I have always been a reader and a course in miracles of reading a book. I usually have 3 books going at the same time and as most other readers I can sit in the living room with the family as they are watching TV and can read a book at the same time. I have passed that love of reading to my children as well and nothing gives me more joy then seeing a book laying around that one of the kids is reading, knowing that they will be coming back to enjoy the story. We have a large personal library, plus I sell books as well so there are bookcases in just about every room and they are full of books. All that to tell you that we have a lot of books in the house.
People ask where do you get all these books? For this blog we are going to only talk about books for our personal library. When I buy a book there is one fast and steady rule, never pay retail price. So if you would like to know where I go to get my books follow me.
Of course garage sales are great places to get books. I’ve noticed lately that the prices are higher then what they use to be. If I want the book I’ll talk to the owner and see if I can get a better deal but I’m not going to pay a lot of money for a book at a garage sale. If I am really interested in the book, I will come back the last day and see if they have decided if they want to sell it to me or not at a garage sale prices.
Goodwill and thrift stores have books and they usually have good prices. You have to be careful and check the book over before you buy it. There could be pages missing or destroyed in some other way. These books are usually left over garage sale books that others have donated.
There is a chain of book stores called Half Price Books. I found this chain when I moved down South. Their books are priced at half the retail cost of the book, most of these books are used but the store is good at keeping out the junk and having a nice selection. You can also bring in any books you want to sell and they will buy them from you. The amounts never blow you away but they are usually better then garage sale prices. But my favorite place at Half Price Books is the discount section! Oh, how I love that section.
If I stop at Borders or Barnes and Noble I will cruise their sales area and have found some great deals there. When my kids were little we enjoyed nothing more then going and spending the afternoon at Barnes and Noble, each child got to chose one thing that they would like to read. Sci-fi, books about dogs and magazines that had anything to do with motors or books about war.
Ordering books on the internet has become very popular and I admit I do get a lot of books that way as well. Of course, I always start at the sites where I can get the best deal.
There is a site called PaperbackSwap.com, you list 10 books on the site immediately that you want to get rid of, this will give you 2 credits to use to order books from other people. One credit equals one book that you may now order. You pay nothing for the books they are free. When someone orders a book from you, you must be willing to mail the book to the other person. So you will have the cost of mailing your book, if the book is less then 7 ounces use first class mail, if over 7 ounces it will be less expensive to mail the book media mail. First class mail is up to 13 ounces, however, the price for media and first class is the same up to 7 ounces after that media mail is the less expensive option for you.
The next online presence I visit is half.com, the site is owned by eBay but it is not an auction site, the books are priced very reasonable and you can see the condition of the book by the selection they are placed in and the price the seller wants.
If you are looking for a Christian book another great site to check out is Christianbook.com, lovingly know as CBD to those who know the site. There are a lot of great books here that are new and you can find great deals on them. They also have lists you can sign up for so you know when a particular item goes on sale.