A few months ago I made an ah-mazing discovery. I found a Barnes and Nobles with a HUGE used book section.

During my first book haul, I was able to snag the following titles for incredible prices:

Element Encyclopedia Secret Signs and Symbols by Adele Nozedar

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis

The Woods by R.L. Toalson

Graceling by Kristin Cashore

The Tales of Beedle the Bard by J.K. Rowling

Quidditch Through the Ages by J.K. Rowling and Kennilworthy Whisp

On Wednesday night, I took a trip back to my favorite Barnes and Nobles, and let me tell you I was super excited with my finds!

The used Children’s section has such an array of choices. I tend to feel overwhelmed digging through shelves of picture books, so I focus more on the chapter books. There is a good mixture of older and newer titles in a variety of genres. There’s literally something for every reader.

The first book I grabbed was On My Honor by Marion Dane Bauer. I read this book in fifth grade, and re-read it once about ten years ago. This book always stuck with me because it has such a unique plot about friendship. It’s an older book, from 1986, but it’s a quick read with a memorable story. Without giving too much away, two young boys decide to play in the dangerous river.

The next book that I added to my pile was The People of Sparks by Jeanne DuPrau. I’m a big The City of Ember fan, and the second book in the series was calling my name. I read it once about six years ago after I used the first book as a read-aloud with my sixth graders. For some reason I didn’t finish the series, but since this sequel popped up out of nowhere I’m taking it as a sign to read all of the books.

I was definitely having some throwback moments to my childhood reading choices, because along with On My Honor I found Three Black Swans by Caroline B. Cooney, the woman behind The Face on the Milk Carton Series. In middle school, I read the series, along with some of her other works, so I just had to add this one to my book collection.

I did see some other titles that caught my attention, including an Anne Frank book and another about British royalty, so if those are still on the shelves next time I will probably scoop them up.

Next, I hit the used Young Adult section. I will say this is a very small section compared to the others and it’s super random. There can be a whole series on the shelf, but the first book is missing. I tend to stay away from those because I NEED to read a series in order.

This time I got lucky. If you’ve been a reading my blog over the last five years, you know YA is my fave and that Mortal Instrument is one of my favorite series. I don’t know how I didn’t realize this, but there are more Shadow Hunter novels.

I noticed Clare and Chu on the binding of a hardcover, and in looking at the inside flap noticed Alec’s and Magnus’ names and got excited. The Red Scrolls of Magic and The Lost Book of White (books 1 and 2) were just sitting there waiting for me to take them home :). Now I’m debating if I should re-read/re-listen to the series again before I dive into these two additions.

I can say that this was a very exciting book haul :).

I may have also had a total book nerd moment in the Harry Potter section.

Little Reading Coach is a certified Teacher of English (K-12) and Reading Specialist (P-12) offering online reading, writing and home-based learning support tutoring services for students in grades 6-12. For more information head to my website.