One of the best things, in my opinion, about yard sales and thrift stores are the books. We love books at our house and we buy a LOT of them throughout the year. But, I don’t want to go broke; ergo, yard sales and thrift stores.
If you are worried that the authors are getting the shaft when you buy a used book, here is an excellent article about buying used versus new. And yes, we still buy new books too. Who doesn’t love stepping into a Barnes and Noble? The smell alone draws me in, just like a library.
I started to tell you about all of the lovely books that I found in January, and realized that I had never shown you what we accumulated at the end of the year! So here you go. As always, I will link up the books so that you can buy your own copy if you don’t want to hunt them down at a yard sale or a thrift store.
First up is a very rough copy of the Complete Poems of Keats and Shelley. We didn’t have a copy, so I was happy to add this to our shelves until I find a better copy.
This was a pick from Hayden. 30 Second Philosophies: The 50 most though-provoking philosophies, each explained in half a minute. Cool.
The bibliophile’s Dictionary by Miles Westley
Lord Jim by Joseph Conrad
Centennial by James A. Michener
I am slowly replacing any of the paperback books that I actually re-read by Nora Roberts with Trade Paperbacks. I like the way they read better. And they are not as heavy as a Hardback. Blue Dahlia, Black Rose, and Red Lily.
Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
We actually have a big hardcover copy of all of the Bronte sisters works, but Hayden wanted something that is easier to handle when you are reading.
The Town by William Faulkner 
The Two Towers by J. R. R. Tolkien
This is not our first copy of this book either; it’s very unusual, and I can never leave certain things when I find them at the Goodwill Outlet.
The Blind Side by Michael Lewis
Solving the Mystery of the Lost Colony Roanoke by Lee Miller
Charlie Martz and Other Stories by Elmore Leonard
It’s getting harder and harder to find a book my Daddy hasn’t already read.
Reader’s Digest North American Wildlife
I highly, highly recommend this book!! My parents have always had a copy of this and when I found my own copy about 15 years ago, I held onto it for dear life. This one is in better condition than mine, so……
You know me and my philosophy about the bibles at the Goodwill Outlet…..
The Language Police by Diane Ravitch
I thought this looked interesting.
I believe that’s everything we picked up in November and December. Also, while we were in California we stopped into a small local bookstore in Morro Bay and stocked up there too. It was a gorgeous place and I wish we could just pop in there anytime we wanted to.
I know that we bought a blank journal for Liv, and two other books that she picked out. No idea what they were. Hayden picked up Cloud Atlas, The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest (I have hunted for this in Trade paperback form for the last three years – yes, I know I could have ordered it), and Ulysses. Denton picked up a pocket version of Sun Tzu’s The Art of War, and The Book of Five Rings by Miyamoto Musashi. I cannot remember what I bought. Seriously. I’m sure I’ll come across them when I’m digging for something to read.
I can however, remember what I didn’t buy. There was a beautiful set of illustrated Percy Jackson books in the children’s section and Liv didn’t even look twice at them. They were gorgeous. She’s happy with her original set and I need to get over my book hoarding tendencies.
Side note: You guys, I just can’t leave the bibles when I find them at the Goodwill Outlet. I have a sneaking suspicion about where all of the items that don’t get snatched up go and I just can’t. I’ll take them to church and leave them in the pews for someone who might not have their own copy.
What books did you pick up in November and December?
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