This past weekend was 2nd & Charles’s Penny-A-Page sale. If you’re not familiar with this, or with 2nd & Charles, allow me to enlighten you! 2nd & Charles is a book store (I believe run by Books-A-Million as the parent company) that carries both new and used books, vinyl, boardgames, t-shirts, and other fun bookish paraphernalia. You can bring your used books/vinyl for buyback to get cash or store credit. And it’s a beautiful, clean, bright, fun place to shop for books.

Usually once or twice a year they hold a “Penny-A-Page” sale, which is almost exactly what it sounds like: you pay a penny per page in any used book in store, as long as it’s cost is $50 or less currently. For example, if a book is listed for sale for $13.99, but it has 386 pages, you end up paying $3.86. It’s a great way to get some books for great prices! You also are limited to 5 books in a transaction, but some locations allow you to leave and get back in line with another 5 books as much as you would like. I ended up going to the two locations kind of close to me, and got these 8 books in my haul:

I had done this event last year, and was not prepared at all the first time. The stores get very crowded, the aisles jammed with bibliophiles galore. And the checkout line can back up too, taking 30 to 45 minutes if you’re at peek times.

This time, I prepared. I had put some specific books on my “Want to Read” list on goodreads, and started going one by one to see if I could find the copies. Of these 8 above, 4 were on my “Want to Read” and 4 were more impulse buys.

I had added The Murmur of Bees and Such Sharp Teeth given a book club I participate in. Others had read these books and loved them, and I thought they would be interesting, so I’m glad I got them. I also grabby The Light Pirate because a coworker recommended it given everything going on in the world with AI and nature. And James was the last I had on my list because I keep hearing about it.

The other 4 were impulse buys. I’ve read books by Jennifer Hartmann before, and find her characters and stories to be heartbreakingly beautiful, so I wanted to add this one to my collection. Coral was truly a cover/impulse buy. It’s a YA retelling of The Little Mermaid, but seems like it might be a bit grittier than the Disney version, so that should be fun for summer. What the Fireflies Knew sounds like a good coming of age story, and I like reading more diverse authors and stories. Good Spirits was because a) I’ve never read B.K. Borison (crime, I know), b) I love a good holiday romance book, and c) it has sprayed edges. Finally Unscripted was in a bin at the front, and I thought the cover was cute. It might actually be a bit darker than I initially thought, but still, looks good.

I ended up spending a total of $32.38 on all of these books – an average of $4.04 per book (including tax). According to my receipt I saved $51.32, based on the prices listed on these used copies. However, I looked up the MSRP on Amazon to see what buying these new would have been, and it said about $102.50. That’s an awesome deal for books that, while used, are still in really excellent condition.

If you have a 2nd & Charles near you, I highly recommend checking this sale out in the future!