Keeping My Bookcase Stocked

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I read, a lot, and it’s rare a trip into Stockport or Manchester that doesn’t feature a stop in the bookshops and, usually, a book (or three!) coming home with me. The children are equally as enthralled with a bookshop and our home is full of books. I have been keeping a reading journal this year, partly in a bid to better understand my reading habits, but also as a way to keep me ‘honest’ about my spending on books and not just buying one more, without actually reading the books I have.

Like many other families, money isn’t a never ending supply and there are endless pulls on our finances, from school trips, music lessons, scout activities and all other things in between. New books are amazing, and I would always advocate for buying a new book, but a new book doesn’t always need to be ‘new new.’ A second hand book is as good as a brand new one, and very often a fraction of the price. Keeping my reading journal this year has really opened my eyes to how quickly the spend can add up as well as making sure I’m reading through those new books that arrive.

I thought I was pretty well versed at the best places to purchase second hand used books online, but I recently learnt about Awesome Books and it might very well be my new go to.

About Awesome Books

Awesome Books pretty much live up to their name! I was amazed at the array of books they had available and the absolute value for money. They offer 20% off a first order or there are options to choose a free book from a (very extensive) selection when you purchase three used books. I was honestly amazed at how good the free choices were. Sometimes its books that are really common that you find in these offers (Thursday Murder Club I’m looking at you….) but the free options were really varied from the cheesy fiction, kids books, bestsellers and cookbooks. There is absolutely something for everyone and you will be absolutely spoilt for choice. Also, when you’re adding books to your basket it will tell you on the information page if you’re able to choose it for free if you add three other books which is super helpful.

Awesome Books have been around since 2003 and they also offer a service where you can sell books back to them for onward sale which feels like a great way to help the environment as well as funding your own future book buying!

Choosing my Books

The team at Awesome Books very kindly sent me a voucher to use on their second hand used books and I was really spoiled for choice. The first two I added were books my brother recommend a few weeks back, The Names and Home Going, these were £4.99 each. They’re both hardback editions and in excellent condition. They’re books my brother really rates with Home Going being potentially his favourite read ever so I look forward to getting stuck into those.

The next books I chose were partly with my eldest in mind. He is in a strange in-between stage of kids books not being the challenge he needs and YA books not really grabbing his attention. He’s always enjoyed non fiction books so I chose some books by Gordon Carrera for him as he listens to the Rest is Classified Podcast a lot and these, I thought, might take his interest. I chose two books by Gordon Carrera at £4.99 (paperback) and £3.89 (hardback) respectively. Again they’re in great condition and I’m looking forward to reading and comparing notes with my son.

Finally, I chose three more books. Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari (£3.89). I already have Homo Deus and whilst I have Sapiens on my Kindle, I know I will find it easier to read in paperback. Next up is Magpie Murders (£3.89) by Anthony Horowitz. This was a bit a whim as I have another that I got for my birthday by the author so thought I’d add to that collection. Finally I chose Agent Sonya (£3.89) by Ben Macintyre. I have read a couple of his before and this might be one I pass to my son as well if he fancies it.

In total, my seven books cost £30.53. I did qualify to choose free books within this but as I was using a gift voucher I couldn’t also use the free book voucher, but none the less £30.53 is an absolute bargain for these seven books. They’re all in pretty good quality and I’d be more than happy receive them as gifts. Last time I went into the big high street booksellers I spent almost £80 and that bought six books for my children and I. I am not grumbling about the price as I will always support authors and pay a high street price for books. That said, I am also realistic and have absolutely no problem purchasing and enjoying quality second hand books from a store such as Awesome Books.

Gifting Ideas

There, thankfully, appears to be a lot of acceptance of gifting and receiving second hand items as gifts, at least certainly amongst my family and friendship group. There’s lots of creative ways you can do this for sure. I thought I’d share a couple of ideas below:

• Bubbles & Book Swap – why not set a budget with friends and get together for a bookswap night. Try and choose a book that a friend might like or maybe choose one for each person attending. Awesome Books lets you search really easily for different types of books or you could always look at the bestsellers and choose some from there. You could even wrap up and leave a clue to the type of book as a sort of lucky dip type thing for guests to choose from.
• Monthly Gift – this is one I did for my mum a little time ago, I purchased a number of books of differing themes and wrapped them up with some miniature chocolates in each one. I then left my mum with instructions to open one each month. This is a great gift that means a new book for the recipient each month and hopefully some good books chosen which they should like and enjoy. Buying second hand books makes this pretty achievable for a good few months too, especially if you’re able to tie into the buy three get one free offer.
• Topic Packs – when my children were a little younger I’d often get books themed to a certain topic to peak their interest in a new unit of study. This obviously can get quite expensive, especially as sometimes you’d need to pitch at a younger age, but then I would revisit the topic again a year or two later and need the next age band in books. I was pretty good at finding books in charity shops to cover upcoming topics but sometimes, I would have to bite the bullet and buy new. Awesome Books has loads of cheap children’s books and it’s so easy to search for them. Plus the sell back service would be a great way to move on those books that they have grown out of and finance the next range of books.

I can’t speak highly enough about Awesome Books – it really is an awesome place to get good and excellent quality used and second hand books covering anything from baby books, to early learning as well as adult interest and popular titles. I can see it’s going to become a regular fixture for us and I have already loaded up my basket with future purchase ideas. Just need to get these read first! I placed my order at 17:35 on Friday evening and the books were dispatched Saturday morning and with my Monday afternoon – phenomenal service. UK delivery is free too and they also offer a 30 day refund. Awesome!