Thrifted Book Haul

There is no place I love to shop more then I love shopping at a thrift store.

I love the thrill of the hunt.

Every time I head into a thrift I have no idea what I might find and that's what makes every tip so exciting for me.

So the other day this small local thrift store near me was having a sale on their books: fill a brown back with books and pay a dollar. That is literally a bibliophile's wet dream and I pounced on the opportunity to purchase more books that would have no place on any of my shelves because my shelves are literally spilling over with books!

That being said, the book collection they had at this thrift store sucked. It was kind of a disappointment. I did find one book there though, so, not a total waste!

The gigantic pile you see below pretty much exclusively comes from Goodwill. After I struck out at the first store I was craving a thrift haul so I just went up the road and I struck gold! Like actual gold. On top of this huge pile of books I also thrifted a vintage fur stole, and my future graduation dress (photos to come in a later post)

Okay, I'm writing too much, let's get to the books! That's what your here for after all.

Candide by Voltaire

This was my one good find from the first thrift store (the dollar per bag store). I actually ended up only paying 50 cents for this book, which might rank as the cheapest book I've ever purchased in my whole life. So, I've never actually ever read anything by Voltaire and it's kind of embarrassing but I totally mistook Voltaire here for Vladimir Nabokov, the author of Lolita.

Much to my surprise, Vladimir he is not! He is however, a super cool dude. Voltaire is a French Enlightenment author, philosopher, and historian. So basically, I want him to be my best friend. Candide is supposed to be one of his wittier writings and it's pretty short too, which makes it way less intimidating than Lolita (which I thought was written by Voltaire. LOL!) Anyway, I'm pretty excited

to read this little novel and do some more digging into who Voltaire was.

Diary of an Oxygen Thief by Anonymous

So, this is a book I know absolutely nothing about a purchased solely because of the cover. First of all, that snowman is creepy and it intrigues me. Secondly, it's written by Anonymous! I mean how cool is that? I bought this book at Barns n Noble, btw, not at a thrift store. I promise, the Goodwill book haul is coming right after this book.

Anyway, I've been eyeing this book for a few months now and after reading the first page (the best way to test out a book) I decided it was time for it to come home with me. This is definitely one of those books where I don't want to know much about it before I read it.

Manifesta: Young Women, Feminism, and the Future by: Jennifer Baumgardner & Amy Richards

This begins my Goodwill haul and I'll just preface this book and all the books following because I bought all these books at face value. I know basically nothing about all of these books and that my favourite way to buy books at thrift store. The risk of blinding buying books at thrift stores is super low because the books are so cheap so it allows me to really experiment with the books I read and that's super exciting.

So, this book caught my eye because: women & feminism, two of my favourite topics. Naomi Wolf blurbed the book on the back and I'd like to put her quote in here because it helped sell the book for me.

"At last, Gen X takes on feminism and revamps a feminist manifesto for a new era. Manifesta is readble, well informed, and necessary to any young women - or man - who craves gender equality." - Naomi Wolf

!Caramba! by Nina Marie Martinez

I snatched this book off the shelf first because of the bright colours and then because of the title. Caramba is one of the most frequently used words in my daily life. Flipping through the book was fun, there are pictures and drawings and some letters. I'll be honest though, it'll be a while before I read this book because while my Spanish is good, I'm not totally confident in my abilities to read and fully comprehend a full novel in Spanish. And this is a book I really want to take my time reading and enjoy because all the Goodreads reviews I've glanced at rate this book very highly! 

Also, this is the first fully Spanish book I've ever own. I was thinking about that after I bought it and I think it's crazy that there are worlds of literature out there that I'm unable to read because I don't fluently speak the language. It's mind blowing how much literature is really out in the world! It also makes me feel super grateful that I'm bilingual and currently learning Italian as well. It's my hope that one day I'll be able to read Italian literature in it's native language.

The Secret History of the Pink Carnation by Lauren Willig

One this I really love when it comes to books is good historical fiction. Throw in some romance and an a good mystery and you've got me hooked! From what I gather, this story is about a young woman who discovers a secret spy that history has forgotten about goes on a quest to uncover the mystery behind the Pink Carnation. I also found out that this is the first book in a 12 book series! I'm all here for it.

It definitely has some very mixed reviews on Goodreads but I always take those reviews with a grain of salt. Everyone has different reading tastes and what is amazing for me may only be sub par for you. So typically I'll glance at the Goodreads reviews and then forget about them. If I let preconceived notions about a book into my thoughts I find that it may cloud my judgment of a book before I ever truly give it a chance. 

The American Heiress by: Daisy Goodwin

I managed to find another historical novel in my Goodwill hunt! This book is set towards the end of the 19th century, which is one of my favourite period to read about. Basically, an American high society girl is sent to England to find title among the English aristocracy. It seems to be a sort of 'coming of age' story and I'm pretty here for it.

Glenn Beck's Common Sense by Glenn Beck

So this might be a controversial book. I picked it up, again, not knowing anything about the book or the author. I was mainly intrigued by the line "inspired by Thomas Paine". I'm a huge history buff and I find Thomas Paine to be so intriguing. Also, there's a line on the back of the book that reads, "Common Sense tells you that we're not in the America of 1776 anymore. So how'd we get so far away from our founding values?"  That got interested peaked so I decided the book would come home with me.

From the quick research I've done I've learned that Beck was a part of the Republican party and now considers himself to be Independent but is still very conservative. I myself, am an Independent voter, not to be confused with the American Independent Party (AIP). I'm not that. I don't subscribe to any political party in America for multiple reasons that I won't get into now. All this is to say, that while I may not agree with the ideas Beck may present in his book I'm still giving it a fair shot. I truly believe that everyone should read things that are different, whether it be in philosophy or ideals. I think it's really important to see and understand other people's point-of-views especially when they are different from your own.

I think reading this book will be an experience and I'll definitely bring you along, once I actually get around to reading it!

Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs by Chuck Klosterman

This was the best find for me because I had just been thinking about this book a few days before I found it. I even added it to my 'to read' shelf on Goodreads and then there it was, sitting on the shelf right before me. I literally snatched this book so fast I might have scared the girl browsing next to me. Oops.

I don't really know what this one's about either although I do know that it has to do with pop culture in America during the 20th century. Klosterman goes through and breaks apart some of the largest cultural phenomenons of the century and gives his opinion. I like books that analyse things.

American History Desk Reference

Last but not least is this bad boy. This definitely isn't a sit-down-and-read cover-to-cover type of a book. It is 100% a reference book on almost all things American History. I can't even tell you how many times I'm thinking of a moment in history, a legal case, a protest, what have you and I can't remember the name or date. That's where this bad boy comes in. True, it's a little outdated, published in 1997, but I find that I don't typically need to reference things from this century having grown up in this century. Most of the things I need to reference come from 20th century and older so this book is actually perfect for me. And may I remind you that it only cost $1. It was an actual steal of a deal!

So there you have it, my March thrift haul. I can't wait to start reading all these new books, right after I read my huge TBR pile! I'll definitely be posting reviews of the books I do read so you can look forward to those in the future.

Now go forth and thrift!

xo