A Thrifting We Will Go (Five Fall Favorites)

Happy Tuesday, Folks and welcome back to Day Two of the Five Fall Favorites book event! Today is all about our favorite secondhand books.

For me, used book sales are like treasure hunts. Who knows what fun, new titles you might find? Or, maybe you’re like me and want to find a copy of your favorite book for a good price.

This year, a couple of our libraries had big used books sales (well, one did. The other one was rather small.) We only meant to get one bag of books from the first used sale. The plan was to find Newberry Award books, etc. that we wanted on our shelves (I was also looking for good picture books; if you have recs, please do send them my way in the comments!)

Long story short, we ended up leaving the sale with three whole bags for a great price *lol*. In our defense, most of them were for a family member who was looking for more books to read. (and on top of it all, we also visited a used bookstore on our vacation. Yeah, our summer was extra busy with reading XD.)

So, was I able to pick just five favorites from our book haul this year? It was kinda hard, but there were some that just really stood out to me. Let’s see what we found!

I don’t know why they made a strange looking cover for Hatchet, but it was the one we found at the sale *shrugs* Don’t worry, he doesn’t get injured by the thing. It’s the moose that does him in. But I digress.

Hatchet (Gary Paulsen)

If you’re a fan of survival stories, then you’ll most likely enjoy this one. I really enjoyed the writing style. Paulsen does a great job of weaving in themes of survival and fighting to live, while also making the situation real and compelling. Also, I found Brian a great character to sympathize with, and was wholly rooting for him to make it (I was not a fan of the moose, though. Those things are scary!)

CW: While not excessively gory, Paulsen doesn’t sugar coat it either. Lots of injuries, pilot dies (there’s description of what happened to the body later on). And there’s a scene or two where Brian wants to give up and end his life, and nearly does (again, not overly detailed, but it could be triggering for some readers.) Also, Brian’s parents are divorced.

Truman’s Aunt Farm (Jama Kim Rattigan)

I almost did Little Bear’s Friend, because I grew up watching the tv series adaptation (and reading the little book brought back so many good memories.) But instead, I decided to go for one last picture book. Truman’s Aunt Farm is just a fun, play-on words story (we used to have a copy until we misplaced it during one of our moves. Thankfully, we found another copy at the sale). The ‘ant’ farm mix-up was hilarious, and I really enjoyed the sweet ending. Definitely recommend as a family read-aloud!

Walk Across the Sea (Susan Fletcher).

What? A book set in California that doesn’t revolve around the Gold rush?! The copy I found was actually a Scholastic version, so there was no synopsis on the back. Yep, I went by author name only (because I liked Fletcher’s other book, Shadow Spinner), and I had no idea of the premise. It was’t until I started reading it, did I learn what it was about. And it was really good. I liked how Fletcher portrayed Eliza’s struggle with grief and loss; the setting of the lighthouse was intriguing (the only way to reach it was by boat at high tide, or crossing the rocks to the mainland when the waters were low.)

It was kinda like The Witch of Blackbird Pond, but in 1880’s California. Most of Eliza’s community (including her dad) is wary and prejudiced of the Chinese migrants who live in the area, and she does face a hard choice in helping her new friend escape or letting him get captured by some of the townsfolk. Also, I’d like to add that the goat, Parthenia, is quite a character! I really enjoyed reading about the goat’s ridiculous escapes to the mainland to eat the neighbors’ flowers XD.

CW: This one is a bit of a Spoiler:

(Eliza does hide Wah Chung from her dad who’s very much against the Chinese community. Things do get resolved, though the ending is bittersweet).

End of Spoiler

Bella At Midnight (Diane Stanley)

I saved the best two for last! First, let me take a moment to fan-girl about Bella at Midnight. Based off of one of my favorite fairy tales, this was such a beautiful story! I’m not usually a fan of multiple viewpoints in a book, but when it’s done well, I get absorbed in the story and overlook it. It reminds me of the medieval fantasy books I grew up reading. At first, when I was reading the story, I didn’t quite know where it was going; but if you stick with it, all of these plot threads start weaving together.

There’s a light touch of magic, and the Cinderella elements were skillfully woven into the story in unique ways (I really liked the twist on the ‘fairy godmother’ aspect.) And all the characters! Where to begin? Should I start with how dear and kind Julian is, despite his failings? Or Bella’s kindness? Or how Will is such a good older brother to her? And I can’t forget dear Alice and how the poor girl was grieving the loss of her dad. I even sympathized with the antagonists of the story. No, I’ll take too long if I talk about them all *lol*. The author did a really good job of making the characters complex, and showing things from their perspective, plus the writing was amazing! I thought Diane Stanley stayed really true to the themes of Cinderella, and I think this has become one of my favorite fairy tale retellings of all time!

Tales of the Kingdom (David and Karen Mains)

Have you ever read a story as a kid, but didn’t fully appreciate its themes until you were older? This was one of those books for me. I found this book at the used bookstore we went to this summer. My mom already had the first two books, but I wanted my own copy. I had pretty much forgotten all the stories, except for the one about the dragon. For some reason, that one has stuck with me the longest (and really, the themes of it were deep and held quite a lasting impression.)

Anyway, this is one of those excellent Christian allegory books. I’d even say it’d go up there with Pilgrim’s Progress. There’s twelve different stories within, but a lot of them tie into each other. It’d make a great read-aloud for the whole family, and there’s great book discussion points, especially if you’re doing a children’s book club. I think the themes were my most favorite part. The authors are skillful story tellers and present such truths to kids in a thought-provoking way, so I’d definitely recommend this!

CW: There is an ‘Enchanter’ who has ‘fire priests’, but the magic element is not delved into very much (again, it’s an allegory, and there is a clear good vs. evil element.) There’s also a mention of battles, and dragon slaying, but nothing gory or overly detailed.

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I think this might be one of my favorite categories for this week, but we’ll see! If you want to discover even more thrifted book finds, hop on over to Kate Willis’s blog, where she links back to all other bloggers who are sharing their book recs. (Please note, I haven’t read a lot of the other books people are featuring, so it’s not an endorsement or anything. I encourage you to check out the books yourself and see if it’s a good fit for you!)

Let’s chat! What are some of your picture book recs? Have you ever read a story set in a lighthouse? What’s your favorite allegorical story? Do you prefer to go to new bookstores, used bookstores, or libraries to find books to read?