♡ Used Books ♡ | Second Tome Around

Today I'm answering some questions about second hand/used books in the Second Tome Around Book Tag.

My lip color: Menagerie Cosmetics Velvet Liquid Lipstick in Bear Cat

Half Price Books situation:

--Books Mentioned--

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--Tag, You’re it!--
Stephanie @ThatsWhatSheRead
Kate @katehowereads
Sabrina @steakuccino
Alex @TheBookubus

QUESTIONS -
1) Do you buy second hand books?
2) What is / was your latest purchase?
3) What condition do you find acceptable? ie, tatty or not tatty etc
4) After you have read said book, do you keep it for a re read or re donate it?
5) Do you have a favourite place you like to go to, when looking for second hand books?
6) Hardback or Paperback, do you have a preference?
7) Have you found any real gems?
8) OPTIONAL - Find a book from your shelves that you can donate to a good cause or your local Charity / Goodwill shops
9) Go ahead and tag some peeps!

Find me on:

[artjournalstories]

I love used books too! Here in the UK, charity shops are great places to give and buy them so cheap. Also, I'd really love to see your very special book in that skinny bookshelf in a video please Olive? You made me curious :)

[littlestpineapple]

I love that you have an active system to get rid of books you don't want to keep! It's so cool that you actively curate your book collection in that way. I tend not to buy books until I've already read them, bc I don't want to own books I don't love. But that seems like a great way to both buy books and not drown in them!

[OnTheMiddleShelf]

You are the first person I've ever heard mention Better World Books. They are my favorite online resource for used books!

[manjiri]

Hey Olive! Along with your book recommendations, i am a big fan of your lipstick colours! -A fellow Lipstick lover 😁

[halfmanhalfbook]

1) Do you buy second hand books?
All the time, I find it a useful way of increasing my collection without spending vast amounts of money!

2) What is / was your latest purchase?
Testaments by Margaret Atwood which was the vast sum of £1

3) What condition do you find acceptable? ie, tatty or not tatty etc
It depends on the book, if it is one that I have been after for a while then any condition is acceptable. If it is widely available then as good a condition as I can find it.

4) After you have read said book, do you keep it for a re read or re donate it?
Again depends on the book. I collect some publishers works and other books I just want to read and then pass on.

5) Do you have a favourite place you like to go to, when looking for second hand books?
I have a few favourite shops too

6) Hardback or Paperback, do you have a preference?
I prefer paperback (you can fit more on a shelf)

7) Have you found any real gems?
Oh yes! Two signed Terry Pratchett are my top but have loads of other signed books that I have got for little or no money

[KateriRansom]

Ugh. I LOVE this topic! I've pretty much gotten to the point where I PREFER buying classics or even not super recent books as used books. Any annotations, crumbs, tear drops are more than welcome. A used version of a Woolf novel is so superior than one from even an indie bookstore at this point. Also hoping to grow a collection of used cookbooks as well!

[WhatVictoriaRead]

This tag is always so interesting, thanks for sharing your answers!

[KristinMomentsOfSanctuary]

Great tag- May do this one myself because adore used books/ store- did a book haul from thriftbook and better world just last week. I read a 5 star nonfiction I think you’d love too- two and two by Rafe Bartholomew- about bar mc sorleys in New York City - his dad and then he working there, the bars history, his memoir of stories gathered and some New York history all rolled into one. I literally cried twice, laughed out loud multiple times and was extremely moved by this book- I just crave an update around the covid crisis now. Thanks for all your videos- this one is especially good!

[merletwowildsymphonies]

you're speaking the truth about the whole hardcover issue!

[tati]

personally, I LOVE it when books are little damaged when I buy them used (annotated, yellow, dog-eared pages) but I'm super careful with books when I buy them new (a broken spine may be my worst fear)!

[bookwalk]

I just ordered a book from Better World Books I have been looking for so I thank you for the tips!

[TheBookubus]

Ahh thank you for the tag! I'm so sad that the library book sales this spring had to be cancelled! But maybe the ones in autumn will be extra awesome lol :) Also, paperbacks ftw.

[americanbookdragon]

1. Most of my books are second hand.
2. I just bought: How to Have Impossible Conversations by Peter Boghossian & James Lindsay.
3. I don't accept books that are sticky...
4. I feel like I keep the good books in order to give them to other people later.
5. Frugal Muse, Half Priced Books, The Dial, Mckay's...
6. Most definitely paperback, unless the hardback version in the store is in better condition.
7. As a nonfiction nerd, you know as well as I do. Nonfiction books are more often hidden gems than not.

[alysamorley]

I hadn't heard about the Half Price Books situation! I'm disappointed in them. Used bookstores and library book sales near me are not great, so whenever I travel to larger cities about 1-2 hours away I make it a point to go to Half Price Books. I've loved going there for years, but I'll be looking for alternatives now.

[anne-marie]

I used to buy a lot of used books but have transitioned to purchasing new over the last few years (as my discretionary income has increased from grad school days)... that said, Black Squirrel Books is one of my fave indie used bookshops here in Ottawa :)

[riomadre]

Another wonderful resource for used books is bookshop.org. They are a B-corp, and their mission is supporting independent book shops.

[BunsBooks]

That’s really unfortunate to hear about Half Price, they are the only used bookstore near me. I’m kind of a regular there, I went last month after they opened back up for limited capacity and asked them how they had been. They said the management had done great by them and that no one was laid off. I figured that’s how all the locations were being handled but, I guess not. 🤷‍♀️

[JoshsBookishVoyage]

I love this! I definitely will be doing this tag. Have you ever used thriftbooks? I find that's a great place where you essentially find used library books

[debbielynn]

Always get mine at the library, love going there, cant wait for them to open, and I would choose paperback

[susanm]

I try to use the library rather than buy books. This year my goal is to read more classics and haven't had the greatest luck getting them at our library. In February I went to a used bookstore and found a good selection of books I wanted to read this year. Usually if there is a book I don't want to keep I donate it to the library. Our library has been closed so I took the ones I didn't want to keep to a nearby Little Neighborhood Library.