I didn’t do much thrifting in September. On top of that, I only got books. For a new thrifting adventure, I checked out the new Orem UT Goodwill, the first ever in Utah county, as far as I know, as well as my old standby Provo DI (Deseret Industries), and a new bookstore called 2nd and Charles. It’s on University Parkway in Orem UT. It is a huge store that buys used books and then resells them. You can get new books there as well, and various games, toys and book-related stuff.

I went there to find bargain-priced picture books for my seasonal/holiday picture book collections, which I use to decorate the five ledges above my doors and windows in my front room/ dining room/homeschool room. Here are some photos of that, above and below, for Christmas and Independence Day. I also decorate for hygge winter/Valentine’s Day, Easter, back to school, and fall/Thanksgiving. It is such a joy for me to dress up these window ledges with beautiful books and garlands! This activity combines three passions of mine: books, especially picture books, thrifting, and homeschooling, since it’s because homeschooling that I have all these books.

So that’s what I was looking for when I went thrifting that day. At 2nd and Charles, I was impressed by the HUGE size of the store and the HUGE selection of books. I was less impressed by the big prices. I can understand the high prices for the new books, like $20 for a big, thick brand new hardcover book with lots of glossy color photos, which I noticed, but most of the small used books were over $3. $3 is usually the most I want to spend on a used book. I’m used to the general prices of $1 for paperback, $2 for hardcover prices at DI. Sometimes you find oversized books for $3 or more at DI and thin paperbacks for less than $1. Savers is slightly higher.

For example, I found these Thanksgiving books at 2nd and Charles. I was interested in all of them. Then I looked at the price tags on the back:

Thank You, Sarah: $6

One Terrific Thanksgiving: $4.25

Three Young Pilgrims: $2.40

Thanksgiving a Harvest Celebration: $4.90

These prices are cheaper than amazon, it’s true, but when I’m used to spending $2 or less for such small thin books, they were too high for me so I left them all there. I guess I’m spoiled by regular thrift store prices.

I might go back and get Three Young Pilgrims by Cheryl Harness for my married daughter and her children, as I already have a copy. It’s such a lovely book. Every Thanksgiving time, I read it aloud to whomever I can as one of my personal traditions.

I like that the store has all the holiday books already sorted. I show photos below of these sections in order of Easter, Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. The Christmas section is three or four units of shelving. So it’s a trade-off: higher prices for organized books that are easier to look through to find what you want. I suspect the prices are higher because the used books are sold to them and not donated like at a regular thrift store. It’s more fun for me to go on the hunt and have to sift a bit through books to find the gems at the regular thrift stores.

In addition to the huge amount of books, involving an array of genres, the store has a wide selection of toys and board games. I will probably be going back occasionally. I don’t love the orange color scheme, it makes me feel like I’m in a fast food place being enticed to eat more with all the stimulating orange. It is too garish for me.

Fortunately, not every thing in the store is orange. I liked these neutral-colored shelves above, with the occasional orange sign.

Overall, if you are a bibliophile, it is definitely a fun place to go, if at least to window shop. You just may have to hunt for a while to find the bargains. If you don’t have a budget then you will love it even more for the huge array of books, games, and toys mostly at the same prices as amazon, but with the convenience of being able to get the item right away and not wait for shipping.

Here, below, is what I found that day at 2nd and Charles, to add to my seasonal/holiday picture book collections.

The Jesus Easter Story Little Golden Book was $1.95.

The Peter Rabbit Easter Egg Hunt was .95. Less than $1 for Beatrix Potter! Normally I don’t go for Easter stories that are devoid of any mention of Jesus, especially ones with licensed characters, but I just had to get this one with the classic illustrations from Beatrix. It has bonus features of lift-the-flaps and pop-ups, all intact! If I had young children, I’d be saving this for a family Easter basket.

What is Thanksgiving? was $1.25.

As you can see, I did find some books at 2nd and Charles that were less than $2 each, but it definitely took some searching! It was funny to see a DI sticker on the front of the Peter Rabbit book, ending in “00” with the first digit missing before the decimal point to show how many dollars it was. If you look in the upper left corner you can see it. It looks like someone bought it from DI then sold it to 2nd and Charles. Here are some of the pages inside. It is interactive with flaps and tabs. All are intact, with one just slightly bent.

Look how lovely it is! Above is the opening page spread. This is akin to when I found a Tasha Tudor pop-up Christmas book last May at the Springville DI. I wonder if Beatrix Potter and Tasha Tudor have become friends up in heaven? They have such similar lovely illustration styles.

Then here are the flaps on the opening spread, opened up.

The book starts out with the basic Peter Rabbit story but ties it into an Easter egg hunt.

The finale page spread, shown above, is so gorgeous! I feel so blessed to find such beauty for only 95 cents! My goal is to have enough Easter picture books to display on my window ledges during the Easer season (one of the five ledges is shown below) so I don’t have to use my Easter chapter books for adults or Easter books borrowed from the public library. Instead of putting the Easter chapter books on my window ledges I will put them in a stack with the spines facing on top of my low bookshelf in the front room.

So on that same day that I went to 2nd and Charles, I went to the new Goodwill in Orem UT. By coincidence, this day was also my firstborn’s birthday. I also hadn’t been thrifting in a while, in order to work on a project. I went on this thrifting trip to celebrate finishing the project. I guess subconsciously I was also celebrating 33 years of motherhood by going thrifting.

Below is what I found at the Orem Goodwill. At Goodwill, children’s books are generally $1 each and adult books are $2 each.

The Little Women book was $1, since it was a children’s book. The other books were $2 each. I have read two other PIGs (Politically Incorrect Guide books) and absolutely enjoyed them. They are eye-opening and taught me a lot. I’d love to read the whole series. If I could rewind the clock on my homeschooling years I would read the whole series with my teens before they launched into the world. I picked up the PIG evolution book at DI a few months ago and am slowly reading through that.

The Hidden Holy Days talks about the Hebrew feasts in 1 Nephi. Sounds fascinating!

The Little Women book is an abridgement of the classic with photos from the 1994 movie. I absolutely adore that version. It’s the best one out there. (Go here to see my comparison of the 1994 vs. 2019 versions.) I will be putting this book up with my Thanksgiving book decorations, since it has a pilgrim’s theme. You don’t see it much in the 2019 version of the movie, but it’s definitely in the book and a little bit in the 1994 movie. I read the 4 hour work week years ago, the original version. Now that I’m almost retired with homeschooling (my “baby” is the last one in the nest and 17) I want to reinvent my life with the 4 hour work week, using the updated book.

Then I went to the Provo DI and found these fun books below.

You can see the prices on the books.

The lighthouse book is for my future end of summer picture book decor theme of beaches/oceans/lighthouses, starting summer 2027, for August. Maybe that will motivate me to get the Independence Day decor down sooner (I had it up until mid-September this year LOL.) I have always enjoyed Gail Gibbons nonfiction picture books, and this is one of them!

Steve Young’s Love book is for my winter/Valentine book decorations. I also plan on it reading it too.

Same with Winter is the Warmest Season. I have checked that book out multiple times from the library. It’s so nice to finally find an inexpensive copy. It just exudes hygge vibes!

100 Signs of the Times is about the last days. My mother-in-law’s fascination with the last days has rubbed off on me. I thought maybe I’d include it in our Morning Basket time, this last year of my homeschooling. (This is so bittersweet for me.) Maybe we’ll read 2-3 pages a day.

Then I went back to the Provo DI a week or so later, the last week of September, and found these items below.

Here’s the breakdown:

-Some blank notebooks for homeschooling, $1 each.

-A picture book about Christopher Columbus.

–Balloons Over Broadway for $1. Another one of those repeatedly checked-out library books that I am so glad to finally find my own copy for such a cheap price. It is about the guy who invented the balloons for the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade. His story is so delightful!

-A board game about pioneers, called Wagon Packin’. I want to play it next summer on Pioneer Day with my grandchildren.

-A Little House picture book, Dance at Grandpa’s. This is the fourth Little House picture book I have bought thrifting.

-A Nathan Hale Hazardous Tales book, Alamo All Stars. After getting hooked on them, my younger children eagerly waited for each new one to come out, and then we’d borrow them from the public library. Eventually I have bought about half of the series. They are so amazing for enticing reluctant readers, especially boys. Go here to learn more about them.

Finally, a picture book about the Brontes. I’ve always been fascinated by this family of authors, and I love picture book biographies, so this was a fun surprise.

That’s it for September’s thrifting treasures!

Want more thrifting fun? Go here.