Saturday, August 16, 2014

A Book Farewell

I'm sure that it's happened to all of us. We're told by friends and fellow book bloggers to read a book. They say that it's stellar and that they think you'll enjoy it. So you buy it. Why not add another beautiful book to your collection, right?

Wrong.

I haven't really fallen for the book trap many times, but I have. You buy a book (or an entire series) because people assure you that it'll be the next book you'll fall in love with. Then you read it, and you're upset because you feel like you could have spent that money on something else.

Today, I will tell you the tale of my latest adventure in book selling. I'm sure many of you have thought about it or have even done it. It is sad to let go of something you purchased, but when it's all done, you have a few extra bucks.

Me... I'm not really one to list my own books up for sale on Ebay or the Amazon Marketplace. It's just not for me. I feel like it would be too much of a hassle to make a few dollars. Instead, I usually donate or sell my used books to Half Price Books.

There have been times when I have been offered very, very little, so I take the books back home and wait for another day. But yesterday, I needed to clear some space from my shelves. I took a few failed recommendations and some books that I've had sitting around since some college classes.

Alright... so the books I just had to get rid of that made me upset:

The whole Matched trilogy was a bust. I'm really not sure how anyone liked them because nothing happened. I was even unfriended on Goodreads by the person who recommended them to me! You can see my review of the whole series here. I couldn't have them wasting space in my house any longer.

I'm just glad to be rid of Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn. This was a thrift store find from my grandma, and she let me borrow it after she read and hated it. I tried to read it, and was disgusted, so I put it down. I felt guilty about it, so I finally read and finished it. It read like a really bad Lifetime movie. I finally called my grandma to see if she needed it back, and she said no, so I sold it.

The last of the books that I really just needed to get rid of is Rebel Belle by Rachel Hawkins. I didn't like the narrator at all, so I hated the book. I felt like way too much was being pushed on me and I was more confused by her lack of explanation of things in the book.

 

After unloading all of my books, I only made $11.25, but in the end, it was worth it. I was never going to read the books again, and now I have some money that I can put towards new books that I hope I'll enjoy. 

I've had one really successful offer from Half Price Books, but that was when I sold the whole Mortal Instruments series back to them for more than I paid. Yeah.

What about you? Do any of you take advantage of selling books you disliked? Do you donate them or let them sit on your shelves? Let me know in the comments.





6 comments :

  1. I feel the same about the Matched trilogy. I kind of liked the first book, but the second bored me so much I couldn't finish - and I just never bothered to read the rest of the series. I agree - nothing happens x

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  2. Lauren,
    I only kept reading because I wanted to see improvement during the trilogy. Oh well. At least I can say that I tried, you know? I kind of want to read Condie's new book, but I'm afraid that it will be just as boring.

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  3. Wow, you got unfriended from not liking a series?? My gosh! You were disguted by Gone Girl? Hmm, really need to try that one and see for myself. WHAT, YOU GOT RID OF REBEL BELLE? You should have given them to me!! LOL
    Hm, I rarely donnate my books for I buy them on hardcopy only when I'm pretty sure I'm gonna like the book or read it already and loved it. Otherwise, I give them in giveaways on my blog or to friends when it's the right moment. :P

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  4. Lola,
    I did. This person wanted to know what I thought of them when I was done, do I told her, and she got really upset with my opinion and unfriended me.
    And yeah... I got rid of Rebel Belle. I knew I wasn't going to want to finish the series, so I parted ways with it. I'm just not ready for a giveaway yet. I want to at least have 150 BlogLovin followers.

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  5. My respect for you for finishing the Matched trilogy. I read the first one 3 years ago and also couldn’t understand the appeal at all. A bunch of dull characters making implausible decisions and being completely oblivious to the fact that everything about the society they live in goes wrong. Definitely one of my least favourite books I’ve ever read.

    I don’t part with books often – even though I really ought to make some room on my shelves. Quite a few of the books I own are ones that I’d never reread ever again and ones I don’t care about owning. But, quite honestly, I don’t know what to do with them. When Amazon has a 10€ coupon offer, I send a few to Amazon Trade-In, but without those offers, it’s hardly worth the effort, as most of the books only sell for a few cents ... I’ll probably try selling some on a fleamarket when I need more space on my shelves, but I doubt that I’ll have more luck there.

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  6. Lina - It was tough to finish all three of them. I kept wanting to smack every character. Everything about them was terrible.

    It's tough to get a good price on a used book now because if you don't sell it yourself, the people who buy it from you are mostly looking to make a huge profit on it. I just needed space and cash.

    I tried Amazon trade in for these titles, but they were only offering less than $1 for Rebel Belle. It wasn't even worth it to print the shipping label.

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