When you don’t have a lot of money you begin to learn a lot of ins and outs in order to access the things in life that you want. For me, one of those things is books – real, physical books that I can pick up, underline, smell, and put on a shelf with great satisfaction when I finish them. Of all of the cheaper ways to procure books, my all-time favorite is library book sales.

Last year, when I was too sick to work a normal job, I started my own Etsy shop, Lost Generation Books, where I resell vintage books. I already spent the whole of my adult life hunting down cheap books, but in starting this business I continued to learn more and more, and in the end my favorite source remains library book sales. Why? Perhaps the main reason is that they truly just want people to read more. Because of this, books are often very cheap and there are no pressured sales techniques. I spent a number of years working at Barnes & Noble, because I love books, obviously, but nowadays books are almost an afterthought to them, pushing everything else that they do, including forcing us to try to sell credit cards. I got a job there so that I could help connect people with books, but that was among the least of my job responsibilities. At a library it’s all about reading. They don’t try to make huge profits on their book sales, but what money they do make goes straight back into the library, which goes back into helping to get books in peoples hands.

There are numerous websites that sell cheap books, and I’ve ordered from some of them before, but most of the resellers on them are just trying to turn over as many books as possible and so most of the listings you see use stock photographs, and have a listing that says something like, “Might be an ex-library book, may have underlining or highlighting, may be falling apart, might have stains…” etc, etc. For most listings on most of these sites, you can’t see the actual book that you are purchasing. When reselling books myself, I take pictures from every angle and make sure to document as much about its condition as possible. But that is an aside.

All of this came into my head because a few days ago I went to my local library’s book sale and was able to get six books for $2.40 – a steal, right? (I should also note that nearly all of the authors that I read, including the authors of each of these six books, are long dead. Thus, this also in no way is taking away from their earnings. By all means, if you enjoy modern authors, try to support them financially. Unless they’re among the Stephen Kings or J.K. Rowlings, they sure as hell need it.) With that, let’s dive into what I got.

The Awakening by Kate Chopin (1899)
I remember reading this book for an English class in college, and greatly enjoying it, but I remember very little about it. According to the back cover it “so disturbed critics and the public that was banished for decades afterward.” Sign me up. It deals with a 28 year old woman’s emancipation and abandonment of her family. This edition also has a number of her short stories, which I’m excited to dive into.

Women in Love by D.H. Lawrence (1920)
I’m not sure I’ve read anything by DH Lawrence, to be honest. Despite my love of 1920s literature, he ran in different circles than the authors that I usually read, many of whom were uninterested in his work. But, in seeking to expand my reading, I figured why not? When I picked this one up I didn’t realize that it was actually a sequel to his book, The Rainbow, but it sounds like I might not have to read that book first. Because that first book caused such a stir in the UK, including an obscenity trial, this one was first published in the US.

The Longest Journey by E.M. Forster (1907)
Forster’s second novel, it tells the tale of Rickie, a man who graduates from Cambridge with the intention to write. When his stories are not successful, he takes a job as a schoolmaster, abandons his writing, and marries a beautiful but shallow woman, leading him into a sort of living death. Oh my, I cannot say how much I connected with that synopsis and this is likely the book I’ll read first. This has been the cycle that I felt stuck in for so many years, and continue to, desirous to always get back to the literary world, while constantly feeling trapped in the simple world of most humans. This sounds tops.

God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater, or Pearls Before Swine by Kurt Vonnegut (1965)
This is one that I listened to on CD many years ago, but “reading” in that manner, causes me to retain nothing shortly thereafter and so I remember quite honestly nothing about this book. I’m delighted that this edition that I got for $.40 is a second printing. From the back cover, “Taking as his theme the blurred line that exists between sanity (or the established order) and madness (or nonconformist yet strangely sensible behavior), Vonnegut explores the life and works of Elliott Rosewater, head of a giant philanthropic foundation that bears the family name.” I’ve never been disappointed by a Vonnegut book, although they did seem to hit harder in my 20s. (Like, sadly, so many things). I’ll be very interested to see how this one hits now that I’m in my early 40s.

Island by Aldus Huxley (1962)
Huxley’s final book, Island is described as a utopian manifesto, a counterpart to Brave New World. Seeing as how we’re essentially living in Brave New World, I will be more than happy to dive into 354 pages of an alternative utopia. I just recently finished reading Huxley’s essay Words and Their Meanings (which I’ll dive into in a separate post), and I forgot just how much I loved his command of language. I know nothing else about this novel, other than I’m excited for it.

Seven books by Gerald Durrell
Several years ago, when I was at the height of my sickness, I watched the British TV series, The Durrells in Corfu, knowing nothing about it, and immediately fell in love with this family who left England in the 1930s in order to live on the Greek island of Corfu. I had no idea it was based on an actual family and Gerald’s, the youngest son, books. I have no idea how loosely the series was based on the books, but I’m excited to find out. This volume I stumbled on includes seven of his works and is a huge tome of 812 pages. I usually hate reading in this sort of format, but for the price how can I pass it up?

So that’s it. That’s my library book sale haul, and I’m excited. Has anyone read any of these, and if so what are your thoughts? (No spoilers, please.) To me, there is nothing like an actual, physical book, especially old books where you can feel the indentation of the text. That is magical, and truly a way to step backwards in time. I hope everyone is doing well on this Sunday, and that you’re all finding time to read. Whatever device you reading this on right now, close it, turn it off, put it down and pick up a real book. Your brain and nervous system will thank you.