Half-Price books

My housemate works at Half-Price Books, a used bookstore we both love. Half-Price has the philosophy of "We buy everything" -- so they pay very little -- and "We move it all." I once sold them 24 bags of books but got only $12, a pittance that rankled until I realized, "Yeah, but they bought it ALL. Most bookstores only buy the plums, and you're still left with a ton of books." If you want to get rid of your books, take them to Half-Price.



There is a healthy ecosystem inside the store of how books move from the shelves to the sale, to other branches, to the clearance, to bags of 12-for-a-dollar, to Goodwill or the dumpster. Their goal is to have fresh books on the shelf, next time you can come in.

The vibe is laid-back. You can browse for four hours and never speak to a soul. Our television at home gets turned on maybe once every two months -- NBA games for him, tapes my mom makes me of Inside the Actors Studio for me. Now that he's got a book job, it's even less.

"One of my sections is Science Fiction," he said last night. "I had two feet of David Brin three days ago, now it's all gone. Terry Pratchett we can't keep on the shelves. Certain authors we never clearance, because they just sell and sell and sell."

I loved the thought of great writers being like strong tides, pouring over the shelves. The authors don't know this, and aren't getting paid for it. But still -- if Connie Willis is flying off Half-Price shelves, she is probably vanishing from Amazon, Borders, and Barnes & Nobles as well.