Bibliophile’s Heaven

I spent my day yesterday in a state of pure bibliophilic bliss with a shit-eating grin (one that matched the big smiley face thing that I included in about every single text message I sent during the day) on my face and I can’t help but share about my day.

One of my friends from work, who is also an avid reader, had mentioned this bookstore a friend of hers had told her about. A quick Google search brought up the store for us to see and we soon set a date to check out the used bookstore that boasts of having over 350,000 books for sale. The store has three different locations in Niantic, though they are all pretty close to each other. But when I say they have three locations, well one of them has several different buildings, a three floor barn turned bookshop stocked on all floors included. Pretty fantastic.

I’ve always loved used bookstores. For me, theres something in a used book that you don’t get when you buy new… history. Needless to say I was pretty psyched, as was my friend, to check out this bookstore. (We were originally supposed to go Monday, but we had a little snow and the roads were not quite clean enough yet to justify making a drive down to the coast.)

When we got to this store, the first thing I noticed is that there were books everywhere, and I mean EVERYWHERE. It was amazing. They have books on every topic I could possibly think of. I wish I had thought to take pictures, but I was far more concerned with browsing.

My real excitement came when I noticed a pattern though, all mass market paperbacks were one dollar. A dollar, like per book. I was ecstatic because with my budget, well I could have bought about 100 books. I didn’t buy 100 books, but I came pretty close. Another bit of excitement, those 25 dollar hardcover books… well they were five dollars at most. Umm, can you say great prices?

I spent hours weaving my way through all of the locations and the buildings at the main location, and came away with some great finds. They have a huge selection of mystery/thriller and romance novels which both my friend and I love and I came away with a bit of both.

A few of the thriller/fiction books I found that looked good.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I also bought a bunch of romance novels, especially from series I started this year and authors that I have come to love this year during my breakout into romance reading.

In addition to the above, I’m also quite excited about my new editions to my Zebra Horror collection. I love these books, but you can’t get them new, so anytime I go into a used bookstore I hit up the horror section looking for Zebra Horror books I don’t have.

I made a point during my exploration of the store yesterday to check out the science fiction/fantasy section. As I begin my exploration of the sci-fi and fantasy genres, well my measly collection of eleven books is not going to get me very far. I pretty much looked for names I knew and a few in particular that had been suggested while browsing this particular section. I ended up going a bit crazy in the sci-fi/fantasy department, but at least I own a bit more than eleven science fiction and fantasy books now.

Yep, just a few more… there are other books that I bought that aren’t pictured here, but you get the idea right? I went a bit crazy. I have to admit to one great find though, which actually makes itself somewhat relevant with a recent movie release. While I was browsing the shelves a book title caught my eye, but when Han Solo is in the title who’s all that suprised that Hannah stopped to look right? But it’s what I found next to that Han Solo book that I was excited about.

Yes, that’s right. I found an original copy of the Tron novelization by Brian Daley. I was so giddy about it, I just HAD to buy it.

Basically, I had a fantastic trip to the used bookstore. I bought A LOT of books, but honestly, whats a girl to do when books cost one dollar? Resist? Surely not. I’ve already decided that a regular pilgrimage to the coast will be in order. I just have to figure out how often I can make it down there… For all of my fellow bibliophiles who love used bookstores… if you ever find yourself in or near CT, I suggest taking a trip to this store. It’s called The Book Barn and it’s in Niantic, CT. Seriously, you won’t be sorry you stopped there.