Community post
Used Book Haul
As you may already know I collect a lot of vintage books. It started with one of my favorite childhood series, then a second, but it has since evolved pretty significantly since then. Nowadays I'm on the lookout for multiple vintage series as well as just more broadly looking for books that I've read or want to read specifically in hardcover. I'm particularly on the hunt for rare hardcover books by specific authors, like selective Stephen King novels just as one example.
Today I went to an antique market and gathered a decent haul. Lets take a look at what I found, starting with...
You guessed it, Goosebumps!
I actually saw quite a few of these books today but only one that I still need for my collection. Its actually becoming more and more difficult to find the ones I need. I only buy them if they are in good shape, especially the spine, which makes it difficult considering they are well over 20 years old now. This one is book number 54 out of 62 and is called "Don't go to sleep." It has some damage on the cover, which pisses me off, but the spine is nearly perfect so I couldn't pass on it. The books written later in the series are actually very rare and hard to find, so I may end up just buying damaged ones in the end just to complete the collection. I only need 6 more and I'll finally be done.
A new series that I only recently started hunting for are specific Dragonlance books. I read these as a kid as well and something recently triggered in my head that made me want to read them again. Dragonlance are fantasy novels that had a huge influence on the RPG Dungeons and Dragons. They also created and developed a lot of Dragon lore, so in a way they are pretty iconic and influential to the fantasy genre in general. Though there are dozens of books in the Dragonlance catalog, there are only three main sagas that I am hunting down myself, at this point.
They are the Chronicles, Legends, and Heros sagas. Today I found the complete Legends trilogy as well as two volumes out of three of the Heros books.
Next was more of a random find that I wasn't looking for but stumbled upon; Enders game and Children of the Mind. This is the first and last book in the Ender Quartet. I read them both years ago and they were super cheap despite being so rare in Hardcover.
It irks me a little that they are two different sizes but I couldn't pass up the deal of $6 for both. But now I will need to track down the other two books in the quartet, Speaker for the Dead and Xenocide.
The last book I found is the gem of the day. It a hardcover copy of Silence of the Lambs in nearly perfect condition.
I was shocked that it was only 40-60. I jumped on it immediately without thinking twice.
I did see other books that I was thinking about buying, including two Hardcover Stephen King, Insomnia and Under the Dome. But by the end I felt like I had enough books to tie me over for a while. I don't like to have too many unread physical copy books because they can really pile up as you can see. Right now I have enough books in backlog to get me into 2027 at least.
Replies (20)
Ender's Game is so good. I read it a long time ago after my friend recommended it to me. I never got around to finishing the other ones though. We recently visited some used book stores too. I found some new adventure books that I am looking forward to digging into.
What a great book haul. Finding The Silence of the Lambs in such good condition sounds like a really lucky find.🙏🏻
A very worthy pursuit, particularly in light of reports that Amazon is buying up rare books, scanning them for AI and then shredding the originals.
Yep I read that to. Anthropic is doing it for their latest update as well. All after they were caught stealing copyrighted info - now they have moved on to physical books, which you probably read as well.
Agreed, Enders game is so good. The second book in the quartet is really good as well - "Speaker for the Dead." Its very different from the first book but very interesting. They go downhill from there in my opinion- more like reading a long philosophy essay then a novel.
Thats awesome that you found some books as well. Enjoy!
Yeah i was pretty excited about finding that one
Thanks for the support!
I think I owned that one for a while, but I never got all the way through it. Like you said, it was so different from the first one.
Indeed I do! When I was a child, my family was in the second-hand book business, so I've always been an avid reader. There's just something about the feel and smell of a physical book that no electronic reader can ever replace. I was given a Kindle some years ago, but I've never actually used it.
Yeah. I liked it but it was completely different than Enders game so if you're wanting something similar then you would be disappointed. I really liked the concepts in the book though, the planetary life forms, the time travel and and communication. I found it interesting. Looking back on the 3rd and 4th books of the series - Xenocide and Children of the Mind, im shocked I finished them.
There is sort of a literary romanticism to a physical book. I agree.
I actually do like my e-reader as well though. Its good at night if you cant turn on a light (in bed or a hotel room...ect) or on vacation because its so compact you can bring as many books as you want. Physical books can get damaged on vacation being stuffed in a bag repeatedly or if they get even slightly wet (near ocean or on a beach of sun deck with a cold iced beverage with a sweating glass) lol
Haha, okay!
Man, thats funny, i been watching some of the goosbumps tv episodes on youtube. Feel like they are classics. R.L is still alive too, saw a picture of him at a signing, id love to see him actually.
Glad youre still beastin buddy, been a while, lets rock.
!PIMP
Yeah the classic shows can be a lot of fun. I would love to rewatch the "Are you afraid of the dark" series. Did you watch that one as a kid?
R.L. would be cool to meet and get an autograph
Tipo, el número 54 de 62 de Goosebumps, “Don’t go to sleep”, tiene el lomo casi perfecto pese a la portada dañada, literal una joyita para coleccionistas. ¿Ya te quedan solo esos 6 o todavía estás persiguiendo los Dragonlance Legends? 📚
En mi experiencia, el número 54 de la serie Goosebumps me trae recuerdos de cuando mi hermano y yo buscábamos la edición perfecta en los mercadillos locales. What I learned is that those rare Dragonlance Chronicles feel as elusive as finding a hardcover with a pristine spine after twenty years 📚
I do remember that, feel like i dont really remember much tho. Campfire or something, hmmmm. Saw it on youtube as well, might eventually give an episode a try. Man, catching up on comments is work sometimes, but i got a bit spicy so lot of people said something. Madness, but theres a lot of love here, means a lot actually.
Yes, the show with the kids sitting around the campfire. That's the one.
Totally! Its hard catching up on comments when you've been gone a while. I'll leave to to it.
And here i am catching too....phew. The list is a lot sometimes lol
!PIMP