Old/secondhand books

[betterhiroto]

Back when i was living in another city, i often used to go to this book shop that used to sell old and secondhand books. They were cheap and me being a student got used at buying them, and hey, theres a ton of books that are out of print and you can only find them in secondhan bookstores.

My question for you is, do you have any old or secondhand books, and what do you think of them. I have a book from 1895, it's Moliere's Miser and Tartuffe, and i got it quite cheap, maybe for like 5 dollars?

 

[Raidou Kuzunoha]

I very rarely buy new these days, and often just wait it out until it pops up in the library. Secondhand is my go to, but I don't think I have anything particularly cool, especially to those who don't know my native language. But out of the few English stuff I have, I do have a copy of John Grisham's The Street Lawyer which has a big "NOT FOR RESALE" on the back; I (ironically) bought it at my country's annual book fair.

 

[Cheela Cheela Cheela's icon]

I have a lot xD i used to study both law and linguistics. Both very heavy in reading. But especially because our library just receive a lot of books that they need to throw away repited copies and outdated ones. I even grab a big Linux manual from the Caldera Desktop days in my Philosophy library for some reason xD

I love books a lot soo is was always nice to stock up in random stuff.

 

[LiberoVulpesLiberoVulpes's icon]

5 rooms in my house are libraries, wouldn't be like that if i didn't get them for reasonable prices... I also hold onto stuff from the public archives to keep them safe, since i have contacts there and there is a lot of backroom things that happen, so some records need to be protected.

 

[DanCalibur]

Long ago, I used to ride the bus to the big city just for the used book store there, but never got a single book from it. My money never survived beyond the mangas section, at 1BRL each I would always return home with my backpack full of YuYu Hakusho, Gunn, Sakura Card Captor, Rorouni Kenshin, X, Reyarth and Love Hina. Good Times

 

[ObscureJigglypuff]

I got some Cesare Pavese second hand books and many others.
I love this Santo Stefano Belbo guy, so yeah, my mustache is aroused.

Now that i have a cult, people are giving me money to buy dildos and new books.

 

[Grumpy_Old_Man]

In spanish they are called Librería de viejo(literally old man bookstore) you often find, some real gems, like first editions or authors "lost in time"(unedited for a while)
I really like old books, that yellowed paper and odor is somewhat addicting.

 

[Waffles's iconWaffles]

All my books are secondhand, and I prefer it that way. I like to feel the connection with previous owners and look for signs of whoever they may have been based on the the things they wrote on the corners or on a bookmark left in there, forgotten about as time moved on and they let go of the amazing stories within to go start their own.

 

[PKT]

It may be quite strange but the only books I tend to read anymore are text books or math-adjacent in some way. The prices on those books are ridiculous if they are even still in print so I skulk some local book stores and some Half Price Books for stuff on the cheap. Other than that I receive the occasional book as a gift

Spoiler

I also pirate a shit ton of books. I prefer physical books but if I really want to read something and can't find it I'm fine with pdfs

 

[betterhiroto]

In spanish they are called Librería de viejo(literally old man bookstore) you often find, some real gems, like first editions or authors "lost in time"(unedited for a while)
I really like old books, that yellowed paper and odor is somewhat addicting.

Yeah, here too only the old men seem to sell used books.
I agree that the smell is good. But if they were in a wet basement? Not so much haha...

All my books are secondhand, and I prefer it that way. I like to feel the connection with previous owners and look for signs of whoever they may have been based on the the things they wrote on the corners or on a bookmark left in there, forgotten about as time moved on and they let go of the amazing stories within to go start their own.

Oh i agree, having a book with so much memory, it makes me wonder what journey this book took before making its way to me, kinda corny but whatever :p And i wonder what happened to the people that owned the book before me. Some of the secondhand books i have still have the name of the previous owner of it.

I very rarely buy new these days, and often just wait it out until it pops up in the library. Secondhand is my go to, but I don't think I have anything particularly cool, especially to those who don't know my native language. But out of the few English stuff I have, I do have a copy of John Grisham's The Street Lawyer which has a big "NOT FOR RESALE" on the back; I (ironically) bought it at my country's annual book fair.

For me, i buy them new (when i have the money) but since i dont have that much money, i buy old books. Alot of them in my native language as well.
My country also has an annual book fair, i love going to it every year and looking at the old books the secondhand sellers are showing.

 

[bjork]

I know it barely counts as a book, but I recently picked up a second hand copy of the Official Nintendo Player's Guide from 1987 or 88, and I've only flipped through it briefly so far, but I saw a few old notes from a previous owner. I'm assuming zelda map routes or something. Always kinda cool to see that kind of thing.

 

[NobodyHere]

Tons (mostly due to my dad tbh), probably most books in my house are second hand or super old since my family doesn’t tend to get rid of any.

 

[Yankee]

I think the only new books I've ever bought are for TRPGs, like Dungeons & Dragons.
Some manga volumes I bought firsthand when they were just being published but the majority of them are secondhand from my local game store when they had a small section of them.
Specifically every one of my cookbooks is used. I get old ones on purpose because sometimes some old lady writes her own recipes in there, or makes notes on the recipes that are in there and I cook a lot.

 

[Deleted member 179251]

I have a lot of old secondhand books because I have bought a lot of my books from secondhand book fairs (i am in india), and most of them sell secondhand books for hella low prize.
And there is something about the smell of an old books that just gets me. Don't get me wrong, i like new and shiny books like the rest of people, but there is something about the paper of the book going a bit more brownish that makes it feel like you are an ancient mage in a old wooden library reading ancient forbidden text. Even if what you are reading is just jane austen's sense and sensibility. Couple that with the smell of rain and thunder, and the engagement in book becomes even better for me.

 

[Antilocal123]

Ok, this isn't a joke but—

My Father had this novel, only novel he really had in his room, and it was some risque story of some sorts involving sex and all this random stuff.

It was really shocking discovering it as a kid and just getting hit with the detailed description of a penis.

 

[Grumpy_Old_Man]

Ok, this isn't a joke but—

My Father had this novel, only novel he really had in his room, and it was some risque story of some sorts involving sex and all this random stuff.

It was really shocking discovering it as a kid and just getting hit with the detailed description of a penis.

Sound like me finding the Marquis de Sade novels at an early age.

 

[Cuestionador]

I live in Buenos Aires, the center of the city close to the obelisk is full of libraries and used bookstores, it's one of my favourite activities! I always find interesting things (comic, books or other formats).

 

[Sinmenon]

I have an interesting one in my hands right here with me now.
You see, I started reading the dnd Drizzt books years ago, and I decided to pick up again but I misplaced my copy of The Legacy during moving. I wanted an English copy, but the taxes were ridiculous. I did find an online second-hand bookstore with a copy, but it had no picture and it was for dirt cheap so I grabbed it. It wasn't the most common version, the reprint pocket soft cover from 2005, but the first edition from 1992, the hard cover one. And it came with a 5 Uruguayan peso bill inside for some reason.

I also got my first copy of Castlevania: Symphony of the Night in a second-hand bookstore after class.

 

[jiyuuboyetsvi]

recently acquired a book that ive been looking for all my life
Joan of Arc - Her Story by Regine Pernoud and Marie-Veronique Clin

im also at looking into getting a copy of Jeanne's trial transcripts

 

[Adrastia]

I have a bunch of books from the 40s here. I need to read them before they fall apart. They are not in good shape. I have:

The Sun is My Undoing by Margeurite Steen 1941
This Side of Innocence by Taylor Caldwell 1946
The Strange Woman by Ben Ames Williams 1945
Gentlemen's Agreement by Laura Z. Hobson 1941

I might still have my copy of The Razor's Edge. And there was a book of very short stories meant to save paper during WW2. But it just literally fell to pieces. I think the Christmas story in it was adapted into a short film at some point. It seemed very familiar

I don't know where these books came from. I think my stepfather bought them at a thrift store at some point and I took them when I moved. I didn't want them to be thrown away. I also got Jonathan Livingston Seagull from that stack. It's a picture book about the life of a seagull. I highly recommend it. It's a lot more than what it seems.

I also got some books someone put outside for free. There were a lot of very old books there but I couldn't get them all. A guy that lived there previously was a book dealer and I assume that they may have been his. There was a book about how to care for your rifle that was from the 20s in perfect condition. But I didn't get a chance to grab it.

 

[Yousef]

The Sun is My Undoing by Margeurite Steen 1941
This Side of Innocence by Taylor Caldwell 1946
The Strange Woman by Ben Ames Williams 1945
Gentlemen's Agreement by Laura Z. Hobson 1941

Really nice collection!

 

[Sir Auriel of Lionel]

Very few of the books I have were bought new. If I bought them all new I wouldn't have such a hoard!

 

[heywusuh]

"A Fall of Moondust" ("Os Náufragos do Selene" in my lang, by Arthur C. Clarke) is the most recent title I was able to buy and it was like 5 BRL, which is less than a dollar nowadays... really love going to places like flea markets, attending to bazaars/personal sales, all that.