I’m a bibliophile. No, this doesn’t mean I’m addicted to the Bible, although I believe in it. It means that I’m addicted to books. Hardback, paperback, adult, teen, children’s—I love them all. My goal is to someday have a room in my house that is lined with shelves on all sides and to have those shelves completely filled with books for the entire family.
But those things can get expensive. Hardbacks sometimes go for around $30.00, depending on how thick they are, and your nicer coffee-table books are even more. How can we afford to keep ourselves and our families surrounded by books without knocking off Great-Aunt Harriet and getting her fortune?
First of all, check with your library. Many libraries sell off their excess books at a fraction of the cost you’d pay at the store. Sometimes the covers are a little worn, but they’d get worn at your house, too. I just picked up seven bags of books at my library the other day. They were clearancing out their sale section at a dollar a bag. I got a ton of teen books, some adult novels, and I also got stacks and stacks of old National Geographic magazines to use in our home school. Most libraries have a sale section. See if yours does, and if they have a clearance sale.
Don’t overlook yard sales. I have to laugh—most of the time, when I look through books at a yard sale I see stacks of religious books and stacks of steamy romances. What a contrast, but I can usually find a few gems in there as well, often for a quarter.
Your local thrift store will have a good selection of books as well. Granted, many of them may be older, but a lot of good literature came to be in decades gone by and we shouldn’t limit ourselves just to the new releases. My favorite books of all time are older novels.
Bookstores often have a sale table toward the back where you can pick up scratch and dent volumes for a fraction of the price. If you don’t see a table like this in your store, ask an employee. They will direct you to the spot where they’ve tucked these gems away.
Last, but certainly not least, take a gander at Amazon.com. I’ve picked up scads of good books there and paid a penny for them, plus $2.99 shipping. When you’re getting a $20.00 book, paying $3.00 for it is a real bargain.
Yes, you can be poor and still get a whole ton of books! I’m living proof of that. Now, I just need to get that house with the huge library room in it, and I’ll be all set.
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