How do I love thee? Let me count the books...

Yes, books. Old books, new books, red books, blue books. I'm getting my poetry mixed up today. I love collecting books mostly because my best friend loves reading books. He has a book in hand most hours of the day. I don't read as much as he does. Few do. I think it's great and he encourages my habit of collecting books to fill our house.

The reason I'm okay with constantly buying books is because we have an endless amount of places to put them. Our house has 2 rooms with wall to wall built in bookshelves, not to mention the free standing ones we had before moving in. And with books averaging  75¢ a piece, I feel comfortable growing that collection.

I've purchased books from antique stores, consignment shops, thrift stores, goodwill, and online shops. My local St. Vincent De Paul has the best prices. Several weeks ago I walked out of there spending 15¢ on a Henry James novel. I accidentally throw pennies away all the time. I would have been more careful had I known I could buy a library with all those discarded copper colored coins.

Here are some St Vincent books I've purchased in the last couple trips, priced between 13-60¢ each:

here is part of my collection from antique & consignment stores priced between $3-8 each:

a closer view...

There are some great books to be found, but I will admit it takes some thorough searching. However, it is completely worth it to see how excited my best friend gets when I bring home new books for him to peruse through. About as excited as I get when we buy a new ice cream flavor for the first time. Let's leave the bowl out of it, just give me a spoon. 

For Christmas one year I decided to give my best friend a book a day for all the days of December leading up to Christmas. I got the idea when Borders sent an email offering free shipping on books with no minimum purchase...so of course I gave it a try with their "used books" section and it worked! I figured it was a mistake, so I ordered about 30 books within 10 minutes and waited for the apology email "we're sorry, free shipping is not actually offered on your $1.20 book". But to my surprise all the books arrived, and I never got charged for shipping. Total cost $60 and a very Merry Christmas. Sadly Borders is no longer in business, but Barnes and Nobles may have the same kind of selection.

These are also great online sources:
Abe Books
Goodwill Books Online
Book Finder Books may not be as affordable as Goodwill or Abe, but it locates the place to buy it!

If you have a good online source for buying your used books let me know!