Collective Second Hand Book Haul

Hey pals,

Leading up to Christmas, I was finding quite a few decent books in charity shops and at the doctors/hospital book donation shelves and I thought I would share what I found and if they’re gifts for people or not (I’m not spoiling anything because these where all Christmas presents so they’ve all had them!!) I would read all of these books so I’m telling everyone to give it back when they’re done so I can read it too!

Gift to my mum. The title was an inside joke but also had a funny sounding plot. Paid 20-30p donation.

Another gift, couldn’t decide who to. I talked about this book in another post.

I picked this up at one of the hospital book donation shelves. I plan on reading The Great Gatsby this year and have heard a lot about the Beautiful and Damned, and I can’t stop myself with a two for one deal! Think I paid 20-30p donation. 

I’ve read some Zadie Smith before and just thought I’d pick it up and see if I enjoyed it. I’ve not read a whole novel of hers, just bits and pieces. Part of a 3 for £1 deal.

We all love Killing Eve in my house, this book looks pretty small so I expect it to be a fast read and I think I’ll give it to my mum when I’m done coz she really liked the show too. Part of a three for £1 deal in a charity shop.

The potion Diaries just seemed like an easy to read YA fantasy involving magic. A bit more on the hetero/girly side for me, but I decided to give it a chance. £2 in a charity shop.

We are big Jennifer Saunders and Dawn French fans, so the first is for my mum and second for my gran and then I’ll be stealing them back. I am always deeply fascinated by the lives of famous people and how they got to where they are. This was in our book self at the doctor’s surgery and I’m pretty sure I used pocket change to pay for these so can’t remember exactly how much. 

Just as a side note: for the few books I’ve picked up at donation shelves and paid relatively low for, my family often donate books to these shelves, we often have brought bags of books as we like to help support our NHS staff and services. The books we pick up will likely be returned once we have read them, plus more. I encourage others to do this rather than donate to charity shops as they can be picked up for any amount of donation which makes reading more accessible. Plus, I am sure patients stuck in there for long periods can use these, hospital stays can be really dull and a choice in books to read can help patients feel more positive.

I’ll let you know what I (and my family members) think of these books when we get round to reading them!

~ Artie