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  Best Book Odyssey Ever!

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  Jerry recently shared his experiences in finding hidden gems of books at a book sale. Just today I had my own lovely experience doing the same, and that started me wondering: what sort of unforgettable book sale bargains have you had? What made it such an awesome deal? I'd love to hear your reminiscences on the subject!

  Moisture Farmer started this discussion 1 year ago. ( reply | permalink )

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  Moisture Farmer 

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  Today, it's my turn. In a matter of two hours at our local library sale, I was able to obtain the following list of 45 used books. The price? $5 for the lot. That's 11.1 cents per book! And 34 are hardcover! *giggles with ill-contained glee*

  A Passage to India by E.M. Forster
  A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce
  The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton
  An Ideal Husband by Oscar Wilde
  Beatrice and Virgil by Yann Martel
  The Caine Mutiny by Herman Wouk
  The Case of the Cautious Coquette and Other Stories by Erle Stanley Gardner
  Certain Women by Madeleine L'Engle
  The Chosen by Chaim Potok
  Cry, The Beloved Country by Alan Paton
  Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller
  East of Eden/The Wayward Bus by John Steinbeck
  Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton
  The Gulag Archipelago by Alexsandr Solzhenitsyn
  The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers
  Henry Esmond by William Makepeace Thackeray
  The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton
  How Green Was My Valley by Richard Llewellyn
  Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
  Islands in the Stream by Ernest Hemingway
  Jamaica Inn by Daphne du Maurier
  The Jungle by Upton Sinclair
  Lady Chatterley's Lover by D.H. Lawrence
  The Last Tycoon by F. Scott Fitzgerald
  Light in August by William Faulkner
  Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel
  The Metamorphosis and Other Stories by Franz Kafka
  Of Human Bondage by W. Somerset Maugham
  One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
  Open House by Elizabeth Berg
  The Pickwick Papers by Charles Dickens
  The Possessed by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
  The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran
  The Queen of the Big Time by Adriana Trigiani
  Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
  The Road by Cormac McCarthy
  Sons and Lovers by D.H. Lawrence
  Swann's Way by Marcel Proust
  Tender Is the Night by F. Scott Fitzgerald
  This Side of Paradise by F. Scott Fitzgerald
  The Three Daughters of Madame Liang by Pearl S. Buck
  Twice 22 (Collected Short Stories) by Ray Bradbury
  Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray
  Women in Love by D.H. Lawrence
  The Yearling by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings

  posted 1 year ago. ( permalink )

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    the Ink Slinger (edited)

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    AWESOME! Congrats, MoFa! Have fun! :)

    P.S. Can't wait to hear your thoughts on The Road.

    posted 1 year ago. ( permalink )

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    Eve 

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    WOWWEE!! That is simply fabulous! Oh how much fun it must have been to go through the process and then... to come home and realize how very long lasting your fun will be! Nice work, MoFa. Ummm, you got room for all that? ;)

    posted 1 year ago. ( permalink )

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    Moisture Farmer 

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    @Ink: Thanks! Though I have yet to read a single thing by McCarthy, I saw it and figured you would never forgive me if I passed it up. :-)

    @Eve: Well, I don't really have room, but there is a bit of floor space along the wall...

    An interesting addendum: I was chortling quite hard when I found that the three matching volumes of DH Lawrence (Lady Chatterley's Lover, et al.) had stickers inside indicating that they came from a Lutheran Senior Citizen's Center, of all places.

    Also, three of these books were for someone else, so I ended up personally obtaining--you guessed it--42 in all.

    posted 1 year ago. ( permalink )

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    Odd_Duck 

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    Wow! What an awesome deal!

    posted 1 year ago. ( permalink )

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    WordsArtMusic 

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    What a great day for you - the green is for St. Patrick's Day - not envy!

    Love the D. H. Lawrence history!

    posted 1 year ago. ( permalink )

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    Halo 

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    Great bargains!!

    posted 1 year ago. ( permalink )

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    Wandering Sparrow 

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    wow and WS passes out....

    posted 1 year ago. ( permalink )

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    Rina 

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    And Red has even read some of these-everyone passes out…

    posted 1 year ago. ( permalink )

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    mark s 

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    *stumbles over the bodies* Lightweights!*drinks more guiness and stumbles off*

    posted 1 year ago. ( permalink )

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    Jerry M 

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    Hey! Is this Mark passed out? Must have been the Proust.

    Speaking of, hope you read Swann's Way soon, I would like to know what you thought of that. I read that back in college for a class and thought Proust was a great (if long-winded) writer. Maybe one year I will start his big book for real.

    posted 1 year ago. ( permalink )

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    mark s 

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    hmm...proust...swann's way...tell me more

    posted 1 year ago. ( permalink )

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  Halo 

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  I go to a huge book sale every spring that benefits a battered women’s shelter in my city. It lasts three days, on the third day you can fill a bag for $5.00. There are beautiful new hardcovers for one or two dollars, and the older ones sell anywhere from one to two dollars. They have an antiques room, that sells some pretty interesting things. Coming up in May and I’ll have my own huge list!

  posted 1 year ago. ( permalink )

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    WordsArtMusic (edited)

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    That is so cool. Both sides win!

    posted 1 year ago. ( permalink )

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    Moisture Farmer 

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    Sounds great! Are there any in particular for which you're looking?

    posted 1 year ago. ( permalink )

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    Halo 

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    No, not really- I do usually make a list of things I’d like to find, that I currently have in paperback, but would like in hardcover... but I get all flustered and overwhelmed with the selection and forget all about my list ;-)

    posted 1 year ago. ( permalink )

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    Jerry M 

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    Getting flustered is very easy when around a mound of books for the taking.

    posted 1 year ago. ( permalink )

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  Jill I 

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  I make the rounds of several local thrift stores with large book sections. I remember one day walking into one of the stores with my daughter, and as soon as we entered, they announced that all jewelry and shoes were half-off. I said to my daughter, Aw man, I thought they were going to say that books were half off. Then they announced "and books." I embarrassed my daughter with an audible gasp, and a little happy dance.

  posted 1 year ago. ( permalink )

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  Eve 

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  As if I have extra $ to spend on books, you are all making me want to go find a place to get a deal and come home with a stack! I have a stack free from the library already, which I am picking through and only kind of reading. Why is it so compelling to book shop? I love it and really use the library to mimick the feel of purchase. I bring home so many books at once and the initial check out is just 2 weeks! I have at least 12 books here from the library right now. I mean, if I had found MoFa's stack for $5 I would hardly have stopped myself, but I can't go to B&N and justifiably purchase a new hardcover anymore. It feels so expensive. Even with a gift card I feel like I need to find a bargain. I have a GC in my bag since Nov. and I can't commit to a purchase.

  Jill, audible gasps and happy dances are a mom's right! Ha! Who of us would not have done the exact same thing upon hearing "and books"?

  posted 1 year ago. ( permalink )

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    Rina 

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    But I would have been gasping while looking at shoes

    posted 1 year ago. ( permalink )

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    Eve 

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    But of course! :)

    posted 1 year ago. ( permalink )

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    Jerry M 

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    Eve, if you have a gift card then bite the bullet and use it. Those things don't last long and the longer you wait the less there is on it. Many people don't know that. So you could have, say, a $20 gift card, that if you waited long enough, would have only $10 on it. I think it's kind of cheap myself, but then I don't make the rules. But I am like you, I have a hard time buying a new book when I know I can find the one I am looking for, if I have patience, at a good used book store for a good price and in quite good condition. I have a short list that I take with me, things I would have trouble remembering (like books in a series) and it's fun to find a few of those books from that list.

    posted 1 year ago. ( permalink )

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    Eve 

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    Wow, I haven't had that happen to me before but you make a good point. I keep my "plan to read" shelfari list with me but it's too long to be of good use. I should make a smaller list from it (books not available at the library?) and bring that with me instead. I love browsing and touching all the books in the store and I keep coming home empty handed. At the library I put books on hold, browse, touch, and bring home stacks because there's no $ involved. I used to not care, which is probably why I have no choice but to care now :/

    posted 1 year ago. ( permalink )

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    Wandering Sparrow 

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    Yeh, for some reason, I have a mental block with gift cards, I have one that is two years old, and is still okay to use, but I keep on thinking that I might make a mistake with my purchase, it's ridiculous and a wee bit neurotic, but I feel like someone has taken the time to buy me this gift card and want to make really good use of it, yet, in turn means I don't use it, however, am happy to spend my own money. I don't get me either, it's weird.

    Oh my goodness, do not mention shoes, it's a terrible affliction! This is why, I am saving for New York, it's going to be an extraordinary experience of shoes and clothes madness, as well as, some rather fun adventures!!!

    posted 1 year ago. ( permalink )

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