Give Me a Book

I don't know about you, but I still like to read from a book I can hold in my hands. I like to turn the pages. I like to have the ability to highlight passages and to scribble in the margins. I guess you could say I'm old fashioned!

Since we struggle to get by from month-to-month a good deal of the year -- usually not as bad in the summer months as our utility bills go way down -- we don't have a lot of excess cash for me to buy books. I make great use of our public library system, but, every now and then, I like to buy books to add to my own little library.

To this end, this summer I decided to look for some used booksellers online. Besides, Amazon.com (a Washington-based company), here are some others I have purchased books from:

• AbeBooks.com - Launched in 1996, AbeBooks is an online marketplace where you can buy new, used, rare and out-of-print books, as well as cheap textbooks. We connect you with thousands of professional booksellers around the world and millions of books are listed for sale. Shopping on AbeBooks is easy, safe and 100% secure - search for your book, purchase a copy via our secure checkout process and the bookseller ships it straight to you.


• BetterWorldBooks.com - Better World Books is a for-profit social enterprise that collects used books and sells them online to raise money for literacy initiatives worldwide. We offer great bargains on used books - over 6 million used and new titles, with free shipping anywhere in the U.S. and just $3.97 worldwide. What’s more, you love cheap used books and so does the environment – when you buy used, you save books from landfill and conserve resources. Even better, they have a huge selection of bargain books where you can purchase 5 for $15.


• Powell's Books - From humble storefront beginnings in 1971 on a derelict corner of northwest Portland, Oregon, Powell's Books has grown into one of the world's great bookstores, with seven locations in the Portland metropolitan area, and one of the book world's most successful dot-coms, serving customers worldwide.


• ThriftBooks.com - Thrift Books was started in July 2003 in a small storage unit in Kirkland, WA with a commitment to provide quality cheap used books at the lowest prices anywhere. Just two months after founding the company the first book was purchased and shipped: Charlotte’s Web by E. B. White for $4.74. Thrift Books has emerged from its modest beginnings to become the nation’s largest online seller of used books with a growing international presence. Now based in Auburn, Washington, Thrift Books has distribution facilities in seven states and over 250 employees. It carries five million used books in stock at any given time and processes an additional 100,000 books each day.

Do you know of other online sources for used books?