# Authors whose books are always available at thrift stores, used book sales, etc. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 28, 2011, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/authors-whose-books-are-always-available-at-thrift-stores-used-book-sales-etc/597880 "2011-09-28T14:17:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2011, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/authors-whose-books-are-always-available-at-thrift-stores-used-book-sales-etc/597880/21 "2011-09-28T20:17:16Z")
They’re not _lowbrow_ mystery, but there must be enough of them out there to fill the Grand Canyon: Agatha Christie. She was so effin’ prolific that I’m constantly finding new titles even if I think I’ve read all the Poirots or Miss Marples. My local used bookstore is swimming in her paperbacks. ---
**Author:** ![Greg\_Charles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/839c29/32.png) [@Greg\_Charles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Greg_Charles)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2011, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/authors-whose-books-are-always-available-at-thrift-stores-used-book-sales-etc/597880/22 "2011-09-28T20:38:01Z")
> [@Zsofia](#): > > In related news, what the hell is up with that Herb Alpert record with the naked lady on it? Is it a federal law that all used record stores must have a copy? [“Whipped Cream and Other Delights”](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whipped_Cream_And_Other_Delights)? My parents had that album! I suppose it’s worth the $2 the store probably charge just to take it home and stare at the cover for a while. Eventually, the buyers come to realize they don’t have a working turntable anymore and so, sheepishly, sell it back. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Lovely\_Margo\_Lane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/34f0e0/32.png) [@The\_Lovely\_Margo\_Lane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Lovely_Margo_Lane)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2011, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/authors-whose-books-are-always-available-at-thrift-stores-used-book-sales-etc/597880/23 "2011-09-28T20:58:49Z")
> [@Fretful\_Porpentine](#): > > Thrift stores around here always seem to have multiple copies of Lee Iacocca’s autobiography [http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2002-04-25/features/0204240411\_1\_book-thing-russell-wattenberg-love-books/2](http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2002-04-25/features/0204240411_1_book-thing-russell-wattenberg-love-books/2) Check out the “top 10 most donated” list… ---
**Author:** ![JSexton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/96bed5/32.png) [@JSexton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JSexton)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2011, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/authors-whose-books-are-always-available-at-thrift-stores-used-book-sales-etc/597880/24 "2011-09-28T22:15:59Z")
> [@The\_Lovely\_Margo\_Lane](#): > > [http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2002-04-25/features/0204240411\_1\_book-thing-russell-wattenberg-love-books/2](http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2002-04-25/features/0204240411_1_book-thing-russell-wattenberg-love-books/2) > > Check out the “top 10 most donated” list… Apparently it takes two spots on the top ten list? ---
**Author:** ![Disheavel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@Disheavel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Disheavel)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2011, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/authors-whose-books-are-always-available-at-thrift-stores-used-book-sales-etc/597880/25 "2011-09-28T23:02:19Z")
I was just at the Seattle Library Booksale last weekend and I counted 12 copies of Jurassic Park. Of course, last spring I had noticed a fair number so I decided to search them out and count this time. But this is confirmation bias in that I was looking specifically for it and that its cover is white with black dinosaur bones so you can pick it out from 50 feet away easily. ---
**Author:** ![mister\_mistro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a9adbd/32.png) [@mister\_mistro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mister_mistro)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2011, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/authors-whose-books-are-always-available-at-thrift-stores-used-book-sales-etc/597880/26 "2011-09-28T23:23:55Z")
Dean Koontz and Orson Scott Card. every time i go to the good will i always find a copy of “Enders Game” ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2011, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/authors-whose-books-are-always-available-at-thrift-stores-used-book-sales-etc/597880/27 "2011-09-29T00:09:42Z")
> [@Disheavel](#): > > I was just at the Seattle Library Booksale last weekend and I counted 12 copies of Jurassic Park. Of course, last spring I had noticed a fair number so I decided to search them out and count this time. But this is confirmation bias in that I was looking specifically for it and that its cover is white with black dinosaur bones so you can pick it out from 50 feet away easily. No confirmation bias. I help out with my library’s book sale and there is ALWAYS a copy of Jurassic Park in the book sale room. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2011, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/authors-whose-books-are-always-available-at-thrift-stores-used-book-sales-etc/597880/28 "2011-09-29T00:50:33Z")
Robert Ludlum, he of the thrillers with metronomic plot twists and dialogue that, no matter what the character, all sounds like it was spoken by the same person. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. +1 for Reader’s Digest Condensed Books. My parents’ house was littered with them when I was a kid. I’d only read them, however, when I was eating Campbell’s condensed soup, for consistency. ---
**Author:** ![Scissorjack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c67d28/32.png) [@Scissorjack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scissorjack)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2011, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/authors-whose-books-are-always-available-at-thrift-stores-used-book-sales-etc/597880/29 "2011-09-29T01:08:28Z")
Anything by Roddy Doyle, probably _Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha_. Ditto for Frank McCourt and\* Angela’s Ashes\*: presumably charity shops have a quota for whimsical Irish misery. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2011, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/authors-whose-books-are-always-available-at-thrift-stores-used-book-sales-etc/597880/30 "2011-09-29T02:01:53Z")
Possibly books written for political causes that are bought in bulk by groups supporting the writer to inflate the book sale figures; IIRC Ann Coulter is one such example. Unless they just burn all the unread books or dump them in a landfill they’re going to turn up somewhere. ---
**Author:** ![joebuck20](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/74df32/32.png) [@joebuck20](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joebuck20)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2011, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/authors-whose-books-are-always-available-at-thrift-stores-used-book-sales-etc/597880/31 "2011-09-29T02:19:09Z")
I think every thrift store in America is required by law to have a couple of books by Larry King on its shelves. And I don’t think I’ve ever been to a library sale that didn’t have at least a few copies of William Manchester’s Winston Churchill biography. ---
**Author:** ![joebuck20](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/74df32/32.png) [@joebuck20](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joebuck20)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2011, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/authors-whose-books-are-always-available-at-thrift-stores-used-book-sales-etc/597880/32 "2011-09-29T02:38:19Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > Possibly books written for political causes that are bought in bulk by groups supporting the writer to inflate the book sale figures; IIRC Ann Coulter is one such example. Unless they just burn all the unread books or dump them in a landfill they’re going to turn up somewhere. Twenty years from now you won’t be able to go to a yard sale or thrift shop without seeing at least a few books by Ann Coulter, Glenn Beck, Bill O’Reilly, etc.I’m guessing that Sarah Palin’s memoir is also on its way to becoming a Goodwill classic. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_A.Robrin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sam_a.robrin/32/14497_2.png) [@Sam\_A.Robrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_A.Robrin)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2011, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/authors-whose-books-are-always-available-at-thrift-stores-used-book-sales-etc/597880/33 "2011-09-29T03:15:10Z")
I first noticed this in 1973 or -4, when I could literally not go to a thrift store, used-book store, or garage sale without running across at least one copy of Moss Hart’s _Act One_. Why that book, I don’t know–it’s not as if Hart is _that_ famous. The movie made from it is considered a classic of corn. It’s entertaining enough, with some marvelous insights into the creative process, but not the kind of thing I’d think would be so ubiquitous. ---
**Author:** ![Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hilarity_n.suze/32/6223_2.png) [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilarity_N.Suze)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2011, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/authors-whose-books-are-always-available-at-thrift-stores-used-book-sales-etc/597880/34 "2011-09-29T03:55:30Z")
I always forget about Reader’s Digest Condensed Books until garage sales and thrift stores. Does Reader’s Digest still make these things? They sure last forever, at any rate. ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Nader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Darth\_Nader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Nader)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2011, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/authors-whose-books-are-always-available-at-thrift-stores-used-book-sales-etc/597880/35 "2011-09-29T05:51:46Z")
Roots, King Rat, and Word Perfect for Dummies. ---
**Author:** ![dwyr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dwyr/32/363_2.png) [@dwyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dwyr)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2011, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/authors-whose-books-are-always-available-at-thrift-stores-used-book-sales-etc/597880/36 "2011-09-29T06:06:56Z")
> [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](#): > > I always forget about Reader’s Digest Condensed Books until garage sales and thrift stores. Does Reader’s Digest still make these things? They sure last forever, at any rate. It appears they’re called Select Editions now but they’re still being put out. My aunt had a bunch of the Condensed volumes from the 60s-70s. I was introduced to some very pleasurable reads through those books. The condensed version always made me want to look up the original. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2011, 6:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/authors-whose-books-are-always-available-at-thrift-stores-used-book-sales-etc/597880/37 "2011-09-29T06:24:39Z")
Every used science fiction book sale i’ve ever been to has always had at least book by Jack Vance. And it’s never the same book. ---
**Author:** ![El\_DeLuxo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_deluxo/32/9043_2.png) [@El\_DeLuxo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_DeLuxo)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2011, 9:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/authors-whose-books-are-always-available-at-thrift-stores-used-book-sales-etc/597880/38 "2011-09-29T09:05:41Z")
Every thrift shop in San Francisco has at last two copies of a book called _ **Wild Animus** _; I’ve never heard of said volume before, or its author, or ever seen a copy anywherr but at a thrift store. Nor has anyone to whom I’ve mentioned it – and yes, after I’d seen about two hundred new-looking copies on the dollar shelves all over town, I actually did start asking around. ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2011, 11:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/authors-whose-books-are-always-available-at-thrift-stores-used-book-sales-etc/597880/39 "2011-09-29T11:53:42Z")
I was comng in here to mention **Wild Animus**. It is ubiquitous in Connecticut thrift shops as well. I am afraid to try to learn more about the book; for all I know it is an updated translation of the Necronomicon. On occasion my OCD wil kick in and I will gather all the shop’s copies of **The DaVinci Code** or **The Kite Runner** or whatever I happen to notice multiple copies of onto one shelf. This bothers the Wife since I do not work at any of these shops and she feels my time would be better spent looking for new shirts. ---
**Author:** ![Sally\_Mander](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e56c9b/32.png) [@Sally\_Mander](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sally_Mander)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2011, 11:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/authors-whose-books-are-always-available-at-thrift-stores-used-book-sales-etc/597880/40 "2011-09-29T11:56:14Z")
I was at Goodwill just the other day, and there was an abundance of Danielle Steele books, and an impressive collection of the Left Behind books. I always see autobiographies and true crime stories that were hot a few years previously. I expect in three or four years’ time, there will be tons of Casey Anthony books in the thrift stores. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/authors-whose-books-are-always-available-at-thrift-stores-used-book-sales-etc/597880.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/authors-whose-books-are-always-available-at-thrift-stores-used-book-sales-etc/597880.md?page=3)