Broke! Message Board

Hi to anyone who stops by this group... trying to stay cheerful, despite that surprisingly gentle phone call from the landlord. She was quietly insistent that she has just as much right to my money as Allstate, though.
A drizzly Saturday morning here: not yard sale weather, which is good. I don't need to spend any money, and wouldn't be able to resist if I went out. This month's book purchases so far: nice copies of Mrs Dalloway and The Heart is a Lonely Hunter, for a dollar total, from my local library's sale table. I love Carson McCullers (and wonder where my old copy of Hunter is... my ex-wife's attic, I bet. I ain't going over there to look). Also, a few books at Goodwill's 4-for-99-cent sale, among them Paul Theroux's Kingdom by the Sea (very interesting, though he doesn't seem to like people too much. Or England).
Currently reading: I just finished Back Roads by Tawni O'Dell, a quite involving work of modern Southern Gothic with some intense love scenes, and one of those well-drawn characters (like Dolores Price in She's Come Undone ) whom you just want to grab by the shoulders and shake, saying, "Get some professional help and get yourself together, son!" At the moment, I'm reading A World Lit Only by Fire by William Manchester, which I'd hoped would be a more comprehensive look at the early Renaissance, but instead focuses on the author's obsession with macabre methods of torture and execution, and illicit sex.
Not that there's anything wrong with that.
Well.. off to fire up some ramen. Happy reading, and may your Powerball numbers come in tonight...

Wow.. what are the odds that we'd use the exact same google images picture in ours groups? Check out "What did YOU buy today?" :)

And a bit eerie that we created the groups at pretty much the same moment!
You're my hero... I couldn't quite bring myself to use a profile photo of myself passed out, half-naked. Nice library, too - though I'll have to get to downloading a Thai character set to be completely sure...

Yes, people after my own heart. I picked up $200 worth of books, at my local Hospice Thrift Shop for $20! My local librarians know me by my first name...and my kids never get yelled at for being in the kids section unattended. It's hard to yell when they're playing puzzles, coloring, reading, and shushing the other children. Sadly, during the busy hurricane season several years ago, I packed up my library books. Now they're lost in my house! So..I owe, big time...forced to BUY books, but you have to admit .29 for new book, read once isn't too harsh, bonus I get to keep it, or trade it at the used book store for more then I paid for it! Oh yeah...I also picked up a Paul Theroux Kowloon Tong for $1.00 at the library sale. When Can You Keep a Secret by Sophie Kinsella came out... I kept taking the kids to the bookstore, they read, and played with the train set there, while I read it--I can't believe I admitted to that.

Ah, yes.. all that Thai language in there. I don't much like Romanization, but perhaps I'll go through and add more rough title translations, so folks can get a sense for the flavor of that portion of my library.

Thanks for noticing my profile photo. One of my favorite childhood photos ever, to be sure. :)

Aha - there was me crowing away yesterday - visited my local Kidney Research charity shop and brought away a bag of books (about 15 mixed novels and kids' books) for £2.60! Hooray! Quite often they will give me a black bag full of stuff they were going to pulp for a quid, and since they moved back in their shop after their burglary and flood, they have a 10p box (with good stuff in it) to keep the books out of the recycling bin.

I got 5 books for £5 at the second hand book store today but 4 were 50p and one was £3. Huzzah for cheap books- esp as I mainly use them to keep my BookCrossing habit going!

Why people after my own heart! I collect vintage paperbacks and the best place to find them is at garage sales, flea markets, friends of the library sales and thrift stores. And I never seem to have very much money - it's amazing that I get paid and two days later I'm broke! Ebay is also one of my favorite shopping areas - I buy huge lots of books on there - but you can't beat the prices at a flea market!

I've actually trained myself not to buy books unless I have a gift card, and it's proving fairly hard to get out of that habit, even in thrift stores and secondhand shops. I do better with the library sales, though. But I'm excited about the wonderful libraries here and the free book swap shelf in the college library. :)

So glad to find you all! :) That I buy new books at all is still a minor marvel to me. Even being unimpressed by a $2 price tag is pretty nice. But to buy something worthwhile for loose change: it must be one of life's joys. Certainly one of mine! Necessity here being the mother of... appreciation.

I've not made enough use of library sales, though that's on my list of things to change.

The problem is, I generally know what I want to read (have a list on amazon, etc.) and at garage sales, etc., it's so easy to buy so many things I didn't want, which somehow, to me, defeats the purpose. I love the library (and the library system in Brookline/Boston suburbs is awesome), but then, if you're honest like me, you can't KEEP the book. Being a booklover is cheaper than, say, being addicted to skiing or collecting yachts, but it ain't easy all the same.

"Being a booklover is cheaper than, say, being addicted to skiing or collecting yachts, but it ain't easy all the same."

Agreed! I have an enormous list - but sometimes find the things I want for sale at used bookstores. Though often I buy them very cheaply online, instead. I spend too much, even so... and it IS tempting to buy so-so books when they're ten cents, or fifty, or maybe a dollar (if you happen to be holding more). I've been meaning to tighten up my restrictions a bit. :)

(I bought some cool ten-cent books recently - can you tell?)

When I used to work in an office the office librarian used to get a regular list from the British Library Lending Division of books, normally a couple of thousand or so, that they wanted to get rid of (duplicates, later editions of textbooks and so on), and he kindly passed the list to me.

You could choose as many books as you liked, and the BL would send them to you! Of course, it was pot luck which turned up, if any, because many other libraries were also in the scheme. But usually, a few weeks later, a satisfyingly bulky package would arrive on my desk, and there was all the excitement of unwrapping to see how lucky I was going to be. I usually asked for 5 or 6 and got 2 or 3.

In this way I got (amongst others) an 1879 edition of George Salmon's Conic Sections, both volumes of Richard Courant's Integral and Differential Calculus, Hesketh Pearson's The Smith of Smiths, and F F Bruce's The English Bible; all hardbacks, of course.

It was freebie heaven!

Aren't you all so upbeat! I envisioned more whining about books you cannot afford. Envious posts about other LTers with large libraries containing your favorites. Frustration about choices: a tank of gas this week, or a new book? You know: an online pity party. (After all, the group is named "Broke", not "Where I Get Books Cheaply".) It's good to see people be grateful for bargains and serendipitous discoveries!
Opinicus... I believe you get the group's first award for Ballsy Resourcefulness! I'll admit to heavy bookstore browsing - I may even have once read a whole short story while standing in front of the shelf- but I've never read an ENTIRE BOOK there, not even over the course of several visits. You da man! -er - well, you know what I mean.
Now I'll whine... I sure would like my own copy of Shelby Foote's The Civil War; a Narrative. The three volumes are $25 apiece new, and that's in paperback! Older copies seem to eBay for that much, or more. Ah well.. they'll turn up at a thrift store someday..

Amazon.com has reduced the price of a 3-volume paperback set to $47.25; is that less painful?

And although the 3-volume hardcover set is on Amazon for $82, in the Amazon Marketplace listings seller emclauss37 has the hardcover set new for $60...

And don't forget bookfinder.com for a good cross-section of booksellers. :)

We're not helping your budget now, are we?

Jjlong - it is hard, sometimes, not being able to buy more expensive books. Someone asked the other day whether anyone really waited to buy a book they wanted until the price dropped below a certain point. Well, with so many books on my desired list, and finances being what they are, the answer (as you all know) was a resounding 'Yes!' However, I forebore. I didn't answer. It was unnecessary and might've sounded more like complaining, than the simple truth.

At the same time, I'm immensely grateful to be able to buy books at all - to buy in relative quantity, and get things I want. Not to have to give them back to the library, and lose something I loved, and will miss in ensuing years. I grew up with a great deal less margin to spend than I have now - very often, none at all. Pocket change for old paperbacks was very good. (How do you think, besides wanting familiarity with the classics, I ended up with so many? ;)

We should band together and write a book: 'Buying Books for Less: Experts' Tips and Tricks' - or some other suitably ghastly title - and make enough money between us to increase all our monthly book budgets! ;)

Another store I have near me that is really nice is a Border's Outlet. It's a good place to get those huge hardback coffee table books you drooled over in the store but couldn't shell out the $30+ to own them.

I think I may have strangest story of how I acquired a book that I was lusting after . . . my brother-in-law had a copy of The History of the Holocaust, don't remember the author right now (book is not in front of me), but it is a huge hardback with tons of pictures and really good information. Everytime I went over their house I would end up reading it instead of paying attention to the people. Well they got a divorce recently and he moved out - he came over the house the other day to talk to my sister-in-law, they got in a fight and he ended up throwing the book at her (it was in his truck). My husband was over the house during this arguement and grabbed the book for me! So now it has a nice, new home.

I read all of the above messages with interest and found out I share the same feelings!
I confess I do not have wishlists of any kind, but spend a lot of time going to library sales, church sales and used books stores. By the way, before I forget and for those who do not already know, there is an interesting website, www.booksalefinder.com, that lists library sales all over the US. Check it out.
Also, I must admit, I occasionally found myself rummaging through boxes of books people had thrown out (how can anyone throw books away is beyond my understanding...).
In the bookstore, it is mainly the bargain section, and I always manage to leave with at least a couple of books...

About two months ago a friend and I went to a library book sale in our college town. Right after we entered the lady in charge shouted "buy a bag for a dollar and all the books you can fit in are free" it was like something i've made up in my dreams. we stuffed as many books as we could into our grocery sized bag and made off with some many it came to about 4 cents a book! and to think originally we had planned to walk!

aluvalibri: Many thanks. I've been discussing library sales with other locals curious about tracking them.

devilbuny, mint910: Great stories!

Eurydice,
you are VERY welcome :-)))

rikker & franhigg... thanks for doing the Shelby Foote research for me! Good prices, but it's still not in my budget right now.
mint910... wow.. 4 cents a book! The same thing happened to me. Then I woke up.

Thanks! (And you've been credited with the link, on the Houstonians group.)

WOW!!!!
I am deeply honored of being credited with the link, but now I have to be careful not to become too vain.....eh eh eh eh.....;-)

LOL. Yes, well, TRY to keep it under control for me!

jjlong;Yeah i thought it was a dream too! But I have the pile of books to prove it, where it put those..... i really think someday i'm going to be attacked by a pile of books.

Another cheap way to get books is at our college town's independent bookstore the owner lets you "donate" a dollar and you can take home one of their advanced reader's copies. I've probably gotten 5-6 books this way and a month or two later seen them on display for 20+ dollars, and I prefere paperback editions anyhow!

I love reading everyone's stories!

I will have more to relate after the 18th of the month, when a GIGANTIC book sale takes place at the Garrison (NY) library. I have heard about it, but never got there, this will be the first time....oh heavenly thought...I am all agog with anticipation....

Oh, how I envy you. Well - enjoy it - and wish me luck to getting to one locally, in the spring!

Ah, yard sales and remaindered...! My favorite remaindered book is the elegiac dual memoir Back Then: Two Literary Lives in 1950s New York by Anne Bernays and Justin Kaplan; my most recent yard sale find is From Beirut to Jerusalem by Thomas Friedman.

Specifically From Beirut to Jerusalem, updated with a new chapter. Sometimes these touchstones don't load readily!

Okay, yes I've gotten great bargains at second-hand bookstores and yard sales, but really, what's wrong with a fantastic library? The vast majority of my reading is from the library, but if I find a book I especially love and I write the author? If they write back and send an autograph I will definitely run right out and buy the book. :) Well, cheesy, I know, and it's only happened once. The autograph I mean! Not the book buying. I do order classics and other books that I really want to keep (even if I have already read them from the library) from Amazon or B&N. No great buys there, but I get what I want and fast.

That reminds me of a fun family story... my grandmother wrote a letter to Wilson Rawls sometime in the 1960s to let him know how much her son (my father) enjoyed Where the Red Fern Grows. He wrote back with a nice personal letter and an autographed copy of the book (I don't know whether my grandmother sent him the book to sign or not). But I still have it somewhere, although the dustjacket is pretty much shredded by now. I keep the letter tucked inside the book.

So now I should go out and buy a new copy so his estate gets some royalties, to thank him posthumously for being such a nice guy! :)

BinnieBee, there is nothing wrong with libraries but, personally, I like to own a book, not to borrow it, and that is when second hand bookstores, library sales etc. come handy and work wonderfully.
Perhaps many other people feel the same way I do....:-))

I do. How many wonderful books I had to give back to the library as a teenager, and still miss now... it's like living with literary ghosts. Libraries are wonderful, but there are downsides - both in returning books, and sometimes in selection. It's a complement to owning books, or a precursor, but not - for me - any replacement. Owning doesn't have to be expensive, and I find it enormously comforting.

I'd like to see the books I own as an extension of myself, in a way (or is it the other way around?). Sure, I'll check out the occasional book from the library, but I much prefer to have books immediately at hand (not that there are many 'literary emergencies', I suppose).

I find it pretty great that nowadays most books are available for very cheap through multiple avenues; my two most-used methods of book collecting have to be through Amazon's marketplace of individual/group sellers and the local library shop.

I am in hog heaven when I am in Thailand buying books. The Thai language publishing industry is relatively small but alive and well. Very attractive trade paperbacks are in the $3-6 range (the gargantuan trade paperbacks like HP6 approach $10).

Hardcovers are rarely more than $15. During the annual National Book Week fair in Bangkok I got a beautiful hardcover copy of the Thai translation of The Da Vinci Code Special Illustrated Edition for $10. 'Twas lovely.

The cheaper books published on the paper of the quality usually found in American mass market paperbacks are really more than $1-2, and you can occasionally find gems for 50 cents new (the Thai equivalent of Dover Thrift editions, I guess). (All prices roughly converted in USD.)

And yet when I was there last year I dropped an astounding $400 on books! I gradually amassed them over the course of four months while I was in the country doing research. I had stacks all over my little one room apartment. Note to self: shipping 220 pounds of books back to the United States effectively doubles the cost of the books. But I don't resent any of the books for it, don't worry. I love and cherish them all equally. :)

Er, really = *rarely* just then. Should've read that they are *rarely* more than $1-2. :)

I have to agree with the others about libraries. I just love to own books, and when I come home with a new stack it makes me happy! I like to go the library for reference books but when it comes to novels I like to own. When I was younger I used to buy books from a used book store and when I was done with them - trade them in for more books. It was a good way to feed my book frenzy on the cheap but years later I remember looking back and wishing I could reread some of them and wishing I still had the books. So now I keep everything!

When I was younger I used to buy books from a used book store and when I was done with them - trade them in for more books. It was a good way to feed my book frenzy on the cheap but years later I remember looking back and wishing I could reread some of them and wishing I still had the books. So now I keep everything!

Ah - my life story! Read above on huge patronage of libraries as a child and into my mid-teens... and you've picked up the rest. I miss the books I get rid of, even when I think I won't. And I want to loan books - I really love to share them - but the empty spot on my mental bookshelf is like a sore tooth. I can't leave it alone, and it BOTHERS me! ;)

Also... I am proud to announce that last night I found a book I wanted very much (The Guns of August), in great condition, on the Barnes & Noble sale table for - $1! Ok, so not proud... except of reining myself in. But really pleased....

I'm reading some library books now that I know I'm going to miss. Spent yesterday down on Fulton St. in NYC at the Strand Annex. Some great $1 deals there, much better than the Union Sq. area $1 tables...less picked-over. Found a couple cheapies to feed my current enthusiasms w/o guilt: John Aubrey: Brief Lives; Simon Schama's Dead Certainties--just on PBS, annoying in an interesting way; a memoir by a friend I won't name here--feel bad about the royalties but at least now I'll get it read; and Linda Greenlaw's The Hungry Ocean, just because.

I'm with you. I'm a yard sale and thrift store junky :)
I got a book yesterday at a yard sale that has been on my wish list for a long time and one that I never thought I would ever find second hand. I am very excited. It's Dick Proenneke's 'One Man's Wilderness' about a man who built an awesome cabin in Alaska with a few simple handtools and lived off the land for 30 years. Awesome book and I paid 50 cents! :)
If you wait long enough anything will turn up :)

Wow, you guys are so lucky! I prefer reading in English, but in Germany it's not that easy finding good used books in languages other than German. So I basically buy my books on ebay, which isn't really cheap with postage and everything. Still, better than nothing. ;)

Dear BookAddict,

Have you seen the documentary "Alone in the Wilderness" ? The book One Man's Wilderness is the companion book to the documentary.

Its about Dick Proenneke, and his life alone in the cabin he built from scratch in Alaska.

Here in the states, we have Public Television (as I'm sure you do in Canada), One of our PBS stations aired the "Alone in the wilderness" in its entirety several times in 2004/2005. I taped it a couple of times.

I rarely buy DVDs, but this one is on my list of "to gets". One of the relaxing and peaceful films I've ever seen in my entire life.
You have to see this film. The color is excellent.I asked Netflix to carry it over a year ago. I haven't checked to see if they have gotten it since. I'll do that after this post.

Proenneke shot 16mm film of his time there. Its a very peaceful documentary. No explosions or car crashes.

There's also a site dedicated to the film and books.

Ok this is going to sound pathetic but... if you ever eat out at a fast food restaurant and go through the drive thru, pull over just a bit so that you can get your door open and look down when you are ready to pay, you would not believe the amount of money people drop and won't bother to pick up.
Also pick up every bit of change you see, anywhere...
I buy books only with spare change because we have 2 teenage daughters.....and well you get the picture.
(I also work in a bookstore, can we say discount!!!)

Yes I saw the documentary and it was fabulous! I want it soooooooo much :) I have been looking for it for a long time too. I don't think I will be lucky enough for it to turn up at yard sales or second hand stores. I can't imagine anyone giving it away. I was so much in awe by what Dick did and his quality of craftsmanship was outstanding using only a few hand tools! He worked so fast too which was amazing. Did you see how fast he stripped the logs?! I was like....how is he doing that?! He made it look like he was peeling butter off a sheet of glass LOL If you find a copy of that documentary anywhere cheap please let me know!

I picked up Conspiracy of Paper and Spectacle of Corruption by David Liss at the library sale. They were $1.00 each, but they had a sale that day. I got them for .50 each! I'm so happy! They were on my wishlist and I was going to play full price! I saved $29.00!

Excellent, Opinicus!!!
:-)))

I just had an excellent run at the flea market - I got 30 books for about $8.00. Many that I had been looking for too!

Oh, devilbuny - marvelous! And Opinicus: true congratulations. It's such a delight when that kind of thing happens. :)

Just picked up a signed, first edition of A Humument for 50p in a junk shop in Wandsworth, South London. Bookfinder's price for this edition starts at about £80. Yippee!

good for you, tartalom!!!!!

Wow! Now that is an excellent find. I'm always hoping I'm going to stumble upon one of those super rare first editions at a garage sale!

Yesterday I went to the local thrift store in part because of threads like this one reminding me that I used to find books there that I was at least mildly interested in. Since we've been on a very small book buying budget for serveral years I decided to see what they have now.
I came away with 3 mass market and 2 trade paperbacks and four hard covers for $5.57US.
The hardcovers were The Shelters of Stone, The Lovely Bones, Wizardborn by David Farland and Homicide Trinity by Rex Stout.
The others were Augustus by John Williams and Getting Organized. Also a sixties SF called The Million Cities, Point of Origin, and Untie My Heart.
Guess I'll have to go back in a few weeks!

My son's Karate club is right next to a thrift store. Every Saturday, for 45 minutes, I get to browse through the book section. Technically we're on tight budget and I shouldn't be spending money on books, especially since I already have a TBR list a kilometre long, and I'm the one who set the budget, but these books are soooo cheap, what's another $10 or so a week?(Another half dozen books to gloat over, that's what!) Then I come home and quickly put the books on the shelves to innocently look like they've always been there. Hopefully my husband doesn't twig onto why I so cheerfully volunteer to take my son to Karate class every week :o)

So many books, so little willpower!

This weekend I picked up:
The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri
Obasan by Joy Kogawa (just finished reading)
$13.00
Then at a thrift store I found:
My Very First Mother Goose by Rosemary Wells
Little Boy Blue: and Other Rhymes by Rosemary Wells
Where's Waldo? The Simply Sensational Activity Book by Martin Handford
Dinos To Go by Sandra Boynton
Texas Home Cooking by Cheryl Alters Jamison
$4 and change

Last week, I did something that broke my heart. I had to (sniff) return a book. It was a new one and very close to full price. I wanted to treat myself, and I was with a bad influence. I ended up overextending myself that week and I had to return it for the $20, something I've never done (mostly because I've rarely bought a book at that price). I'll go back and get it...someday :(

bookishbunny, you have all my support.....

And my sympathy. That's very hard, indeed.

Today I gave in and bought a new paperback but I was in Wal-Mart and paid $2 less than the cover price. Heart Quest by Robin D. Owens. Unfortunately the next book I'm going to want will be out soon in hardcover. Can I be satisfied with borrowing it from the library? That IS the question! The answer is probably not.

Well, I'm sure LT's writer's contingent will thank you, if not.

I cannot borrow books from the library....that IS my weakness....I always want to own them.....sigh sigh

So do I. I did go to the library recently, and saved myself from a couple of books by reading part of them first. On the other hand, another book (and author) nabbed me, dead to rights. I must own her now. Giving books back - when I cared about them at all - always leaves me with a sense of loss. Too many books read in my childhood and adolescence were consigned to that near-oblivion. I want them back.

There must be dozens at my local library that I would love to own. They were such terrific books that many have come home more than once. There were some particularly great non-fiction tomes that were exceedingly hard to return. If only more money was coming in than going out...

Yes. Yes. Pardon my reference to the writers: I do wish them well. I'll even try to support some (live ones). But people do often underestimate how difficult buying books can be. Speaking of which, do you ever order the very cheap used and remaindered copies at, say, Amazon? I would rather see a book of mine (were there such) treasured than neglected, profit or not. It's when someone has a choice that it could hurt.

Speaking of libraries again I remembered a funny story. My mom remembered some children's books that she had read and loved when she was little. No matter where we looked we couldn't find them - they are the Augustus series. This was before Ebay and wide spread internet sales. So we searched them down in the library system. Then we took them all out, said we lost them, paid the $10 a book and now my mom once again has the whole series. :)

Re: Amazon - The only time we tried to do a third party transaction at Amazon the results were very disappointing. I never did receive the item although we did end up with an Amazon credit. Kind of put us off the whole idea.
I do understand the author's situation. Royalty checks are very eagarly anticipated around here! However most of my husband's books are self-published and direct orders are the ones we look forward to. A sale somewhere like Amazon nets him very little whereas a direct sale to an individual can mean an average of six or seven dollars more per book.

devilbuny,
I must admit, the same idea has crossed my mind occassionally, when I've read a particularly good book and really don't want to give it back, but I've never had the guts.

On the other hand, I did get a Robert Munsch picture book for my son, but only because he ripped one of the pages. The library said they couldn't put it back into circulation, but only asked 25 cents for it. All I had to do was tape up the page and my son got a 'new' book.

we searched them down in the library system. Then we took them all out, said we lost them, paid the $10 a book and now my mom once again has the whole series. :)

-- sorry, but as a librarian, I'm horrified by this. If you couldn't source another copy, maybe they couldn't, and other readers were deprived of the books. I can't remember the figures, but it usually costs more than the lost book fine to re-order a book for the library. Sorry to bang on but I had to say something.

I'd have to agree with you, LyzzyBee. I am so covetous of my own collection, that I would feel like I'm stealing off somebody else's shelves, even if paying the fines. If somebody walked into my house, took a few of my books, and left money to 'replace' them, I'd feel horrified. The words on the page of a public library book belong to everybody. Many times, people donate books to a library for the express purpose of sharing them with the public. Money aside, if we come by these possessions by taking their words and artworks away from the public through an act of dishonesty, doesn't that taint any joy we might have at possessing them?

I wouldn't be to horrified by it. The books were over 50 years old and in bad repair and when we notified the library they weren't very put out. They said the books were due to be pulled and thrown out anyway. So the way I look at it is I saved them from a trash can and now they are in a loving home that will take care of them.

"I wouldn't be to horrified by it. The books were over 50 years old and in bad repair and when we notified the library they weren't very put out. They said the books were due to be pulled and thrown out anyway. So the way I look at it is I saved them from a trash can and now they are in a loving home that will take care of them."

-- Well, in that case, of course fair enough and I support that (having boxes of library discards in my house for bookcrossing purposes!). You'll understand my point, hopefully, that this wasn't clear in the post I initially reacted to. Hope you get many years of enjoyment out of the books

Today went by the thrift shop and found three:

Myths of the Norsemen by Roger Lancelyn Green in a Puffin Classic
The Light Heart by Elswyth Thane
Chainfire by Terry Goodkind

Cost: $2.39

Uh oh...
My son just started kindergarten and has already brought home a Scholastics book club catalogue. There goes my budget again. In case you don't know, schools join Scholastics because they get free books for the library or classroom when students buy their books which are at reduced prices. Therefore, to do my part, I will unselfishly lay aside my budget and order for my son:

Boo by Robert Munsch
Room on the Broom by Julia Donaldson
Honey... Honey... Lion! by Jan Brett

and there may be a couple of others I won't be able to resist.

Actually a lot of good books at good prices can be obtained from these bookclubs. Really the only downside is that the 'published by permission' ones are not as sturdy as the originals most of the time. Since our library has a book budget of zero dollars this is the only way most years that we get new books. (Occasionally the PTO feels generous and I can order a few that Scholastic will never have but only about every other year.)

I remember getting those Scholastic catalogues in school. They would set up the reception area of our elementary school as a mini-bookshop with copies of the books there for us to browse. We would be given time out of the day to go with our class and check it out. It's a very fond memory.

I went to our cheapest charity shop (paperbacks 25p, hardbacks 50p, boxes of 10p books too) and found a lovely "Sindbad le Marin" ie Sinbad in French for 10p - a dear old 1950s copy and the language is at about my reading level. Hooray!

I also found Stephen Fry's The Hippopotamus in Polish, again for 10p. Not the greatest find for anyone except an avid BookCrosser who lives in a city where most of the bus drivers are Polish...!

Wow, Scholastic! That's a blast from my past. I remember going through the 'magazine', and circling all the ones I wanted. Of course, every time I got it, I just about circled the whole thing! My mother of course had to put me on a limit due to budget. But hailelib is right, some of them didn't quite stand the test of time. Some of the paperbacks I received actually fell apart, the pages separating from the spine.

I volunteered to help out at the first Scholastic Book Fair at my son's school. I've always thought it would be great fun to work in a book store (being around all those books all the time, opening boxes of new books, putting together book displays, always knowing what's newest and most recent, compiling a TBR pile extended version) and this may be the closest I get. Hmmm, now what are my chances of walking away from it without spending too much...

I went to the 'Friends of the Library' sale on Sunday and bought 15 books for $9.

Included are:
A Shroud of Midnight Sun by Lane
The Color of Death by Lowell
Match Me If You Can by Phillips
The Reluctant Bride by Greenwood
Dancing with a Rogue by Potter
Mercury by Ben Bova
Talking God by Hillerman

and in trade and hardcover:
The Random House Book of Fantasy Stories
A Century of British Mystery and Suspense
The Mistress of Alderley by Robert Barnard
Legends of the World edited by Richard Cavendish
Disclosure by Michael Crichton
Fuzzy Thinking by Kosko
The Birth of Writing - a Time-Life Book

and finally, Wizards and Witches, another Time-Life Book.

hailelib-
Did you go to the one at Merivan (sp?)Center in Greenville? Or is that later? That always hits when I am too broke to go. I am just learning how to budget and save up for special events.

It was the First Sunday sale at the Pickens County library in Easley. They are fairly good most months for popular fiction but sometimes we've found other things we are interested in.

P.S. When you know the date for Greenville you might post it, perhaps at the Book Sales group.

I did a search and couldn't find that group.

Here is the link to the sight. With a little planning, I think I can make it!

http://www.greenvillelibrary.org/about/friends/index.html

The group really does exist but when I went to check after reading your message my eye passed right over it on the complete list. Then search thru the search box and it was way down the list. Almost missed it again. Thanks for the link.

jjlong, be forewarned, this post qualifies for the whining department. I’ve been on a search for alternate (read, cheaper) ways of acquiring books since my income has all but vanished after suffering a brain hemorrhage. Prior to that mishap I bought books willy-nilly with nary a thought of price. Oh, those were the days. I have come to understand the error of my ways and find that the hunt for affordable books adds to the excitement of the acquisition.

I did consider one of the book-swapping sites, but as many of you have mentioned there’s something wonderful about owning the books you’ve read. Even so I went about pulling books from the shelves that I thought I could part with. Well, the pile only consisted of about ten books. Those books were all books given to me as gifts by well-intentioned but non-book loving/reading loved ones, I realized I couldn’t offer them up to swap.

I also find it very satisfying somehow to look over at my book shelves and see all those colorful spines peeking back at me. Sometimes one will jump out at me as if to say “remember me?, you still haven’t read me yet.”

As Eurydice said “...I'm immensely grateful to be able to buy books at all...” my only complaint is where I currently live. This whole area seems to be devoid of used book stores save one, and the pickings are slim at that. Of course we have B&N and Borders but even if I tell myself that I’m only going to look at and buy from the bargain books section I still end up seeing something that is not a bargain not to mention spending $4 on a delicious cappuccino to help keep me on my feet for an hour or more longer than I need to be spending in a bookstore.

And to quote Eurydice again “And I want to loan books - I really love to share them - but the empty spot on my mental bookshelf is like a sore tooth. I can't leave it alone, and it BOTHERS me! ;)”

I couldn’t agree more. I recently loaned out four books to my boyfriend. I was so thrilled about the whole transaction, thinking about all we’d have to talk about once he’d read them. So about two weeks goes by and I ask if he’s had a chance to start any of them yet and his response was “uh, oh, no, not yet, in fact they are still in the back seat of my car.” I wanted to scream and ask him to at least take them indoors so they don’t get damp or creased or something. I have visions of them someday being returned with big muddy foot prints on them. Am I a bit crazy here?

I did get the glorious opportunity to go to the Newberry Library Book Fair in Chicago back in July thanks to a post by BTRIPP on the Chicagoans Group here on LT. It was awesome. I think I was there for over 3 hours, maybe 4. And because of a post by bookjones in that same group I’ve found the www.booksalefinder.com site and am saving up for two more book sales coming up this month somewhat closer to me. I can’t wait!

www.Harpercollins.com has a First Look program where you can possibly be chosen to read and review books before publication. I haven’t gotten chosen yet, but then I haven’t asked but to receive only 3 or 4 of the titles they’ve offered since I’ve become aware of their program. Maybe other publishers have similar programs.

Lastly, I found the Project Gutenberg site (www.gutenberg.org). There they have free e-texts that you can download to your computer. Of course it’s a far cry from actually holding a book in your hands and it’s much harder to curl up in your nice and cozy reading chair with a PC but I have found that they do have quite a treasure trove of titles. One author that I became introduced to here on LT was P.G. Wodehouse and Project Gutenberg has many of his titles. So if you’re looking for something older that you’re not quite sure you want to spend money on, you can try here and then decide whether or not to spend your meager book budget on that author or not.

BTW, if I may ask in here, what is a remaindered book?

Happy bargain hunting all.

Remaindered books come from Thor, so to speak.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thor_Power_Tool_Company_v._Commissioner_of_Internal...

Oooooohhhhhh, JOY!!!

I was in Asheville, NC over the weekend with a friend. We were planning to do a little book shopping while there. Then, lo and behold, a library book sale! I still had to keep my enthusiasm on a leash, because I needed to eat that day, but I got a bunch of books for $12, including a little leather bound Victor Hugo 'Toilers of the Sea'. Yay, me!

oh, man. I hated getting the Scholastic flyer! Did you know you can ask Scholastic to send you the flyers directly? For any or all of the grade levels?

One year my child's teacher asked for someone to help her with the ordering. My book budget really when out the window with that one.

Two years ago, while sitting at my 15 year old's soccer game, another team mom was looking at their younger child's flyer. Dang, there went a quick $30!

This weeks 'project' at work is to send out the next group of Scholastic flyers. Every child gets about ten different ones as we have multi-age classes and the easiest thing is to give everyone the same set regardless of age. But last time the school library got about 50 books with our bonus points. (The next project is to process those and get them on the shelves!)

For myself: We went to a book sale on Saturday and came away with 26 books for $33. Posted a few titles on one of the 'What did you buy?' threads.

Bookishbunny, did you make the sale?

The Asheville one, yes. The Greenville one, no. I went up to Asheville with a book allowance, but I had no funds by the end of the month for the Greenville sale. I would have needed $25 to pay for the Friends of the Library Membership at the door, then money for the books themselves. That is the sale all the dealers go to because there are a lot of hardbacks in beautiful condition. It would have hurt too much to go without a chunk o' change to spend. But at least I was able to help out the Asheville library in my mercenary little way!

I went to a Library Book Sale this past weekend and had my first 'bag day' experience. I had gone on Friday and gotten 11 books for $17 and was very pleased with myself. But then came Sunday afternoon and I just had to go back and check out the 'all-you-can-fit-in-a-bag' for $2 extravaganza. I must say, it was insane! All those people grabbing and pushing, not at all my image of genteel book lovers. Although, I can report that I ended up with approximately 80 – 90 (mostly hardback) books at a total of $29 for the entire weekend. I feel somewhat ashamed, almost gluttonous. My guilt is assuaged a bit by the fact that one of those $2 bags of books is for my Grandmother who loves romances, like Danielle Steele and Nora Roberts.

The Book Warehouse is going out of business -"February at the lastest," but I splurged on history today! The First Scientific American: Benjamin Franklin and the Pursuit of Genius by Joyce Chaplin (a Christmas gift for my Dad), Berlin by David Clay Large, The Cold War: A New History by John Lewis Gaddis, Colossus by Niall Ferguson (the subtitle of mine is "The Rise and Fall of the American Empire"), Occidentalism by Ian Buruma and Avishai Margalit, and finally, A Theological Miscellany by one T. J. McTavish. Remaindered all, and slashed a fifth off that lowest marked price: the most expensive book was marked $11.99. Sweet!

Hi everyone, just joined LT. I too am one of the low-income types who nonetheless insist on owning as many books as humanly possible. I have the Goodwill habit: I find it very hard to go the week without checking the nets there--this week I purchased The Complete Kama Sutra for two and change. Score.

I also remember going to pay-by-the-bagload library sales in the past--it was definitely a free for all situation, which I'm sure has probably only worsened with the advent of people selling books on Ebay and other places online. Who am I kidding though? I hope one day to sell some stuff there myself--if only to make enough dough to support my book habit.

I remember years ago running into a university bookstore sale. They were cleaning out their warehouse and selling books at ten cents a pound. (They actually weighed the books at the checkout.) Since the sale was being held across the street from the building where I spent my days and I had to pass by anyway... We still have some of the stuff I got.

I went to the library today to pay off some outstanding fines and instead I found myself walking out with four newly-purchased books. But I can't be expected to just turn away from not only cheap copies of dearly-beloved stories, but the very actual copies themselves that I've tucked myself into bed with many times before! Can I?

Expecially when one of those volumes is A Scholar of Magics and I've just been re-reading Gaudy Night.

And this when I'd just splurged at Wonder Books' big sale. The library fines can wait until my next pay period ... right?

i highly recommend www.bookins.com. post the books you don't want up for trade and create a wish list for the books you want. you only pay 3.99 for each book that is shipped to you from your wish list and nothing for those you ship to others. i have recieved many great books so far and am lookin forward to many more.

I got home with about $50 to my name, knowing I had to pay a friend back twenty bucks when I got back to school. Ended up buying $30 worth of books, and joining Green Peace. As much as I love to support the environment, I'm probably going to have to figure out how to cancel that membership before I make the first $20 "donation" as I can't exactly afford it at the moment, and i was talked into it by one of the volunteers you see out on the street.

my new steals lately are coming from half price books. it's rather amazing you can often times find popular books on the shelves also in the 1 dollar dollar clearance overstock section. i would strongly suggest going to half price books if you have one in your area. library book sales are still going strong!

If you don't mind reading on your computer, www.baen.com has a nice list of books that are free to read. They also have a webscriptions service for ebooks. You can pay by the ebook ($4-$5) or by the month ($15 for 6 ebooks).

In the past week I've bought three books off amazon. All used. Elantris set me back about $5 including shipping, Good Omens same, as well as a book whose name escapes me about bibliophilia and book collecting, which is a sequel to another one I already have. Amasingly I still have about $50 to my name. I love buying used on Amazon.

too funny, a group for those of us who have no money!

we should all pick a spot in the middle of the country someplace and meet...

but wait,

we're all BROKE!

best deal i found? garage sales. better than estate sales cause the sellers don't think they're selling treasures, just clearing shelves. i found a 10 cent copy of anne sexton's "all my pretty one's" signed!

life is good. let me know what you're willing to swap,

cept i forgot!

i'm too BROKE to pay the postage.

oh well, such is life . . .

Over the weekend I bought American Jesus: How the Son of God Became a National Icon and the Buddhist Handbook. I'm especially looking forward to reading the book on Jesus in America. Of course, at this point I have a grand total of roughly $3. Hmm, maybe I should actually read some of the books I buy, and maybe resell some of them to get money to buy more books! Heh.

Oh what the heck? I just bought a facsimile copy of The Saint John's Bible- Heritage Edition (limited to 299 signed and numbered sets comprising eight volumes) for $115,000 because the price jumps to $130,000 on July 1st. :o

http://www.heritageedition.com/purchase.htm

I'm sure I speak for everyone here when I say that I admire your prudent foresight in saving $15,000. I hope you enjoy your purchase!

Oh yes, my excellent foresight will now allow me to buy four tankfuls of gasoline this summer with the 15K I saved instead of the one tankful I budgeted for.

this weeekend i was able to purchase 45 books at yard sales for a total of $8.00 that is way too cool for me i love yard sales