Secondhand Bookshops

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An under appreciated gem in the reading community is secondhand bookstores. These stores are usually kept by the owners so there is a personal feel to them and you can walk out with an entire stack of books for less than R300. Most also allow you to return books and purchase others at a lower price. (This doesn’t apply to the hoarders like me though. I want to keep all my books.) The affordability and generally good service is a good selling point, but you’re guaranteed that at my favourite bookstore chain (Bargain Books) anyway.


Like most readers, I love the scent of books a lot. I suspect that this scent, like wine, only gets better with age. When reading a new book, I find myself literally sticking my nose into the book to enjoy that scent but, secondhand books just jump at you. I’m currently reading Vanishing Acts by Jodi Picoult that I bought at a bookstore in the small town of Sabie (Mpumalanga) and the scent is so strong I don’t want to make Forty Winks tea because I’m worried it might mask the smell a bit. The browner the pages, the woodier the smell and I just want to send shoutout to secondhand bookstores (and the people who replenish them).



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