Buying Them From a Local Independent and/or Used Bookstore
There are a few cute independent bookstores in my neighbourhood. Everyone who works at these stores has knowledge on every book that’s ever been written. I used to go to one by my work that was in the basement of this giant office building downtown that sold rare copies of classic novels and books of local street maps. The downsides to the independent bookstores are that they’re usually out of popular, new books and their books are expensive. But so is rent on a commercial property. So we request a copy of a new bestseller and wait to spend $37 on it to go pick it up.
Disposing of books at used book stores is the opposite experience of buying them there. You’re looking for at least a little money back in exchange for your pre-read material but while the people who work at the stores are nice, they’re conditioned to scoff at what you bring them. I’m giving you used books and I know you need to make a profit here so let’s just move this whole process along and make it less embarrassing for me.
I’ve only done this once or twice when I was very broke and decided it wasn’t for me because I was too lazy and it was too shameful. I didn’t want to be judged for my castoff books and told that they could give me 30 cents for the pile of what I was bringing them. They even turned away older books saying that they were mainly only interested in novels from the last ten years. I think my issue is that selling to used bookstores isn’t the move and that you should just donate them instead of expecting to make any money back. This is more than fair. Since the initial couple of times, I’ve donated my books to Value Village or Goodwill and to the odd book drive here and there.
The last book I bought from an independent bookstore was a copy of Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer as a gift for a friend.
Thrift Books
Thriftbooks I love. It’s a website where you order cheap used books that are shipped to you from pretty much all over the world. I’ve received books from New Zealand and the UK but most of them come from giant warehouses in the US. They source overages from libraries, schools, and bookstores that no longer have use or never had use for hundreds of copies of the classics. I suspect that their selection was bigger but I’m assuming this is because people have bought out all their original copies. Thriftbooks is also great for purchasing books that were huge 2–3 years ago after they’ve been ordered out the nose by online retailers. If you remember books that just came out a couple of years ago then you’re guaranteed to get them at a very reduced price on Thriftbooks. Except the Night Circus, by Erin Morgenstern. For some reason, this book is either unavailable or still expensive despite coming out in 2012.
My cousin who uses Thriftbooks more than I do says it’s great for buying cheap copies of classic American books he’s always wanted to read but never got around to. He’s a big proponent of the charming used bookstore way of acquiring books but found that they didn’t hold copies of “The Great Gatsby” when he was desperately needing to read it. He also doesn’t trust the discovering books on the street method I’ve had luck with. I feel frustrated when I think of people buying new copies of classics that they could get easily on Thriftbooks only to have them sit on their shelves or be discarded or donated once they’re done. We have enough copies of To Kill a Mockingbird. We don’t need more, buy them on Thriftbooks. To note, all the prices are in USD and sometimes the shipping costs more than the book itself. But it still ends up being less than buying them new.
I don’t think you can sell books on Thriftbooks so this is not an option.
The last book I bought from Thriftbooks was The Overstory by Richard Powers.
Finding Them on the Street/Free Little Libraries in Front of People’s Houses
I love to find books on the street. They’re often the most random selection of discards from peoples’ personal collections so you can see some pretty weird stuff. It’s good for the environment in that the previous owner had to do little to no work to find a new home for their past possessions. You win too because you were already going for a walk and just got to acquire a book without spending any money. All you had to do was pick it up. It’s a recycler’s dream. The downsides are that you can’t really choose what you get and there are some concerns about the books being left outside in the cold and rain. Also people will typically leave a lot of old textbooks that are no longer relevant. This is both funny and interesting but I’ve only picked up one before. “Introduction to Corporate Finance” and that went about as well as it could have. I’ve never read it but currently use it as a wall tool for my ankle stretches and as a way to prop my computer up on my desk. There’s a purpose for everything.
The free libraries in front of people’s houses are similar but distinct from finding them on the street because you’re expected to leave a book to replace the one you took. I understand this sentiment but it also requires that you have a spare book on hand that you’re done reading and ready to part with while you’re out on your walk. Unless you know of a particular free library and are prepared to leave many books there. I recently dropped off two books I had finished to one of these free libraries and it made me feel great.
I’ve started looking at the free little libraries differently when I walk past them because they’re the perfect place to leave books you’ve bought and read, but don’t want to keep. Most of my friends will ask me for book recommendations and in response, I just give them whatever books I’ve finished with no regard to their preferences or feelings. To stop pissing off these friends and getting into games of “who can drop the most books off at a person’s house at a time?” I’ve just waited until I’ve collected 2–3 I’m done with and I find a little free library. I love opening the doors and gingerly placing the books inside. I love whenever I walk by the library again a few days or weeks later, looking into the glass to see if anyone’s picked out mine and brought them home. A few times I’ve seen a book that I’ve left still sitting there when I visited it and it offended me. Was my book not good enough? I had bought it from Thriftbooks. It’s not offensive, though, because it’s possible someone had already taken it out, read it, and returned it to its natural life cycle in the little free library. A good book should have many lives and owners. The little free library facilitates that.
I’ve never felt confident enough in myself or the weather to be able to leave my books out on the front lawn of my house. Firstly, I’m too embarrassed to leave books on the ground and two, what if no one picks them up? They might, but am I willing to take that chance and face the failure of bringing them back inside? Not sure. Maybe I need to do more thinking.
I’ve never taken a book from a little free library. The last book I left was Maya Angelou’s book of poetry “And Still I Rise.” I have multiple copies of this book because I found out there was this beautiful yellow covered version that was printed ages ago in a specific country and I was determined to purchase this edition. I first got it from the library and instead of stealing their copy and anonymously making a donation for my theft, I decided to just look for it online. Unfortunately, the ISBN of the yellow copy is the same one as the version with Maya’s beautiful face on the cover, which I already own so I dropped off my extra at the little free library on the way to the library.
Large-scale Online Retailers
Oooooooh, no. Even though the alternatives cost more and are less convenient, I can no longer afford to spend on the large-scale online retailers. I often complain about not being able to start reading a book I want when my brain has the thought that it wants to consume this book. But the environmental cost of buying new when you could just not do that is overwhelming. I don’t deserve new books. I deserve old, dusty, library copies. I buy too much new stuff to be buying new books too. As soon as I started making more money, online retailers that weren’t Thriftbooks went out the window for me. I don’t want to say its name.
The last book I bought from this particular online retailer was Michelle Good’s Five Little Indians. That was almost a year ago. The book’s great, the retailer is not.
Large-scale Local Online Retailers
My friend works for one of our biggest online book retailers and she gets a great discount, so, often I will use her code for books that have come out recently and aren’t available on Thriftbooks. I’m indirectly supporting her job and directly supporting my reading. It’s Canadian so it feels slightly better than other large-scale online retailers. But again, it’s hard to buy new books when there are so many old books lying around everywhere.
The last books I bought from this online retailer were Michaela Coel’s Misfits and David Sedaris’ A Carnival of Snackery.
Your Parents’ or Siblings’ House
Honestly, 10/10. I love taking books from my parents’ house. I often leave books for them to read too, which they don’t, but I consider it my price of admission for all the books I’ve stolen from them over the years. I will buy them copies of books that I want to read once they’re done which accomplishes two smart goals at once. I’ve given a gift and I’ve acquired a new book for myself eventually. The downsides are selection if you have different tastes in books than your parents and if you haven’t bought your parents books in the hopes that you could eventually take them for yourself.
The last book I stole from my parents was The Searcher by Tana French.
Trading them with your friends
This one is sweet. I love my friends and one of the least significant reasons is because we all share similar taste in books. We’ve created an excel spreadsheet where we’ve added all the books that are in our current possession and if we’re interested in someone else’s, we text them and say, “hey, can I borrow this book?” It’s really that simple. We rarely use the spreadsheet but it’s nice to see what’s already out there so I don’t go buying myself a copy of a book my friend who lives down the street has. It’s a library system with no due dates or accountability. I love it.
As previously stated, my friends have started to get angry with me dumping my castoffs with them. I’m slowly learning to stop doing this.
The last books I borrowed from my friends were The Body Is Not an Apology by Sonya Renee Taylor and Matthew McConaughey’s autobiography Greenlights.
The last book I lent my friend was How to Train a Wild Elephant: And Other Adventures in Mindfulness by Jan Chozen Bays.
Library
The library is so wonderful. I often marvel at the various services it provides: English lessons, career advice, internet access, a place to chill indoors that doesn’t require you spend money, tutoring for kids, books, the list is endless. It’s unbelievable how people think the library is outdated when it’s been one of the public services that I believe has changed most with technology. It’s because nerds and overachievers work for the library. Also it’s a government job so they pay $$$. Of course, there are still buildings where you can put holds on and pick up books of your choosing. But, like the housing market bubble in big cities, people talk about the library’s obsolescence and downfall like it’s inevitable. These people are usually rich and out of touch as shit and if you ask them whether they’ve been to a library recently, I can pretty much guarantee you that their answer will be “uhhhh, no. I don’t see how that’s relevant.” I don’t want the fate of my libraries to be decided by people who don’t use the library. To those who can’t even get it together enough to sign up for a library card which takes five seconds and $6. It’s free to renew. You can do it online or AT the library. Whatever, this is making me upset.
I still use it to pick up books but my friends and mom who all have iPads or e-readers tell me that the only good way to use the library is through its e-book service where you can rent e-books then have them disappear when your e-book due date is up. I’m still behind the times in this way. Libraries are still ahead of the times in every other way and by supporting it through late fines and hold pick up fines, we should be good to go. I believe the New York Public Library System was getting rid of fines completely because they found it didn’t affect peoples’ habits of returning the books and that library users were already doing this.
What’s objectively trash about the library are the deadlines. I don’t blame them for forcing people to be accountable to their hold pick ups and their book drop offs dates. I resent having to include important library deadlines in my calendar like it’s a goal I’m working towards. The library makes this easier by letting you pick and change your home library at will. You can also drop off your library books at any library location. A win. Also the money collected from your hold or late drop off fines funds the library so what are we even worrying about? Return your book late. Who cares?
I currently have nine books on hold at the library and have taken one out recently (Where Wonder Lives by Fabiana Fondevila).