HAUL: Bag Book Sale

I've become a regular at the bag book sales at my local libraries. (For more info on the sales, check my first bag book sale post from September.) I don't even bother to go to the first two days of the book sales, when the books are sold individually, and only go on Sundays, when the books are sold by the bagful.

The sale today was $3/bag, which is still a great deal, but "pricey" enough that we don't get as many people driving in from places like North Carolina (yes, really!) to buy whatever books they can grab to re-sell on Amazon.com. While there were a fair number of people at the sale, the pushing & shoving was at a minimum, and there weren't many "take every book on the shelf" types, which enabled all the customers to take more time and care in our selections. I managed to cram a total of 48 books into my two bags, plus I picked up another 2 at half-off their sticker prices. (All the branches usually have at least some used books that aren't included in the bag sale; at this branch, the ones that can't be included in the bags are half-off their sticker prices on the bag day.)

The Goods

I was so excited about my haul that I forgot to take my customary stacked books photo, which is a real shame since it took me quite some time to stack all 48 books! Luckily, I snapped a pic with my webcam for Twitter; I apologize for the low resolution.

48 books

2 half-price books

All in all, I came home with 50 books for $8.50, which works out to an average of $0.17/book. Not the cheapest per book average I've gotten so far, but a pretty darn good deal nonetheless!

Continue reading for all the details on titles and how much I saved on each book.

The Details

Because I was able to take a little more time browsing the books today, I was able to get a really good selection. I hit every genre table in the sale, so my books range from children's picture books to a foreign language workbook to mysteries.

My bags contained:

• The Brief Penguin Handbook, 2nd edition, by Lester Faigley
  MSRP: $68.60 | PP: $0.13 | Savings: 99.81% | Amazon.com or BN.com
• Speed Cleaning by Jeff Campbell
  MSRP: $6.99 | PP: $0.13 | Savings: 98% | Amazon.com or BN.com
• Murder in Mesopotamia by Agatha Christie
  (#14 in the Hercule Poirot series)
  MSRP: $4.50 | PP: $0.13 | Savings: 97% | Amazon.com or BN.com
• Alvin's Swap Shop by Clifford B. Hicks
  Used from $1.00 | PP: $0.13 | Savings: 87% | Amazon.com
• The Tao of Pooh by Benjamin Hoff
  (#1 in the Taoism and Winnie the Pooh series)
  MSRP: $13.00 | PP: $0.13 | Savings: 99% | Amazon.com or BN.com
• Club Dread by Walter Sorrells
  (#2 in the Hunted young adult series)
  MSRP: $10.99 | PP: $0.13 | Savings: 99% | Amazon.com or BN.com
• Double Murder by Barbara Taylor McCafferty & Beverly Taylor Herald
  (#1 in the Double Trouble mystery series)
  MSRP: $18.95 | PP: $0.13 | Savings: 99% | Amazon.com or BN.com
• Fiesta (a.k.a. The Sun Also Rises) by Ernest Hemingway
  (German edition)
  Used from $5.00 | PP: $0.13 | Savings: 97% | Amazon.com or BN.com
• Manhunting by Jennifer Crusie
  MSRP: $16.95 | PP: $0.13 | Savings: 99% | Amazon.com or BN.com
• 3 Men and a Body by Stephanie Bond
  (#3 in the Body Movers mystery series)
  MSRP: $13.95 | PP: $0.13 | Savings: 99% | Amazon.com or BN.com
• 21st-Century Etiquette by Charlotte Ford
  MSRP: $14.00 | PP: $0.13 | Savings: 99% | Amazon.com or BN.com
• Mind the Gaffe by R.L. Trask
  MSRP: $13.95 | PP: $0.13 | Savings: 99% | Amazon.com or BN.com
• Weekend in Paris by Robyn Sisman
  MSRP: $13.00 | PP: $0.13 | Savings: 99% | Amazon.com or BN.com
• The Columbia Guide to Online Style by Janice R. Walker
  MSRP: $24.00 | PP: $0.13 | Savings: 99% | Amazon.com or BN.com
• Build a Better Life by Stealing Office Supplies by Scott Adams
  (#2 in the Dilbert series)
  MSRP: $7.95 | PP: $0.13 | Savings: 98% | Amazon.com or BN.com
• Frommer's Walt Disney World and Orlando 2009 by Laura Miller
  MSRP: $17.99 | PP: $0.13 | Savings: 99% | Amazon.com or BN.com
• Shopaholic Ties the Knot by Sophie Kinsella
  (#3 in the Shopaholic series)
  MSRP: $10.95 | PP: $0.13 | Savings: 99% | Amazon.com or BN.com
• Confessions of a Shopaholic by Sophie Kinsella
  (#1 in the Shopaholic series)
  MSRP: $11.95 | PP: $0.13 | Savings: 99% | Amazon.com or BN.com
• Shopaholic & Sister by Sophie Kinsella
  (#4 in the Shopaholic series)
  MSRP: $12.00 | PP: $0.13 | Savings: 99% | Amazon.com or BN.com
• Shopaholic Takes Manhattan by Sophie Kinsella
  (#2 in the Shopaholic series)
  MSRP: $11.95 | PP: $0.13 | Savings: 99% | Amazon.com or BN.com
• The Gator Girls by Stephanie Calmenson & Joanna Cole
  (#1 in the Gator Girls children's series)
  MSRP: $15.00 | PP: $0.13 | Savings: 99% | Amazon.com or BN.com
• The British Museum: A-Z Companion to the Collections by Marjorie Caygill
  MSRP: £12.99 (~$20.94) | PP: $0.13 | Savings: 99% | Amazon.com
• The Lamp from the Warlock's Tomb by John Bellairs
  (#3 in the Anthony Monday young adult series)
  MSRP: $12.89 | PP: $0.13 | Savings: 99% | Amazon.com or BN.com
• The Superior Person's Book of Words by Peter Bowler
  MSRP: $15.95 | PP: $0.13 | Savings: 99% | Amazon.com or BN.com
• Visions of Sugar Plums by Janet Evanovich
  (#1 in the Stephanie Plum Between-the-Numbers mystery series)
  MSRP: $19.95 | PP: $0.13 | Savings: 99% | Amazon.com or BN.com
• Shopaholic & Baby by Sophie Kinsella
  (#5 in the Shopaholic series)
  MSRP: $24.00 | PP: $0.13 | Savings: 99% | Amazon.com or BN.com
• Shopaholic & Baby by Sophie Kinsella
  (#5 in the Shopaholic series)
  MSRP: $24.00 | PP: $0.13 | Savings: 99% | Amazon.com or BN.com
• The Undomestic Goddess by Sophie Kinsella
  MSRP: $23.00 | PP: $0.13 | Savings: 99% | Amazon.com or BN.com
• Done Gone Wrong by Cathy Pickens
  (#2 in the Avery Andrews mystery series)
  MSRP: $23.95 | PP: $0.13 | Savings: 99% | Amazon.com or BN.com
• Cross Your Heart & Hope to Die by Nancy Martin
  (#4 in the Blackbird Sisters mystery series)
  MSRP: $19.95 | PP: $0.13 | Savings: 99% | Amazon.com or BN.com
• Antiques To Die For by Jane K. Cleland
  (#3 in the Josie Prescott Antiques mystery series)
  MSRP: $23.95 | PP: $0.13 | Savings: 99% | Amazon.com or BN.com
• Break No Bones by Kathy Reichs
  (#9 in the Temperance Brennan mystery series)
  MSRP: $25.95 | PP: $0.13 | Savings: 99% | Amazon.com or BN.com
• Wedding Season by Katie Fforde
  MSRP: £10.99 (~$17.71) | PP: $0.13 | Savings: 99% | Amazon.com or BN.com
• Make It Yourself Wraps by Parragon Books
  MSRP: $9.99 | PP: $0.13 | Savings: 99% | Amazon.com or BookCloseOuts.com
• Casual Day Has Gone Too Far by Scott Adams
  (#9 in the Dilbert series)
  MSRP: $9.95 | PP: $0.13 | Savings: 99% | Amazon.com or BN.com
• Spin City by Nicole Clarke
  (#4 in the FLIRT young adult series)
  MSRP: $6.99 | PP: $0.13 | Savings: 98% | Amazon.com or BN.com
• Vital Statistics by Paul Grobman
  MSRP: $16.00 | PP: $0.13 | Savings: 99% | Amazon.com or BN.com
• The Happy Prince and Other Tales by Oscar Wilde
  MSRP: $16.95 | PP: $0.13 | Savings: 99% | Amazon.com or BN.com
• Privilege by Ross Gregory Douthat
  MSRP: $24.95 | PP: $0.13 | Savings: 99% | Amazon.com or BN.com
• Soapsuds by Finola Hughes & Digby Diehl
  MSRP: $23.95 | PP: $0.13 | Savings: 99% | Amazon.com or BN.com
• Learn German the Fast and Fun Way by Paul G. Graves
  MSRP: $18.95 | PP: $0.13 | Savings: 99% | Amazon.com or BN.com
• The Golden Vanity by John Langstaff
  MSRP: $4.50 | PP: $0.13 | Savings: 97% | Amazon.com
• Extreme Golf by Duncan Lennard
  MSRP: $29.95 | PP: $0.13 | Savings: 99% | Amazon.com or BN.com
• Seven Years of Highly Defective People by Scott Adams
  (#10 in the Dilbert series)
  MSRP: $12.95 | PP: $0.13 | Savings: 99% | Amazon.com or BN.com
• Journey to Cubeville by Scott Adams
  (#12 in the Dilbert series)
  MSRP: $12.95 | PP: $0.13 | Savings:99% | Amazon.com or BN.com
• Inside the Vatican by Bart McDowell
  MSRP: $19.95 | PP: $0.13 | Savings: 99% | Amazon.com or BN.com
• Icicles: The Icicle Creek Chandelier by Dale Chihuly
  (autographed)
  MSRP: $20.00 | PP: $0.13 | Savings: 99% | Amazon.com or BN.com
• Good King Wenceslas by Christopher Manson
  MSRP: $17.00 | PP: $0.13 | Savings: 99% | Amazon.com or BN.com
• Wicked Witch Murder by Leslie Meier
  (#17 in the Lucy Stone mystery series)
  MSRP: $24.00 | PP: $1.00 | Savings: 96% | Amazon.com or BN.com
• Hot Dog: A Global History by Bruce Kraig
  (part of the Edible series)
  MSRP: $15.95 | PP: $1.50 | Savings: 91% | Amazon.com or BN.com

The Tweets

I tweeted while I was at the sale, as well as while I was sorting through my haul. Make sure you follow me on Twitter @FrugalAndrea!

Kid @ bag book sale: "I'm gonna grab as many as I can, 'cause by the time I grow up they'll be gone! They're being replaced by ereaders."

— Andréa Fernandes (@FrugalAndrea) April 22, 2012

With my spoils from today's bag book sale @ Chinn Park Library. 48 books for $6 = 13¢ per book! twitter.com/FrugalAndrea/s…

— Andréa Fernandes (@FrugalAndrea) April 22, 2012

From bag book sale: 1954 German paperback ed. of Ernest Hemingway's "Fiesta" (aka "The Sun Also Rises").Paid $0.13 twitter.com/FrugalAndrea/s…

— Andréa Fernandes (@FrugalAndrea) April 22, 2012

From bag book sale: First 5 (of 6) Shopaholic books (plus a duplicate), great condition, for $0.75 total. twitter.com/FrugalAndrea/s…

— Andréa Fernandes (@FrugalAndrea) April 22, 2012

From bag book sale: Dale Chihuly's "Icicles: The Icicle Creek Chandelier," autographed in silver puff paint, for $0.13. twitter.com/FrugalAndrea/s…

— Andréa Fernandes (@FrugalAndrea) April 22, 2012