This week’s prompt was actually quite a challenge for me because I very rarely buy used books at this point. I don’t have very many places nearby that sell used books and if I’m going to order online, I generally prefer to get a brand new copy instead. I do order a lot of books from Book Outlet but I don’t think those could technically be considered “used” since they are technically excess inventory from stores that have never been sold. I’ve become quite picky over the years about the condition of my books and I get annoyed when they are already damaged by the time they get to me. It doesn’t bother me quite as much if the book gets a little banged up when I read them myself, but if I’m going to be spending money on it, I’d rather have a good quality copy. In the past, I didn’t care at all about the condition of the book and I’d hoard a ton from library book sales, but I often found that I didn’t end up reading them. I guess the lure of so many books for very cheap (the library often offered a whole bag for around $1) led to me grab a ton, even if I was only mildly interested. I would love if used books were more easily accessible near me, because I think I’d be a lot more likely to buy them if I could go and check out the quality myself instead of relying on online descriptions.
Top 5 Wednesday is a meme created by Gingerreadslainey on Youtube, and is now hosted by Sam at ThoughtsOnTomes. The official GoodReads group with the weekly topics can be found here.
1) The Winter People by Jennifer McMahon – I bought this from Better World Books after searching literally everywhere to find a copy. I specifically wanted a hardcover copy to match the other two books I had by this author, and found one that was described as being “Used – Very Good” condition. To be honest, I was a little disappointed to see that the spine was quite slanted since this had been a former library book, but at least I found a copy!
2) The Star-Touched Queen by Roshani Chokshi – I grabbed a copy of this one also from Better World Books because I noticed that this duology was starting to become harder to find. I’d recently bought a copy of the second book from BookOutlet and debated waiting to see if this would come up as well, but ended up just grabbing it immediately. Aside from some discolouration on the edges of the pages, this one was in great condition.
3) The Last Time I Lied by Riley Sager – This book was my first (and so far only) purchase from Abe Books, and I was very impressed with the copy I received although to be fair, it took two tries. My first order somehow got lost in transit, but I was able to easily get a refund and ended up reordering another copy. To be honest, I’m not 100% sure whether this book was new or used since the website offers both, but if it was used at all, it looked brand new anyway.
4) All the Missing Girls by Megan Miranda – This was another book that I spent forever trying to find, and eventually managed to grab one from Better World Books. It was another former library book which seems to be in surprisingly good condition considering it’s been out for about 6 years already (although I have no idea at what point the library bought this copy). My only mild annoyance is not being able to get rid of the library stickers.
5) Emmy & Oliver by Robin Benway – This was one of several books that I bought the last time I went to a library book sale (pre-pandemic), and one of the few that I’ve kept. At the time that I bought it, I had already read and really enjoyed this book but wasn’t sure I wanted to spend full price on a new copy, so grabbing it from the library sale seemed like a great compromise. It’s been years now since I’ve read it, but I’m hoping to love it just as much next time!
Abyssal Librarian 