Bargain Holiday Book Shopping

For a grand total of $5.50!

Hello, reading friends!

I am really excited to share with you some books that I found in my recent used library shopping. I was thrilled to discover some gems I never thought I’d find among used books—but I did! So, with that, I’m going to show you what I picked up.

Mary Balogh - A Christmas Promise

I was so excited to find this because I’ve been working on collecting all of Mary Balogh’s books, especially her holiday romances. I have quite the collection, and maybe I should do a post one day to share what I have from her holiday anthologies! A Christmas Promise was published in 1992, so we’ll call it a classic at this point. Mary Balogh writes the sweetest love stories, and I think this one will be the perfect quick little read. I’d love to sit down and enjoy it in an afternoon.

Tessa Bailey - Window Shopping

I nearly jumped up and down for joy when I found this one! Window Shopping just came out a couple of months ago, so I was beyond excited to spot it at the library sale. I had an ARC of this and absolutely loved it, so whenever I can find physical copies of books I’ve read as ARCs, I’m happy to add them to my shelves.

This book is such a cute holiday romance, and I think Tessa Bailey did a fantastic job with the morally gray female main character, which I really enjoyed. It’s got Hallmark-ish vibes with a twist: New York department store Christmas magic paired with a morally grayish heroine. I was even talking to the ladies at checkout about how excited I was to find this book. One of them—probably in her 80s—said, “Oh, that looks so good!” while the other read the cover aloud and said, “Entertainment Weekly calls her the Michelangelo of dirty talk.” I had to laugh and say, “Well, don’t read this unless you’re okay with spicy romance!” They just gave me a cheeky look.

This one is available in Kindle Unlimited

Anne-Marie Ryan - Christmas by the Book

This cover was just too beautiful to leave behind. It also had such a cute premise—think Christmas miracles and happy endings. I’ll leave the blurb for you to read, but it was absolutely coming home with me.

Stephanie Barron - Jane and the Twelve Days of Christmas

This is part of a Jane Austen mystery series that I really need to start reading! I think this is the second book in the series that I’ve picked up, but I haven’t started reading them yet. Maybe finding this is my sign to dive into a Jane Austen-inspired, Regency-era Christmas mystery.

Mary Kay Andrews - Bright Lights, Big Christmas

I couldn’t believe I found this one—a gorgeous hardcover copy for just $2! This was the most expensive book out of all of them, but considering it’s a brand-new $24 hardcover, it felt like such a steal. I’ve been seeing this book all over BookTok and have never read Mary Kay Andrews before, so I’m taking this as a sign to give her a try.

This one is only for sale but you can grab Holiday Hideaway: A Short Story in KU

Lauren Willig - The Mischief of the Mistletoe: A Pink Carnation Christmas

This was another book in amazing condition. I don’t know much about it yet, but I believe it’s part of a series. My mom has picked up other books from the same series for me at different library sales - which I need to get around to reading one of these days. This one mentions Arabella Dempsey’s dear friend Jane Austen, so there seems to be an Austen connection, which will be fun. The cover is so stunning, like it should be a painting.

A Christmas Treasury of Yuletide Stories and Poems

This is a fun little collection of holiday-themed stories and poems. It seems perfect for pulling off the shelf during the holidays, reading a few selections of poems or short stories, and instantly feeling those festive vibes.

I’m thrilled with everything I found! This wasn’t all of the books I picked up, but these were the holiday-themed ones. Should I share the rest? Maybe I’ll do a post with each genre to keep it more manageable.

Let me know—are you a big used library book shopper? Have you found anything you loved lately? I’d love to hear about it because discovering a great book deal always makes me so happy.

As I said, I grabbed all of these for only 5.50! I will always encourage you to help support libraries. You show some love to pre-loved books and they get to help fund more activities for patrons to enjoy. ❤️📖

Three articles to check out this week…

1. This isn’t about Sally Rooney. Exactly by

   Just Reading All Day
   (it’s always fascinating to think shifts in reading)

2. An autumnal month in the country by

   Aimée Francis
   (be warned - this post will make you hungry)

3. Why are writers doing this? by

   Kern Carter
   (this post is very thought-provoking and I would love to chat about it more)

Happy holiday reading!

Melissa

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