Second Hand Books - Blog Posts

during spring break i got to visit a wonderful place that was a train station turned bookstore. it felt very cozy and welcoming and you could just get lost in there for hours. i highly recommend it if you’re ever in the area- alnwick, england. plus, it seems most of the books are second hand and quite cheep (i got four books for £23)!

it’s called barter books :)

This old, abandoned copy of the silmarillion was my first introduction to Tolkien's works.

My great-uncle found it in an abandoned house in 2019 and gave it to my grandma. My grandma later, being uninterested with Tolkien, gave it to me because it was no secret that I was interested in fantasy.

I spent many hours reading it over and over in Ye Olde Covid Times and, with it, watched The Lord of the Rings trilogy many times over. I was enamored with the world that Tolkien created (and still am today). I have since bought second-hand copies of all of Tolkien's works about his legendarium. (Yes I do see the irony of me reading the Silmarillion before the Lord of tha Rings)

I have such a deep emotional connection to this book. I can't even begin to express just how much the gift of a book can change someone's life.

I have recently started to become more ecologically conscious in my everyday life - eating out less, buying less, using more of the possessions I already own, etc... - and that includes shopping for clothes in second hand shops. And I am ASTONISHED at how many well kept, good quality pieces are simply lying around at some dim lit room downtown. Honestly, I urge everyone reading this to go to the worst rated second hand shop in their area. Avoid the trendy ones, go for the ones with 70 year old witches who'll smoke a whole pack inside the store in the hour you'll spend there. The true gems lie there.

Stay yourself, stay curious.