For $24 at the library book sale, I got 33 books. Not quite an island, but:
10 books for me
A Distant Mirror: The Calamitous 14th Century (Barbara Tuchman)12 for the girl (some that she picked out, others that I added to the stack),
Let the Great World Spin (Colum McCann)
The Kite Runner (Khaled Hosseini)
Little Bee (Chris Cleave)\
Diamond Ruby (Joseph Wallace)
The Girl Who Played With Fire (Stieg Larsson)
Middle C (William H. Gass)
State of Wonder (Ann Patchett)
The Tiger's Wife (Téa Obreht)
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society (Mary Ann Shaffer)
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| The astute reader will notice a fan bio of Leonardo DiCaprio as well as Catch Me If You Can. You guessed it, the 9 year old no longer swoons over Johnny Depp. |
3 for my husband
3 to squirrel away as gifts
4 for a birthday party the girl was on her way to (we stopped at home to wrap)
1 bought solely for its title
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| Why yes, this book is called "Orbiting the Giant Hairball". I had to buy it for the title alone. |
I confessed to the mother of the birthday girl that the gift was four used books and that I was hovering between proud (thrifty kid!) and mortified (cheap gift!) - though I knew she'd be more on the side of thrifty proud. What do you think? Are used books an acceptable gift? And if you say no, how do you feel about re-gifting?
12 comments:
I've bought used books as gifts for my own kids. Though for other kids, I've usually gone with new.
Used books are a totally acceptable gift. So long as they are in good condition.
Also, when I buy used books as a gift, I buy way more than I would if they were new.
Much better used books than no book at all. I love secondhand bookshops, they make me dizzy with excitement.
By the way, I really enjoyed the "Potatoe peel pie society", hope you will like it as well.
As long as the gift is in good condition and the giver honestly thinks it's something the recipient will want I think it's all perfectly acceptable.
She loved the 4 books and I am definitely pro thrifty proud. Well done, all around, is what I say.
I'm with Jo(e)--good condition used books are great.
I remember getting A Distant Mirror as a Christmas gift when I was a teenager. I loved that book.
I have the Barbara Tuckman and never read it. It is the favorite book of a few I know. Wanna compare notes after you read it? HS BFF
If it's for a special occasion like a birthday or holiday, I think it's okay if the re-gifted item is given along with another (non re-gifted item.) But if it's just for fun, the re-gifted gift can stand on it's own.
I never knew I had these opinions until you asked.
What a good haul!
Always delighted to get re-gifted. My aunt used to give me china that she had inherited from her mother, my grandmother, all covered in pink roses.
And thrifty on the books seems very clever to me.
Agree with jo(e) - you can get so many more used books for the price of one new. Do you have Half Price Books stores there? Although I guess you might not need them if you have the library sale!
I am very intrigued by the title What the Dickens. Off to google.
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