#thriftbooks my best friend thriftbooks

[morethanwonderful]

HOLY SHIT

[the-halfling-prince]

Oooooooh the urge to make a pixie hollow-sona

[jockpoetry]

so excited to dig into the stack of books i have for the new year. i am almost done with my house of leaves reread (having a blast) but literally cannot wait to read these books i got.

[wekillitwithfire]

since WHEN were paperback books 14+ United States Dollars?? it's 8 dollars for a paperback and 11 for a hardcover what's so hard to understand about that?

[roboticchibitan]

Update on the temple library project because I am excited about it. I wrote a rough draft of an email calling for donations of books, bookshelves, and, if you have neither, money. Geshela will look at it and make any changes he wants to make and then at some point it will be sent out to the Sangha. Might take a bit cuz Geshela does not understand technology very well (He's 65 and also at one point he lived in a cave for five years so like, his experience is lacking) and the guy who handles the email list is very busy cuz he's going to school right now.

But I got it started! Now I just have to wait to see what kind of response I get! I'm hoping some of the senior Sangha members have a bunch of books to donate but we'll see. I have maybe a shelf's worth of books to donate right now. I have not read all of them but I've been impulse purchasing $5 copies of His Holiness the Dalai Lama's books off thriftbooks and I have a bit of a collection at this point...

I am very excited about this because I'm disabled, I don't work. I'm often in too much pain to function. But this is something I can do for a community I'm part of that matters. And that's really exciting to me because the other volunteer opportunities require regular attendance and I just can't promise that. But this is something I can do! And like, it's good for one's brain to have projects/responsibilities where you are not divorced from the fruits of your labor.

I'm considering seeing if my closer friends and family would want to donate to this project For My Sake because it's important to me but I don't know if that's weird or not. My best friend did offer to do a little graphic design work for it for free, though! So that's exciting!

[charnel-doll]

everyone say thank you to my best friend thriftbooks, i got two books for, including shipping, the price that just ONE would have been without shipping included from indigo (canadian bookstore chain)

[breserker]

Hey! Can you please tell me about these books? You got titles? I really wanna do 12 year old me a favor and read them.

omg yes absolutely

so i ended up only reading about 2.5 of the 3 books of the Machiko Noguchi saga, published 1994 - 1999, these are what the first AVP movie is taking from in some form (although they're more set in the Alien timeline of future space travel instead of modern day like the movie) but the first book is still near and dear to my heart. The good two are written by Steve Perry and daughter Stephani Perry, whomst! by the way! If you're familiar with the Resident Evil novels, SD Perry is Stephani Perry here!

This book is the one you wanna read, it's a closed story and rewired my brain chemistry: Aliens vs. Predator: Prey, 1994.

(Thriftbooks link, although I bet you can find it for even cheaper?)

This first book stays with me even if I'm not directly thinking about it; around the same time I read it I had DigimonWorld Dusk for the NDS and I got a friend to get Dawn so I could have best boy Guilmon, and I named him after the main Yautja character Dachande. Ever since with Digimon games, Dachande is the name I give my Guilmon. This book is great because it's told from both Machiko's perspective and Dachande's, so you see a glimpse into Yautja society and thought/language as well as how Machiko saw them. I haven't read it in years but it was formative stuff.

The second book, Hunter's Planet, was by a different author in the worst way and it shows; not only was the plot like, weirdly dumb in a modern failed attempt at a blockbuster way but the second book was my first run-in with like "An editor should've caught that" type mistakes in mass published stuff. It's because of this book that when I write a sequence of a lot of dialogue without tags/noting who is speaking I go back and comb through it because, personality aside, the author of this second book David Bischoff would write long discussions between Machiko and her android buddy but it was immensely difficult to tell who was saying what because they pretty much spoke exactly the same. Kind of disappointing, imo skippable but maybe it's good in a B-Movie way now.

The third book, War, marks SD Perry's return! And it really showed from what I remember of the half that I read of it, sadly I did not finish it.

Since then I think Machiko has appeared in comic runs and is referenced in other things in the more print-world stuff rather than movies. AVP1 the movie was an iteration on Machiko's story, and I really dont' remember it being that bad of a film. I think people were upset because they interpreted the marking of the woman's face as romantic (???) instead of respect, which, to the book's credit and less the movie's, the movie didn't take its time to explain Yautja culture and probably assumed the audience would figure it out. Which, some did, but the backlash was so great that in AVP2 the Yautja, the only other sentient alien in the movie, did not interact with humans at all. Which tbh made for a worse movie! So. Y'know, happy reading!

[carfuckerlynch]

thriftbooks my best friend thriftbooks…….

[starseneyes]

Good Omens: The Quest for the Set

Over the course of several months, I slowly checked Ebay, Thriftbooks, and Alibris for old copies of Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman on deep discount.

Why? Well, it's a bit of a long story.

See, I thrift most of my books. It's the only way I can buy books most the time. But one chance purchase sent me off on a quest I never expected.

This is the story of how Rachel accidentally collected way too many copies of Good Omens on the quest to complete a set she happened upon by chance. And, yes, it does have a happy ending.

Deep into the heat of Summer 2023, both WGA and SAG-AFTRA were on strike—forced by AMPTP. (Yes, this is actually essential to the story)

And those of us outside NY and LA did our best to support. I was a madwoman on Social Media—posting every single day with links to Picket locations and the Entertainment Community Fund—and used any spare money I could scrounge up on Strike Shirts to support the cause.

I made it up to the lines twice in New York—first with the WGA, then with my Union later in the Summer. The first time, it was a day-trip that coincided with a family trip. The second time, friends sponsored my trip up because they believed in the cause.

And, wow, do I have amazing friends to do such a thing!

We were all a bit burnt out by August, and I was looking for something to distract me and cheer me up. I happened upon an old Prodigal Son interview with Michael Sheen where they mentioned a then-upcoming project—Good Omens.

"I meant to watch that!" I thought to myself. I shimmied to Amazon Prime and was stoked to see two whole Series waiting for me.

Imagine my surprise when I spied David Tennant on-screen with Sheen (yes, this is how out-of-touch I was about the production). I was a fan of both actors separately, though I'd only seen each in a handful of productions.

As Aziraphale and Crowley, I was captivated by them.

I marathoned both Series 1 and 2 in a week. Then, watched, again. Then, forced my husband to watch it, and found out my father had seen Series 1, but not 2, and made sure he got caught up, too.

I sought out the book, and found a Mass Market Paperback on Thriftbooks that was cheap enough I could afford it. But when it arrived, I struggled with handling it. It's just not my favorite size of book to read.

To my great surprise, I discovered my husband had found a regular paperback at the thrift store. Huzzah!

I read the book and loved it. But then I looked forlornly at my shelves. You see, if I really love a book, I like to have a hardback edition. I tend to tear up paperbacks on subsequent readings (I'm just not gentle on them, despite my best efforts).

So, I went online and found a sale at Blackwell's for the Illustrated Edition. And, yes, the shipping was included across the pond, which boggled my mind, but made it something I could afford.

It. Is. Gorgeous. There was only one problem—as soon as it arrived, I realized it was way too beautiful for everyday use.

It would take a month or so before I decided to try to find a decent, used hardback copy that I could use for everyday use.

I didn't want the crème de la crème. I'm a budget shopper out of necessity, and we were just getting our finances in order in October after our GoFundMe wiped out most of our medical debt.

So, I wasn't searching the web for First Editions or signed copies. I simply wanted a Good condition Hardback. And, I was elated to find one on Thriftbooks.

When it arrived, I immediately noticed part of the tagline was missing. I thought it was a misprint, but a lovely person on BlueSky informed me it was part of a set.

Now, this is when Rachel's OCD kicked into overdrive. I couldn't afford another book, just yet, but it felt lopsided to not have both books.

I posted about the conundrum and was surprised to find multiple people in my life who had one half or the other and had never noticed.

Matthew and I both took to the internet, thinking that maybe we could easily find the second copy, and then both our OCD would be satisfied. What we found was a maze of insanity.

See, the 2016 edition of Good Omens has a single ISBN but multiple dustjackets.

There's White. There's Black. There's ones with the full tagline. Ones with the half tagline. There's editions with quotes on 'em, and editions with different buttons: "Soon to be a TV Series", "Now a TV Series".

And nobody on Ebay, Alibris, or Thriftbooks will answer you about which edition they have. I messaged so many and they said, "Sorry, until we pull it to ship it, we know as much as you do!" Because the ISBN automatically pulls up whichever cover it chooses on whichever system, so you are at the mercy of chance.

I'm not a rich person even in the best of circumstances, so I decided to try a few times, and then move on. It would only be thrifted or second-hand items, obviously, but I didn't want to obsess forever.

I tried three times without success. Two Black 2016 Hardback Editions with full tagline. And one that claimed it was a Hardback edition, but showed up a paperback.

This is about the time I decided to give up.

I scrounged up a bit of money and found an SFBC 50th Edition for around $20. I counted my blessings when it arrived in decent shape.

The quest was over, I decided. I would simply look in Thrift Stores the rest of my life hoping that, perchance, the mystery White 2016 Hardback Half Tagline edition would find me.

Funny enough, when I pulled the SFBC edition from my mailbox, I found another package. After staring at it quizzically for a moment, I remembered an $8 "Acceptable" edition I'd found on Alibris and ordered on a whim when I saved money on groceries.

At the time, my Eldest had said, "I bet this is gonna be the one, Mama!" I remembered that with a smile as I picked up the SFBC edition and walked it to the living room bookcase, leaving the unopened second package on the bed.

After shelving the SFBC edition, I returned to my bedroom and tore open the packaging on the mystery copy. I started giggling as soon as I saw the top of the book—White hardback.

At this point, I was thinking, "Oh, of course I finally get a White hardback, now. But there's no way that it could be the right one. That's just not possible."

So, I pulled the book the rest of the way out of the packaging.

And. I. Screamed.

It was... the book. It was the BOOK!! How was it the book!?

I turned the $8 "Acceptable" book over in my hand, shocked at its state and normal wear on the dustjacket. My six-year-old rushed into the room to see what all the hubbub was about.

I triumphantly showed her the book, and then the laughter turned to grateful tears. I had given up the quest, but the prize found me, anyway.

I set the books together on the shelf, and waited for my Eldest to come home. As soon as he spied them together, he shouted, "I knew it! I knew it! I told you!" Yes, kiddo, you did.

For weeks after, I'd stop as I walked by the bookcase and smile broadly. It was so insane how it happened! I had given up! I was done!

And, yet, it reminded me of another time I gave up on something—December 2013 when I went in for a medical evaluation of my Fallopian tubes.

We had been trying to conceive for years. And I knew that if the test revealed my tubes were closed, we would stop trying. We couldn't afford another surgery. We'd already paid for so many procedures, medications, shots, and tests.

The results showed one tube that fired perfectly, and the other that sometimes did. I conceived via IUI the next month—one follicle from each tube. Twins. They're nine, now.

I had given up. And then the good found me, anyway.

In acting and writing, you get very used to rejection, to things not working out the way you want them to. I think I've gotten so accustomed to it, that I've forgotten sometimes the good things do happen.

So every time I walk past those books, it's a reminder to me. It's a reminder that, yeah, sometimes you strike out again, and again. But sometimes the good finds you, anyway.

As for the extra copies—we're keeping them to give them away. If anyone ever says, "Oh, I always wanted to read it, but can't afford it," I can hand them their very own copy to keep. How marvelous it is to be a position to share.

I'm going to face more rejections. I'm going to face more things that don't work out. But sometimes... maybe... just every so often... the good will find me, still.

And it'll find you, too.

[medievalthymes]

as my timeline's premier rote scholar, do you think my enjoyment of the series will be negatively impacted if i start with the liveship traders trilogy? my library had ship of magic ready to take out right away and about a 50 person waitlist for the assassin's apprentice ebook D':

I mean if you really wanted to you could probably read liveship traders first, but you wouldn’t get the full impact of it — especially for the development of a certain character (I cannot say any more than that unfortunately because spoilers). I would highly suggest waiting because I think if you read them out of order you will probably regret it once you realize the full context :( and you’ll miss a lot of fun easter eggs. Not to mention you’ll spoil yourself for the overarching plot of the first trilogy as you see the impact on the world due to the way the events took place. 50 people waiting to read assassin’s apprentice that’s insane for a a 20 year old series… what is in the air right now … if you live in the states perhaps you could get a cheap used copy off of thriftbooks!!! Best of luck to you my friend ❤️❤️

[joyglass]

do you buy your physical copies online or do you subject yourself to walking through god awful booktok aisles in an attempt to find the books you actually want to read </3

i frequent a lot of local bookstores because i like browsing but unfortunately my wallet is nowhere near big enough to buy all the books i want to read so libgen and thriftbooks are my best friends

[athymelyreply]

thriftbooks is my best friend in the whole world. We are kissing with tongue frfr.

[haunthouse]

thriftbooks my best friend thriftbooks. bought 6 reference books on victorian architecture & historical fashion for the new project im working on for under $30 total

[sofipitch]

do you know anything about the library thing that went bye several months ago and if they’re are any replacement sites to find books? i can no longer afford to buy books and my local library is severely lacking.

I actually didn't even know about that site until it collapsed! I honestly don't know any sites like that my main way of getting books is from local secondhand book stores. A lot of times they have policies of giving store credit for trade ins so any book I wouldn't reread I take for a trade in. If you don't have one of those nearby Goodwill sells used books at like $2-3. It also might be worth looking around at normal thrift/"antique" stores, there's one near me that has a lot of books and sells them for 50 cents each, the variety isn't the best but every 6 months or so I'll go and come home with 6 books for $3.

If you enjoy classics and audiobooks Librivox is an app with tons of classics recorded by amateurs. Sometimes the quality can be lacking because the readers are volunteers but I've found some excellent readers (Elizabeth Klett is one of my favorites she recorded Passing by Nella Larsen). Another thing I like about Librivox is they'll have a lot of plays such as Shakespeare or Greek tragedies and they'll do it as a cast recording. I also listened to Dangerous Liaisons on librivox and they also had specific readers assigned to specific characters (that recording was another one that was super high quality, same as professional)

Another used (and new) book selling website is Thriftbooks They have a policy that after purchasing a certain amount you'll get credit for a free book and they'll have special deals to make getting a free book happen sooner or just straight up giving free book credits (they have giveaways on Instagram and I've won them before and got $15 worth of credit!)

Another great resource is the Libby app, it is a library app with ebooks and audiobooks It is tied to your local library but if yours sucks you could always ask a friend that maybe lives elsewhere. Universities also have ebooks and audiobooks on Libby so if you are a college student or have a friend who is nice enough to let them use your account it might be worth the look around! I have both my state and uni on Libby and it helps increase the variety of books available

So yeah when it comes to pirating books I don't have any good resources but this is what I use and I hope it helps!

[woodsteingirl]

friendship ended with thriftbooks abebooks is my new best friend

[thomsbrowne]

When you get this, respond with five things that make you happy and then send to the last ten people in your notifs. 🦥

thank you for making me take a second to focus on something positive haha

1. thriftbooks accidentally sent me 2 copies of sonia sanchez poems, so i’m sending one to a friend i haven’t seen in a while. i’m also thinking about throwing in my well-loved, annotated copy of “homegirls & hand grenades” but i’m also afraid i’ll never get it back lol. i recently got a book back (and borrowed another) from a different friend that i hadn’t seen since before COVID. i feel like routine book gifting/swapping/borrowing with friends is just one of those things everybody does as a kid that carries over into adulthood without much thought. all of my friends are kind of spread out across the country now, and we don’t see each other as much. i always get a little sentimental looking at the books on my shelf that belong to people i love

2. i found a new bakery a month ago that has, without question, the best fucking pastries i’ve ever eaten my whole life. i’ve been slowly working my way through the menu, but they have a mushroom croissant that gave me a newfound lust for life

3. BOTH of my halloween costumes got here on time, and i was so so nervous that they wouldn’t. i’m always last minute with these kinds of things, so i’m very happy to be free of that particular logistical anxiety lol

4. i’m going to take myself to the mark rothko exhibit this weekend. i’ll let myself contemplate (as a treat). i might even bring a notebook and write like i used to before my job got hectic.

5. i recently wrote a short film with my best friend and it actually got recognized by a local film festival. my parents are treating it likes it’s sundance which has been cracking me up, but also making me feel super supported and loved 🤧