Charity Shop Book Haul

Hi readers,

Recently I had a bit of spare time to go for a book shopping spree and ended up picking up a few good books from a few different charity shops, as well as a few from The Works in Manchester. I personally love shopping for books in charity shops or second hand and independent bookshops, because you can almost always find something interesting in the shelves, save a bit of money or just have a fun time searching through the shelves. If you're like me though, the best reason to shop for second hand books is to re-use, re-love and give to better causes. Around 320-million books a year get thrown in landfill rather than donated or recycled, which is a huge issue for the planet. In this blog post I aim to show you a few examples of what great, second-hand books you can find in charity shops near you and hopefully divert some old books from landing in the bin!

The first shop I went into was a Barnardo's in my hometown, which is a charity here in the UK providing support for vulnerable or disadvantaged children, parents or carers. I ended up picking up five books and spent £2.60 in total,(an offer of 60p per book or 2 for £1,) which I think is a great price for the condition of the books. I find that a lot of the time, Barnardo's shops are my favourite charity shops to go in to buy second-hand books. Obviously every shop is different, but they are usually stocking a large collection of good condition books, where the money goes towards a great cause.

The second charity shop I went into was The RSPCA, which is the 'Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals'. The RSPCA was founded in 1824 and was the first to introduce a law to protect animals. RSPCA operates across Europe, Africa and Asia and has 150 branches and 4 wildlife centres in the UK alone. In this Charity shop I bought three books for 25p each, which I was super excited by, as I did end up finding a Wishlist book in amazing condition! I do find that in this certain branch of RSPCA, the books are a bit hit or miss with what you can find, but there is a wide range of books in that particular shop to look through and I have found many vintage classics in there previously.

A few days later I went to The Works and a few charity shops around Manchester, (I admit, I am a sucker for a book buying binge!) and visited a few YMCA's, British Heart Foundations and Salvation Army's, but had no luck in the book department until I stumbled upon The Wooden Canal Boat Society shop. Up until this point, I had never seen or heard of this particular shop, but upon entering I saw a huge collection of books in the back. I only ended up buying one book for £1 from this particular shop, because I had also bought a few things before this point and gotten a few books from The Works, but the selection was good overall.

Overall, I spent £3.85 and got 8 books, which I think is great! I have attached pictures of the books I bought below, in the order of mention , but will give a brief summary and a rating of the condition:

The Surface Breaks

The Evening and The Morning

Maresi

Maresi Back

The Fault In Our Stars

The Thursday Murder Club

The Devils Feather

Murder atthe Manchester Museum

After The End

1. The first book I picked up from Banardo's is 'The Surface Breaks', which is a feminist retelling of the little mermaid, written by Louise O'Neill. The book has minimal damage, apart from a slight, barely visible crease on the front page, and has no cracking of the spine meaning I will give this book a rating of 4/5.

2. The second book is 'The Evening And The Morning'. A book set in the Middle Ages about a Norman princess, a young boat builder and a monk, whos lives join to fight against a villainous bishop, written by Ken Follett. This book was quite damaged, showing a few creases on the front and back, a bit of discolouration on the pages and severe spine breakage, but it was a book I usually wouldn't pick up so I chose to take the chance. I give this book a 2/5 on damage for obvious reasons, but I am still excited to read.

3. The next book is 'Maresi', which is the first book in The Red Abbey Chronicles, written by Maria Turtschaninoff. This book is a YA fantasy filled with darkness, feminism and a hint of The Handmaids Tale. I give this book a 4/5, because there is only a tiny amount of damage on the back page and a slight spine crack.

4. The fourth book I bought was 'The Fault In Our Stars' by John Green, a book I have wanted to read for the longest time, but always forget to look for. I was so excited to have found this book in the most perfect condition, hidden in the crammed shelves, right near the bottom. I have to give a perfect score of 5/5, just because it is so pristine.

5. The first book I bought from the RSPCA was ' The Thursday Murder Club' by Richard Osman. This book is quite popular at the moment and is a light-hearted, cosy mystery/crime fiction about a true crime club set in a retirement home. I actually already owned this book in paperback, but being the hardback girlie I am, had to pick this hardback edition up for 25p! Again I am going to rate this book a 5/5.

6. The next book is 'The Devil's Feather' written by minette Walters is a thriller about murder, psychopaths and wrongful imprisonments. The reason I picked up this book was because, when flicking through, I saw that the writing was written in first person but also through emails and reports, which I found interesting. This book is rated 5/5 again, for obvious reasons.

7. The last book from this shop was 'Murder at the Manchester Museum' by Jim Eldridge, which is number four of the five current museum mysteries he has written. The book has minimal damage, but quite a lot of cracks in the spine and tiny creases in the front, so I have rated this a 4/5.

8. The last book from the WCBS is 'After the End' written by Clare Mackintosh, a book I wouldn't usually pick up just because it isn't my usual genre, but decided to pick it up for a change. This book features a multi point of view from the two main characters Max and Pip, but also a few other characters throughout the book, showing the decisions that are made about their critically ill son. I give this book a rating of 5/5, as there is hardly any damage to the sleeve or inside.