Charity Shops!

I love to trawl through the charity shops here in the uk - in fact I very rarely buy a new book unless it's hevily reduced (usually from supermarkets) as long as the book is not too tatty, I simply can't afford it! I'm the same with music! Just came back from my hols with 10 books!

Me too. I went in a charity shop in Bromley today. They are doing a "buy one get one free" offer so I got two books which would've cost me £42.50 new, for a pound! Have you got an Oxfam bookshop near you? They are the best, a whole charity shop devoted to books. It's like the Charing Cross road used to be, only without the cramped basements and over-pricing.

Most of my book-buying is in charity shops nowadays. I find that Oxfam is the most expensive, even though they have the widest range. British Heart Foundation is where I get most of my books though.

I actually resent the charity shops for driving second-hand bookshops to near extinction.

I don't think that's quite true in the US (charity shops driving second-hand bookshops to near extinction).

I try to check the charity shops weekly, or nearly so. I've come up with some good stuff from them over the years.

Our only second-hand bookshop in town has a horrible selection, rude cashiers, and nothing in the shop is less then $10.

So charity shops are definitely a blessing. The Hospice Thrift Store has tons of common stuff like Danielle Steel and John Grisham, no more then a dollar each. The Humane Society Thrift Store has a surprisingly good selection of children's books, and it's fill-a-bag for $3.

I've gotten lots of treasures at Saver's, Goodwill, and the Salvation Army. One just has to be willing to dig and keep one's mind open to new discoveries.

This post will only be of use to UK residents on the whole but overseas visitors may find it useful, have a look at The Book Guide website for info on really good secondhand bookshops and book fairs, i find it very good. Also, if you are ever in Buxton in Derbyshire try Scriveners secondhand bookshop it is amazing and they also do book binding. It is very quirky on a number of floors with some victorian features on each floor, can't wait to go back again.

Can't agree on Oxfam shops. I think they filter out the best stuff. The local shops to me are just stuffed full of ex top twenty paperbacks and celeb memoirs. Yawn.

Found a nice hardcover edition of Herzog, with the added bonus of a protector sheet over the dustcover. Nice!

Just popped into my local Hospice shop for a browse and came out with six books for £1.20, two of them looked as if they had hardly been read, note to self, keep out it's dangerous.

I buy almost all my books from charity shops.it can take me years to get a trilogy sometimes,lol,but its worth it when you find a hidden gem. check out my book list and you'll find some amazing books. I'm not as big a fan of the oxfam bookshops as they are basically second hand book shops now- you cant find a rare book for 50p in there as they already have them in a cabinet for £50!

Found a 1st edition Walker Percy hardcover at a charity shop. Always pays to browse through the book section a third or fourth time, in case I missed something ;)

http://www.bookstoreguide.org/2008/10/report-from-paris.html

As I frequent Paris quite a lot I was pleased to find this guide which extends to other European cities and beyond, A sort of international tbg which I have also asked Mike Goodenough (TBG) to put on his site

I trust it may be of use

Jon Morgan