Author Topic: Do you love used book stores? (Read 5686 times)

Perd Hapley · « **on:** May 09, 2006, 04:46:27 PM »

No, not book stores that have been used before, but stores that sell used books. I have a few hundred books, and I'm sure I could have spent thousands of dollars had I bought them all new.

I just picked up a decent paperback copy of The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich for pennies. I've also found two Korans (English translations), the complete Plutarch's Lives, Thucydides and Herodotus, an Oxford History of America, another American history survey by the Beards, Tocqueville and Madison's notes on the Constitutional Convention. And one by Bill Jordan and another by Elmer Keith.

I also like picking up books that I wouldn't want the publisher to profit from, like Arming America, and another book I have by Pete Shields.

I prefer used paperbacks to new hardcovers, most of the time. Used things sometimes have a certain character that seems to make them special...somehow. Can't explain it.

bratch · « **Reply #1 on:** May 09, 2006, 05:05:11 PM »

I'm a big fan of the $5-$10 clearance books at B&N.

Perd Hapley · « **Reply #2 on:** May 09, 2006, 05:09:10 PM »

Quote from: bratch

I'm a big fan of the $5-$10 clearance books at B&N.

Are those surplus of new releases, and they ship the rest to the publisher?

Used paperbacks usually cost less, at least around here, and the selection is probably better. Then again, you usually can't buy mocha. fistful like mocha.

SpookyPistolero · « **Reply #3 on:** May 09, 2006, 06:06:35 PM »

I've only been to a few used book stores, because I didn't think any were around here. I recently found out where one is near me, though, and intend to stop by soon.

I know what you mean about the aura in those shops. I think in the used stores you have not only the comfort of the thoughts stored in the texts, but also the notion that every book there has been explored by someone else. Like karma residue from having taken something positive away from the reading. Spooky is my name, and melodrama is my game.

Plus, I hate yuppie trash, which abounds in this town anyway. They just gravitate towards the overpriced B&N's and Joseph Beths...

I did pick up new copies of 'Gates of Fire' and a collection of short stories by Jean Paul Sartre, which are proving to be worth it.

Winston Smith · « **Reply #4 on:** May 09, 2006, 06:34:45 PM »

Yeah I tend to patronize this one almost directly across from my work, at 7th and Irving here in San Francisco. Black Oak by name.

$2.17 for most pocketbooks. Picked up the plague by Camus the other day for that price. Decided not to ask for a local merchant discount... haha.

Perd Hapley · « **Reply #5 on:** May 09, 2006, 07:31:22 PM »

Quote from: Winston Smith

Yeah I tend to patronize this one almost directly across from my work

[Napoleon Dynamite voice] Lucky [/Napoleon Dynamite voice]

Actually, Spook, I would guess that a lot of those books have never been read.

I forgot to mention fiction, though. I have everything John Steinbeck ever published, so far as I know, most of which was used. All the stand-bys are there, too, Dickens, Austen, Melville, Dumas, etc. Then there are the floods of Danielle Steel and John Grisham. Saints preserve us.

Winston Smith · « **Reply #6 on:** May 09, 2006, 07:35:17 PM »

Haha what's luckier fistful is that there's a coffee store not 2 or 3 doors down from it.

So if fistful like mocha, fistful get mocha. A mocha that doesn't step on little brown people, like most mochas do.

Thus the benefits of the Left Coast.

cosine · « **Reply #7 on:** May 09, 2006, 07:35:43 PM »

Yes!!!! I love reading, and used bookstores make my dollar go much further. Library used book sales are also good for cheap books. I frequent those fairly often.

bratch · « **Reply #8 on:** May 09, 2006, 08:28:53 PM »

The B&N stuff is new. I have no idea how they decide what goes on sale. One week its $5 next week its regular price. If your a fiction guy they have a best sellers table that has previous best sellers for $5-10. I have bought quite afew books from the $5 bin over a wide range of topics.

Old Fud · « **Reply #9 on:** May 09, 2006, 10:41:39 PM »

There's a used book store in the Milwaukee Airport. I make a point of stopping there every time I'm passing through. The thing I appreciate is that they have the out-of-print copies of books by authors that were my favorites when I was young.

Anybody remember Travis McGee, Quiller ?
You couldn't ask for better airplane reading.

Fud

Iain · « **Reply #10 on:** May 09, 2006, 11:13:37 PM »

For a couple of months after university while I got some stuff sorted out I did some work in a charity shop. Got first look at the books that came through, most of which wasn't too my taste (to be diplomatic) but I managed to pick up around twenty good books in that time.

Not sure if any of you have heard of a place called Hay-on-Wye, but if you ever go to that part of England and you love secondhand book shops then it is worth a visit. Only a small place but it is crammed with old book shops, some are full of paperbacks and some have some quite valuable books.

JAlexander · « **Reply #11 on:** May 10, 2006, 12:52:20 AM »

I'm surprised that no one has mentioned Powell's in Portland, since it's like bibliophile nirvana. We nearly swooned when we went in, and I think we came away with an entire roller bag of books. Half Price Books is also good, if you have one near you.

My dear wife collects music books and I collect Texana, and we both read lots of mysteries and F/SF, so I'm beginning to worry about our bookshelves. Every six months or so we haul a load of books to Half Price to re-sell, but I have a feeling that we're going to have to have an entire large room dedicated to being a library. Expensive bibliomania is in our future.

Hey Winston, do you ever go to Green Apple Books?

James

peteinct · « **Reply #12 on:** May 10, 2006, 04:14:16 AM »

For those of you in CT there is a good used book store in Niantic right by Rocky Neck state park called the Book Barn it is a 3 story barn filled with books organized by topic and several out buildings full of paper backs. Hard bound books might go for 3 to 20 dollars and the paper backs are a buck. Best of all they give store credit for what you bring in. pete

Stickjockey · « **Reply #13 on:** May 10, 2006, 04:30:24 AM »

JAlexander-

Sorry, just got here. Y'all, if you're ever in Portland, Oregon, look me up and we'll take a trip to Powell's Books over on Burnside. An entire city block, three stories high, of books and their related bits. Everything you could ask for. Then there's Powell's Technical books a few blocks away. Tech manuals, certification texts, books on engineering, and such like. Mmmmmm, Powell's!

mfree · « **Reply #14 on:** May 10, 2006, 05:00:17 AM »

No. I hate them. You know why? I can't set foot in one without a dozen books leaping off the shelves and mugging me, and *then* expecting space on my bookshelves! What am I, some kind of home for wayward books?

(the answer to that is yes, btw, several hundred pounds of them and growing)

...has left the building. · « **Reply #15 on:** May 10, 2006, 08:17:31 AM »

AFAIK, the only good used book store in my area, Twice Turned Pages, closed. Sad

I love looking through used book stores for classic novels that have illustrations.

Perd Hapley · « **Reply #16 on:** May 10, 2006, 08:47:12 AM »

What good reads/references have you all found second-hand?

Antibubba · « **Reply #17 on:** May 10, 2006, 10:47:12 AM »

Used bookstores are the most valuable square footage on the planet. I'd say at least 95% of my books are used.

cosine · « **Reply #18 on:** May 10, 2006, 11:50:07 AM »

Quote from: fistful

What good reads/references have you all found second-hand?

Just a couple of weeks ago I found Who's Your Caddy by Rick Reilly. Really funny book about his experiences caddying for a bunch of professional golfers. Paid a buck instead of $25. That's why I love used bookstores/sales. I'll list more when I get more time.

RadioFreeSeaLab · « **Reply #19 on:** May 10, 2006, 12:23:28 PM »

Yep. There are a few near my home.

Lo.Com.Denom · « **Reply #20 on:** May 10, 2006, 12:39:58 PM »

Oh Yes.

There's a fantastic place not far from my home. The first time I passed by there, I saw a teeny, tiny Victorian shopfront, probably just stocking the usual collection of celeb biographies, well-creased paperbacks and old copies of the Guiness Book of Records. When I went in, however, I found out that it had a back room. And that back room had another back room, in turn. And so on and so on... The place is an absolute labyrinth -- literally! They have a sign in the front of the shop that says how many miles of shelving they have in there. Big militaria section, too.

Mucho cool stuff in there, but they're getting a little bit expensive nowadays. There's a similar shop a little way across town with bookshelves way up to the ceiling -- more of a cave-complex than a labyrinth, that one.

The shops themselves are almost as interesting as the rare (and not so rare) tomes inside. You can spend days in these places.

...has left the building. · « **Reply #21 on:** May 10, 2006, 02:46:43 PM »

Quote from: fistful

What good reads/references have you all found second-hand?

A fairly comprehensive book of Sherlock Holmes' tales complete with period illustrations.

doczinn · « **Reply #22 on:** May 10, 2006, 03:03:31 PM »

You guys haven't mentioned the best part. The proprietor usually knows every book in the store and its exact location on the shelf. And if he doesn't have it, he'll know who does.

elkhunter · « **Reply #23 on:** May 10, 2006, 03:29:54 PM »

Used bookstores are one of my many downfalls.

Unfortanately i recently moved and havn't found a decent one in my area yet.

Old Fud · « **Reply #24 on:** May 10, 2006, 04:15:40 PM »

Go to Barnes and Noble website. (www.bn.com) and select the "Used and out of Print" tab. Then search on any title or author you care to.

For example, I looked up "Who's your caddy", and it gave me 64 copies with Xref to each store that would send it to me for what price in a flash.

I admit, this deprives you of the joy of the hunt, finding surprise jewels in the murk, enjoying the musty smell of "old library" and the feel you get from fondling very old covers and pages.
But it's a way to find anything quickly for cheap.

Fud

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Author Topic: Do you love used book stores? (Read 5686 times)

...has left the building.

...has left the building.