book thrift addict
I’ve got a confession to make.
My name is Marco, and I am a book thrift addict.
What started innocently enough—one book here, another there—has turned into a full-blown obsession.
How, you might ask, does this make me an addict?
Well…for starters, this week, I bought a new Billy bookshelf from IKEA, my third in the last year.
When this bad boy arrived, I was so excited to put it together and have shelves to hold all the books piling in my book cart and spilling off the shelves—the other two bursting at the seams.
Once I built the new bookcase, I thought…hey, wouldn’t it be fun to count up all the unread books that I have…thinking it would be a modest number, maybe 20-25…
As I started to count, the number kept growing and growing, and lo and behold, there are now 100 books on my TBR.
This pile of unread books is growing faster than my current reading pace.
Just the other day I walked in from what I call a “book crawl”, at local thrift stores with an inconspicuous tote bag filled with “rescued” books. As I walked into the house, my partner caught me red-handed, sneaking in with more books.
At this exact moment, I think it’s high time to admit I have a problem…a glorious, titillating, book-thrifting problem.
the first hit
How did this all begin?
It all started with a visit to the local Council Shop to make a donation, as I walked through the store to the donation center near the rear, I stumbled upon a hidden treasure of books, some I recognized as new releases. Others were slightly musty, some dog-eared, and others with a weathered appearance, but all fully irresistible. From this delightful happenstance, I discovered a local Goodwill bookstore in my area not too far away. 50% off the blue sticker books today, amazing! Turns out each day of the week there are certain sticker colors that correspond to more discounts, but on different books too! yaas.
One thrift store visit turned into a weekly ritual, and before I knew it, I was prowling the aisles like an addict looking for another fix or my next big “find”.
the thrill of the hunt
If book thrifting were an Olympic sport, I would be THE Simone Biles herself. I don’t just hit one store and call it a day—oh no, that’s for the newbies. I approach the thrill of the book hunt as a marathon of sorts, not quite a sprint if you pick up what I am putting down. With my route mapped out on Google Maps, snacks packed, H2O in the cupholder, and a tank full of gas, I hit up my local haunts, executing my plan with the precision of a seasoned gold medalist. There’s nothing like that satisfaction of walking into store number three…four…stop who’s counting and finding that book you’ve been searching for, nestled on a dusty unassuming shelf, looking down at you with long fluttering lashes and google eyes. I imagine the high I feel from a thrift is equivalent to that of an extreme couponer.
the library book sale + the amazon girlies
Another spark to the flame of my book addiction is the local library’s quarterly book sale. This is basically Black Friday, but for book lovers! Let me paint a picture here: rows and rows of books, each priced at a dollar a pop, just waiting to be brought to new homes. Some could say it resembles a sad orphanage of paperbacks, but I see trees of green and red roses too. Alas, not every sale is sunshine and rainbows. There is dark side to these “come one, come all” type events…the amazon reseller. They swoop in with their giant storage bins and their scanners, snapping up books like the forty-niners during the gold rush. While I respect the hustle, it doesn’t make it less annoying when they get to the good stuff before I do. However, more often than not, I find a near-perfect copy of a book that has been on my radar for ages, so giddy with excitement I jump for joy and silent scream, forgetting the amazon girlies altogether.
hobby or addiction?
At the end of the day, I remind myself of something Ramit Sethi once said about living a “rich life”: If you’re thinking about buying a book, just buy it. And I take his teachings and imparted wisdom very seriously. After all, a life rich in stories, imagination, and a little bit of adventure sounds like the best kind of life to me. So maybe it’s not an addiction and I just have a flair for the dramatiqué? Just a hobby? A passion? Who knows where this journey will go, but I am having a great time.
Thank you so much for taking the time to read this post.
For more of my origin story with books and reading, check out:
I purchased my third Billy bookshelf in a year as well last weekend! 😂 It gave me an excuse to just buy more books. (Cough, cough, I’m most definitely a book addict) Plus, Billy bookshelves are so great.
My shelves are overflowing and sadly I have no room (yet! 😈) to add more!! 😭😭😭
The library book sales are fantastic. Our library used to do them every April and October, and I’d arrive an hour early to stand in the cold, waiting for them to open the doors… the first in line, or close to it! Because once those doors opened, it truly was like a Black Friday rush!! Inside, it was shoulder-to-shoulder, push-and-shove!!
Because I was a book blogger back then, I could reach past people and grab titles as I spotted them… and once, a lady asked me how I could just add them to my bag without reading the covers, or anything! lol. I told her that I was daily immersed in the world of books, so I “knew” a lot of titles and authors! lol
Nowadays, the thrift stores are my favorite place to go hunting for those special finds. I love the thrill of finding a good one… it’s still like buried treasure, and as I put the book in my basket, I become like Gollum in TLOTR… “my precioooouuuusss”. lol 💍 🤪