What is a book picker? A book picker is someone who goes to thrift stores, Salvation Army stores, Goodwill stores, garage sales, and rare or used book stores in search for CHEAP books. I am such a person, I am a book picker. Over the course of the past few months, I have really come to enjoy the book hunt with a few of my friends.

There are two purposes to book picking. The first is to collect rare and used (sometimes never read) books to add to your private collection. This is the primary purpose for why I have become such a book picking enthusiast.

For instance I collected a complete set of the original numbering of the Chronicles of Narnia (the original numbering started with the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe) for just a few bucks. Another prized set that I collected was a six book set of Winnie the Pooh by A.A. Milne for $2.75.  The second purpose for being a book picker is to purchase rare and expensive books for a cheap price and then to flip them online for a profit. I’ve only done this on a few occasions and have made enough for all the other books I buy in my book picking endeavors. Overall it is not the chance for profit, but the mystery of what I may find during my visits that keep me going. Today for instance I went to three Goodwill stores and a Salvation Army thrift store near my father-in-laws house in Canton, OH (by-the-way, Ohio Goodwills are a ripoff! They individually price their books to get more profit. In Lexington, KY they only charge .50 a book). Anyways today my favorite buy was a near mint condition 1905 Methodist Hymnal.