books! books! books!

 
photo credit: brewbooks via Flickr

ABE Books is one of my favorite places to find used, rare, out-of-print books that I really, really need. Like Arthur Ransome's Swallows and Amazons. Or the wonderful Seamus Heaney.

One of the things that sets ABE apart from other websites like Alibris or Barnes&Noble is that rare book professionals use it as a way to keep tabs on current market prices. This means that the used books are well described and (fairly) well cataloged with their condition clearly presented and, if you're willing to pay, you can find unique items...like a signed copy of a childhood favorite for someone special, perhaps? (A first edition of CS Lewis' Wardrobe just sold for over $8,000).

They also offer guides to collecting books, so you won't get tricked and all of their books come from independent booksellers, so you get the satisfaction of supporting them as well...all of this clearly makes ABE the site for sensible readers of used books.

If I had some extra money right now, I'd snatch up Volume 1 of O.B. Miller's My Bookhouse.

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