Half Price BookStores

Located in Columbus, Oh. Indianapolis,In.,Madison,Ws. and Minneapolis,Mn. The carry remainders and used in all gentres. They also pay cash for books,music and movies. Just don't ask for a specific title they do not have their inventory on computer.

There are lots of Half Price Books stores in Texas as well. I still swing by three or four of the stores twice a year, when I visit family. I love to buy the ultra-cheap old paperback classics--I used to troll the aisles for the 50 cent (half off=27 cents) and 25 cent (half off=13 cents!) copies.

We have them here in Northeast Kansas, too. The one in my town (Lawrence) is not that great and really picked over. A lot of times the books are in terrible condition, too. The one in the next town over (Olathe- a suburb of Kansas City) is quite nice and I always come home with a big stack from there! I love loading up on the magazines before road trips.

#2- Where are you in Texas? I'm moving to Lubbock this summer.

Well, I was in Dallas/Fort Worth. Born and raised. But I moved to Minneapolis in August '06, and to Manhattan in August '08. I'm in grad school now, but when I'm done, I still plan on never returning to Texas. Hope you like Lubbock (hope Texas suits you better than it ever suited my husband and me ;).

I have a friend who's living in Lawrence, doing his PhD at KU. He loves it there--I think he's a native Kansan (we met in Minneapolis).

We have zillions of them (okay, a good number), here in Houston. They vary a lot by location, but all three or four I may hit are worth the visit. The one at Westheimer and Kirkwood is best for old paperbacks; Rice Village for the better remainders, best trade paper and HC selections - in quality of subject as much as of copy. Now closest to me is in Sugar Land... not as much turnover or cheap elderly obscurity, but still great deal and interesting books to be had.

Medellia, much as I'd like to move away, I will say Houston-Sugar Land does not feel, to me, as emphatically Texan as it might. (And believe me, it's a far cry from Tennessee, which at least is lovely visually, or other places I've been through.) Very, very diverse, with only threads of clearly Southern/Texan identity. (Not that it changes my desire to live somewhere else. I always have wanted to be off, out in the world.)

Best wishes on your moves to both of you!

Thanks, Eurydice. You're definitely right--Texas is a big place, and there are many diverse elements. DFW is not Houston is not Austin, etc. My husband and I were just not Southerners at heart, and... well, you know that saying about Austin: it's a great place, except it's surrounded by Texas.

Hope you end up wherever you want to be!

How true! Austin is the only part of Texas that makes being in Texas worth the trouble. Sadly, I live in a county just north of where Austin is, and it is an oppressive place. They had decent schools though, and that was the main reason for not living a bit further south.

Oh yeah, the topic was HPB. There are 5 of them in the Austin area, and we get to claim them as dependents on out income taxes this year. I've noticed they tend to specialize -- the best selection for rare books and for books about books seems to be the one on Lamar near Koenig. It's HUGE. The one that I seem to find serendipity most often is the on on Parmer near Burnett.

And yet, I still try to get to the independent bookstores more often than HPB.

There are 3 in Missouri pretty close to where my Aunt lives in Lee's Summit, and I always go when I'm up visiting them. Sadly there are none in Oklahoma which kills me a little. It's more the selection than anything else. Although if you're in Oklahoma and like SF there is the Book Rack which is pretty good in that and old comics.
I mostly love half price books for the used manga section since so few places where I live have that, and manga is so expensive new, especially for long series.