporary fiction, too. This particular title was much-recommended on bookstagram a couple of years ago, when it was first published in 2018. It's pretty incredible, to be able to find a completely unread copy of a recent release, but I'm very happy I got it! 

(Originally, the plan was then to move over to Goodwill immediately after Value Village, but because of numerous factors, including a much-needed bathroom break, we went for Barnes and Noble first, which is where I picked up the titles I included in my bloggoversary post. Did I briefly consider giving up Goodwill after dropping entirely too much change at the big store? You bet I did... but I'm so, so glad I didn't end up bailing off for home. Not only did I find some of my favorite material of the day at GW, but it served as a nice sort of sandwich comparison to see how cheap you can pick up certain material, if you're only willing to 1. manage your expectations and 2. stick to a budget.) 

location #2: Goodwill

I feel like I always rely on this location to have a really solid assortment of books: they have nice, built-in shelves that take up a full corner of the store, and the location is one of the prime donation spots in our area. However, I was really sad to see that the Books had been severely reduced in shelf space, with more than a few of them standing completely empty! I don't know if this is due to a deliberate attempt at limiting that kind of stock, or if there just haven't been a lot of people donating their books in the past year, but either way, I was pretty sad to see it brought so low.

That is not to say, however, that I didn't make away with a fair amount of reading material.

Bet Me, Jennifer Crusie

A much-celebrated entry into the Romance genre in the past few years, I've been hearing nothing but good things about this novel in the time I've started reading Romance (which, it's hard to believe, was only a couple of summers ago!). 

The Four Winds, Kristin Hannah

Another frequent find among thrift store book shelves? Anything with a Book of the Month tab on the side. Hey, I'm not knocking anyone else's subscription habits, but it seems like BOTM users happen to give away just as many books as they keep, if not more. 

The DaVinci Code, Dan Brown

The Corrections, Johnathan Franzen

Don't make fun: yes, I know that Jonathan Franzen is a pretty contentious topic in the book world, and yes, I'm aware that everyone's dad owns a copy of the DaVinci Code. But remember that golden scratch-off poster I got a couple of years ago, the one with all of those "contemporary classic" titles? I've been trying to make a more concentrated effort to pay attention to that poster recently. I'm hoping that this Fall will see me able to tackle a few more of those boxes to check off... especially once I'm done with my Summer Book Bingo TBR, too. 

Garden Spells, Sarah Addison Allen

Out of all of the books I've purchased today, this was the only one I've actually read before: Garden Spells, a random library check-out that came my way in the last few weeks of December, was also one of the only reasons I was able to end my catastrophic reading year on anything resembling a high note. When I saw a hardcover copy on Goodwill's shelves - completely unread - I practically snatched it out right in front of my brother's face. Couldn't be more pleased to add this magical, intensely atmospheric read to my collection. 

Not pictured: two cookbooks - which, while I will absolutely be reading them soon, I do not classify in with my "reading" books - and a very lovely little basket I'm using, at the moment, to store more cookbooks.

The Goofy Goodies

Let's be real: we love thrift stores not just because of the treasures they hold... but because some people's versions of "treasures" vary quite significantly. Here are just a few of the best things my brother and I found in Goodwill, that didn't necessarily make it into the basket to take home.

This complete DVD anniversary collection of the classic Pride and Prejudice - aka, the "wet Colin Firth" edition - contained not only two discs, but also a bonus, filled with special features. 

Also didn't pick up, though I desperately wanted to, a World Wrestling Federation Superstars cookbook; a book of "Real Alchemy" that contained, wouldn't you know it, instructions on how to perform alchemy. Try it at home, kids! 

Do you like to go thrifting? What's the best thing you've found hidden in the bookshelves of a thrift store? Let me know, in the comments below!

BOOK HAUL: JAN & FEB 2019

Hey, remember how when I was setting Resolutions for this year, I mentioned how badly I wanted to downsize my TBR? How I said that I was committed to adding only one book to my shelves, with every two that vacated it? How this was going to give me an opportunity to re-evaluate my shopping habits, and actually get around to reading the books on my shelves? Remember that?

Yeah, me neither. Especially when, you know, I got it into my head that I wanted to pull together a Book Outlet order. And, you know, that other time when I was at Goodwill, and got a little overwhelmed by the amount of buzzy almost-new books that were on their shelves. So, yeah.

(And we're not even going to talk about how when I took my brother to Barnes and Noble to pick up Leigh Bardugo's King of Scars on its release day, I almost walked out with three other full price books. Clearly I cannot trust my own grabby hands, which think on their own.)

In total, between these two shopping binges, I bought 9 books for myself in January and February (and yes, I'm deliberately choosing to overlook the books included in these purchases that were made for other people). This is a bit of a personal problem, because in just January, I only read 6 books, and only 4 of them were off of my TBR shelves. Now, I've added back more than double that total.

And yet, absolutely no part of this contradicts the amount of excitement I feel about each of these book purchases. You know, it's important to be self-aware, for growth's sake, but it's also important to feel joy, for living's sake.

So, which titles were so important that I broke one of my most important book goals for this year, in the first two months of the year?

BOOK OUTLET

Originally, I made this order in order to pick up a couple of birthday presents for my Dad. And I did: both the Sopranos Family Cookbook and Phil Doran's The Reluctant Tuscan were for him! Plus Anne Fadiman's The Wine Lover's Daughter, which was a present for my mom, too. The rest, though... those are my bad.

The Sharper Your Knife, the Less You Cry, Kathleen Flinn
One of the first books off of my TBR shelves in January, was Flinn's Burnt Toast Makes You Sing Good, in which the author uses family recipes to tell her history, from her grandparents through to her own childhood. In this bestselling memoir, she discusses how getting fired from her Microsoft job, lead her to learn from Le Cordon Bleu.

Trials of the Earth: The True Story of a Pioneer Woman, Mary Mann Hamilton
Recording her life experiences in the backwoods of the Mississippi Delta, Hamilton gives a first-person account of the tragedies and triumphs that come from the backbreaking labor of making your own land in the early American South. I'm already looking forward to picking this up this summer (aka, the best season to read American Fiction and History).

Vanity Fair's Writers on Writers, edited by Graydon Carter
What can I say, I'm an absolute sucker for this kind of stuff. From Didion to Parker, to e. e. cummings and Capote, I absolutely live for people hyping up other people in their industry.

Strange the Dreamer, Laini Taylor
This has been hyped so often by various friends of mine, that I couldn't resist the temptation to finally pick up this Fantasy story of a junior librarian, driven to discover a lost city, cut off from the world by the gods. Unfortunately for me, Book Outlet doesn't always note what edition of a particular book you'll be sent... and being that this one, for me, is a Large Print edition, I don't think I'll be hanging onto it for very long after reading!

(Oh yeah, and I also bought a cookbook. But I'm not counting that one... it goes on my other shelves!)

GOODWILL

Ignore the price tags on here: being that I went during a special sale day, each of these bad boys were only $2, despite each of their almost-new condition. And, plus the six items of clothing I picked up, too, my total purchase price ended up being only around $40! Score!

Less, Andrew Sean Greer
This Pulitzer winner follows a failed writer about to turn 50, as he adventures through various places abroad, and finds love along the way. Despite its significant award status, I've heard mostly mixed reviews about this one, which is probably why I'm so excited to pick it up! I love when people can't make up their minds about a book... it gives me a little more freedom to decide what I think, without all the hype!

Everything I Never Told You, Celeste Ng
Full disclosure: as a general rule, I avoid contemporary stories about dead girls. But this one has not only been loved by close friends of mine, but also just by Bookstagram at large, and I feel like if I'm going to dip my toes into any modern-day lit anytime soon, this would be a pretty safe choice.

Beartown, Frederik Backman
Okay, here's the thing. Originally, this book was sold to me as "Friday Night Lights, but for Hockey," and there's really nothing about that sentence that drives me to want to pick up this book... especially when I read the summary, to see that the catalytic moment of all the action, is the rape of a 15 year old girl by one of the team's players. But what can I say? Out of over 121,000 ratings on Goodreads, it has 4.29 stars. To be clear, that's absolutely insane.

When Life Gives You Lululemons, Lauren Weisberger
I swear I didn't know this was a Devil Wears Prada follow up when I picked it up in the store. I didn't even glance at what the inside flap said. I just liked the cover, and the clever title, and I figured it would make for a fun read during Spring Break. And like I said before, it was $2. Sometimes it's fun to pick things up for no reason at all! (But dammit, that's why I'm in this mess in the first place, isn't it?)

Wolf Hall, Hilary Mantel
Highlighting Thomas Cromwell's impact at the moment in British history where Henry VIII is choosing to leave Catherine of Aragon for Anne Boleyn, this historical fiction is probably one of the most consistently recommended reads for fans of the genre I've seen in the past decade. And being that I haven't been able to get the Six: The Musical soundtrack out of my head for the past few months, I'm very receptive to Tudors at the moment.



Well, that's that then... let's hope I can make it through March unscathed, right? Either that, or hope that I just start reading prodigious amounts of my TBR shelves on my own.

Believe it or not, in the middle of this month, I even made a trip to Portland, which included a stopover in Powell's Books... and I didn't pick up anything! This is what character growth feels like, I guess?

What books have you picked up recently? Have you broken any of your Resolutions yet? Let me know, in the comments below!