Book Sale!

Last night Bear and I went to the annual Penguin Book Sale. Like I said this weekend, I have been every year for ages. I've stocked my classroom library, personal library, and get awesome Christmas gifts every year with these amazing closeouts. 

For those of you living near upstate NY, here is the schedule for the warehouse sale:

I started going when I was in high school... knowing back then that I wanted to teach, I purchased hundreds of books and class sets for my future classroom. Now I have bins of elementary school books and sets in my  garage (I teach middle school now) and an amazing middle school library here in my classroom.

Back in the day, I used to wait in the long line to get in on Saturday... I no longer do that. It is cold and always super busy on Saturday, since that is the opening day. Now, that isn't to say that it is calm and collected on the other days- BUT it is noticeably less packed on the weeknights. For instance, it was busy last night but I didn't need to wait in a line outside to get in and I waited only 10 minutes in line to purchase my items, and it was only that long because the woman in front of me was paying by check. Also, I know a lot of people think going on the first Saturday gets them the "better" books- NOT true. The books are stocked constantly and on a rotating basis. Plus, there are hundreds of each book. So, no matter what day you go, you will get great books at amazing prices and you can expect to run into crowds regardless.

People checking out the book selection, and our haul as we wait in line.

This year, I elected not to purchase books for my classroom- for the first time in years. Instead, Bear and I brought $50 and two reusable grocery totes and purchased books for us and for our nieces and nephews. We got 34 books and spent $46 in an hour- I walked in at 5:06 and left by 6:10. We got plenty of sticker books for the young ones and Marvel Superhero books for the boys. We also always purchase Madeline some books- this year we scored a beautiful hardcover Disney Princess book, 'Madeline in London' (because she is obsessing over London right now & loves looking at my parents photo album from their trip there), a few Ladybug Girl books (she loves her!), and some great Disney & Pixar movie tie-in books. I also purchased a bunch of books for myself. I scored some sweet Lego Harry Potter books (yep- total geek) and a few good YA books I have been holding out for. In all, I think I purchased 9 for myself... looks like I've got a lot of reading and reviewing to do this month!

Our book haul - on the left, books for me (except the Star Wars Lego) and on the right, the Christmas collection for the kiddos


You'll notice in my pile that I got the critically acclaimed Fault in Our Stars by John Green ($2), Twisted by Laurie Halse Anderson ($1), and The Future of Us by Jay Asher & Carolyn Mackler ($1). All three of those books have been on my TBR list and I was holding out the hope that they'd be at the sale. So happy I scored them! The rest of my collection are books that sounded interesting to me, some are YA dystopian and some are mysteries. In all, I am super happy with my book sale haul. I can't wait to dive into my new books!

write to be understood, speak to be heard, read to grow