Why I love secondhand books 📚 Book haul & favourite classics

[@ladyfox6705]

As a big softie & fellow empath, I really connected with what you said about 15-year old Barbara & Rebecca ❤ Seeing you choking up got me a lump in my throat, and were very sweet words you said, Claire 😊 I love Rebecca, too, and it is so nice to read the personal inscriptions inside a book.

[@Claire_Fenby]

Crying over people I've never met is one of my favourite pastimes! 😆

[@badfaith4u]

Glad you found secondhand books in charity shops. Secondhand books are the best.

[@MJ-in-Canada]

Your charity shops are so much cleaner and tidier than what we call “thrift shops” here in Canada. Your shops are so cheerful in comparison while ours are a bit dismal. I find good quality books at low prices at yard sales/garage sales. 📚

[@dominiquebilodeau2225]

Yes! I’m quite jealous. Compared to our Value Village they look high class 😅 Wouldn’t it be great to have these in Canada 🇨🇦 ? And let’s not talk about the prices 😢. 📚 📚 📚

[@MJ-in-Canada]

@@dominiquebilodeau2225 Yes! I wish the British charity shops were in Canada with prices to match. Value Village is such a rip-off.

[@Claire_Fenby]

I'm excited to go thrift shopping when I go to Canada next year!

[@sarahel19]

I love Howards End, and would love a video about EM Forster. The film is very good (and I also like the ITV mini-series) but the novel is perfect, especially the characters and their relationships. I'd like to live with the Schlegels, talking about art and literature all day would suit me so well. I have several editions of Jane Austen novels, although I don't usually collect editions of a same book.

[@glendaslanina9939]

I love your method of not buying online, but instead the thrill of finding a special book in a charity shop. I, too, believe in the serendipity of coming across a favorite book. I have waited years to find a much wanted book. I do not collect multiple copies of the same book, but I do collect vintage middle grade dog books. That collection started with a book gifted to me when I was very young. Odd timing that you are mentioning Rebecca, one of my favorites too. I have been looking for my copy for days. It must be in my house because I do not lend out my books. You have inspired me to keep searching. Thank you for this video. 📖

[@Claire_Fenby]

Have you found Rebecca? I'm now invested 🤣

[@fernandamurari8577]

A kindred spirit! Thanks for sharing a tiny bit of your collection!

[@pppppp0124]

Your background setting is so pleasing to the eye✨✨ I just love your colour coding of everything! I would also love to visit the UK one day and spent the entire holiday exploring York💕 Thank you for the video as always. -Yuki from Japan

[@Claire_Fenby]

Thank you so much! I'm sure you'd love York ✨

[@theknightssayme]

I wish in Portugal we had more second hand bookshops and charity shops as in the UK! My favorite finds are also the ones that have dedications and writing on it, I feel so privileged to have them 📚

[@Claire_Fenby]

The dedications are so special, aren't they?

[@GemmaCreegan-tp4dk]

Love browsing op shops (charity shops) in Melbourne, found a nice set of Anne of Green Gables in one for a dollar each. Love all your classics❤I have a lovely hardback P&P 1995 TV series tie in edition😊love Howards End & Room with a View too📚

[@MysteriousBibliophile]

I loved this video! One of the things I particularly enjoyed was your thoughts and reasons as to why each of the finds was precious to you. You've made me want to read Howard's End and The Thorn Birds :) I would definitely be interested to watch your video about your different editions. Yes! I love The Sound of Music! And going around to second-hand bookstores and op shops. I have found a few vintage books with personalised notes. A Jane Eyre edition (one of my all time favourites) I found was gifted to a 16yr old in the first half of the 1900's (can't remember the exact date). Those notes tell a story all on their own :)

[@leafsonata]

Oh my goodness! What exciting finds. I have multiple editions of The Bad Seed by William March

[@CathyFrontier]

Would LOVE to see a video of books you have multiple editions of! I collect editions of The Hobbit which is my favorite novel. ❤

[@Claire_Fenby]

I still need to read The Hobbit!

[@WhatVictoriaRead]

What a lovely haul! I have multiple editions of The Handmaid’s Tale and it’s one I’ll always collect ☺️💛📚

[@Claire_Fenby]

I still haven't read it 😅😅

[@kaylapagan1802]

Thank you for showing your different editions. I collect different editions of Jane Eyre, I have quite a few. I’d love to see more editions of books you have, especially the Jane Eyre edition that was under the Virginia Wolf picture 😊

[@Claire_Fenby]

I also have lots of editions of Jane Eyre but I've only read it once so I'm definitely due a re-read

[@EP-hm5ue]

Here in Los Angeles, I wish they had more independent bookstores and more thrift stores that focus on books. You’re lucky to have so many thrift and bookstores nearby.

[@thebookemporium3577]

The Sound of Music will always be near and dear to me also. When I was a teenager, a friend and I learned all the songs by heart so we could sing along. Jane Eyre (my favorite book) is one that I’m collecting and pick up every time I see it in a charity shop.

[@subtlefire7256]

My best bookish secondhand find is definitely my first edition paperback of The Silmarillion, which I stumbled across in one of those little free libraries - in Germany. I love ot so much.

[@ReadingIDEAS.-uz9xk]

York is a beautiful city. Love how they put a plaque on everything! So many books and so little time. The ever growing tbr! Best wishes with what you choose to read. I hope you get some great stories. Best wishes from Lancashire.

[@Claire_Fenby]

LOVE a plaque!

[@summerg.2934]

I have multiple's of Jane Austen's novels, especially Persuasion which is my fave of hers. I also have a collection of old dictionaries, for some reason I'm fascinated with old dictionaries. I have quite a few medical ones too. 📚

[@Claire_Fenby]

Ooo which is your favourite dictionary edition?

[@summerg.2934]

@Claire_Fenby Hmmm, prolly my 1951 Webster's, it's massive, the graphics are pristine and my son who's autistic loves the letter tabs it's a very unique sensory hit for him lol. I also have a pocket Oxford from the 80s that I love too...hard to choose. It's a very strange collection I've been told lol.

[@oc2538]

7:13 I just bought this.... mind you its from World of Books. I live in Greece and there are used book shops but there is no method to the madness. Just books stacked and good luck finding something and most are left over beach reads.

[@oc2538]

I have two movie tie in books one is Wings of the Dove because the cover is beautiful and A Room with a View. I just love Helena Bonham Carter.

[@Claire_Fenby]

Helena Bonham Carter has been in so many brilliant book to movie adaptations!

[@jamgart]

I need to make a day of charity shop book shopping in York. I was there last week (just from Harrogate) for the Monet exhibition and managed to just get into two book shops near the minster before going to the gallery. I just so wanted to spend more time looking at books! 😂 I’m going to make a day of it soon!

[@ingaurban404]

I would love to see a video about the books you have multiple editions of. I have multiple editions of Jane Austen's books (about six editions of almost each book) 😊

[@JacquelineCaron]

Love that edition of 'The Thorn Birds' 😍 Have you seen the fictional story of 'Maria' by Michelle Moran that came out this summer? another beautiful Sound of Music picture. I too love finding used books that were inscribed. Your description of 'The French Lieutenant's Woman' has intrigued me to pick up. Would love to see more of your curated books!! thanks for another fun video!! your bookshelves look beautiful!

[@Claire_Fenby]

Thank you for the recommendation!

[@gracetaylor7351]

I have watched Howard end movie just the tv series .thank you Claire ❤

[@joysedgwick812]

NT secondhand bookshops are the best 📕 📖 📕! Now to watch your video about Morden Hall, one I have never visited ❤

[@sezhouse7897]

📖thank you love all the books featured.

[@caitlancole9136]

Lovely video as always! After reading and not liking “A Passage to India,” I’ve been hesitant to read more EM Forster, but this has inspired me to give him another try! 📚📚

[@Claire_Fenby]

A Passage to India is one of the books by Forster that I haven't read yet so I definitely recommend A Room with a View or Howards End!

[@sarahogborn8024]

I collect editions of Peter Pan! It’s a particularly enjoyable book to collect as there are so many editions with wonderful illustrations ☺️

[@Claire_Fenby]

I still haven't read Peter Pan!

[@thebooknitter]

One of my favorite books the great Gatsby. I want to get that edition❤

[@benhamidaa6574]

this is my favourite great gatsby cover

[@GuiltyFeat]

That's the edition of The Great Gatsby that we were given in school when I started my A-levels back in the mid-80s. I still have it, of course.

[@lizdorrington2851]

I love shopping in thrift stores for books and I've found some real treasures.I love scouring little free libraries also & I recently found a book from my childhood that I had been looking for but couldn't quite remember the name of it. This book had a significant impact on me and after 43 years I finally have a copy. ❤

[@Claire_Fenby]

Little Free Libraries aren't really a thing in the UK but I wish they were!

[@fionaj5819]

I love multiple copies of the same book. I collected copies of Dracula by Bram Stoker and Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll. Rebecca is one of my favourites as well! 📚

[@WaterBearReads]

Claire I love your blouse! I share a love of The Thorn Birds - both the TV series and the book! I have not read it recently though. I need to go read it again. Same with The Great Gatsby - although I only just read it this year! Oh I want to read The French Lieutenant's Woman! I love Meryl Streep as well, I was so happy when I realized that her daughter plays a major role in The Gilded Age. Lovely video!!! I thoroughly enjoyed it! 📘

[@Claire_Fenby]

Thank you for watching 💓 I need to catch up with The Gilded Age - I loved the first season!

[@WaterBearReads]

@@Claire_Fenby I think it is even better than the first!

[@monica_has116lentilsand2cats]

I‘ve both multiple copies of favorite books/authors, as well as a collection of old paperbacks (the German „rororo“ series). Though I can no longer read the old „rororo“ paperbacks because of their teeny tiny print and yellowed pages I‘ve kept them and am always on the lookout for old editions because of their fabulous covers. In fact my husband just built me a little shelf for the first 150 (hoping to collect the first 500) from an old IKEA wardrobe door. Like you I don‘t look for these old paperbacks online, only at flea markets. Where we live now we don‘t have charity shops (Weird. I know.) And I never spend much on them. I also own multiple beautiful (modern) editions of Jane Austen‘s novels and other classics. And I will never pass up an edition of my favorite children‘s book „Auntie Robbo“ by A Scott Moncrieff or anything by Eric Malpass or Edith Wharton. Oh, I could go on and on (and oftentimes do 🤭) about my favorite books… And it‘s a „YES, PLEASE!“ on your various collections as an upcoming video. 😁 Lots of love from tiny town Austria, Monica 📚

[@janeandclementine]

Your comments on Barbara’s edition of Rebecca made me tear up. Completely beautiful. I purchase multiple editions of Sylvia Plath’s ARIEL, 7 copies so far, and would love to see your collection of multiples.

[@Claire_Fenby]

I love Ariel! One of my favourite collections too 🖊️

[@thisisjeff9845]

I like getting used books and finding things in them. I recently found a birthday card in one.

[@Claire_Fenby]

So special!

[@circleofleaves2676]

Yes I love seeing readers showing their multiple different editions of a favourite book. My favourite book is The Waves (Virginia Woolf). I don't have 10 editions of it; I have 8 editions of it, so close!

[@Claire_Fenby]

The Waves is also one of my favourites! I only have one edition though... I need to buy more

[@Mariak82]

I'm the same, I got mine from charity shops and found ones I want over the years. 📚

[@ladyfox6705]

Off topic, but I have to say that is a really sweet blouse, Claire! 👌

[@Claire_Fenby]

Thank you! I haven't worn it in a video for years I think ❤️

[@book-ramble]

Climb every mountain~!

[@danielleptc]

I have that same photo of Virginia Woolf - thanks for reminding me that I need to find a place to hang it! I used to be a collector, but got rid of about 2/3 of my books for various reasons... Now I'm thinking I might like to have a few different editions of "A Room of One's Own." "This is going to go in the casket with me" made me laugh so hard! I'll be referring to those as "casket books" from now on. 📖

[@Claire_Fenby]

Casket books for the win ⚰️🔥

[@DarcyRussell-x1o]

This was a lovely video. Thank-you! I have multiple editions of Jane Austen's six major novels - and I have two editions of one of my childhood favorites - Heidi by Johanna Spyri. One edition is in German and the other in English. I also have two editions of Middlemarch - one of which has the "movie cover" of the TV series from the 1990s. 📗

[@Claire_Fenby]

I would also love the 1990s Middlemarch! Such a great book and series

[@victoriah.2083]

For me it's Tasha Tudor & Terry Brooks. The former is a children's book illustrator who lived off-grid in Vermont like the early 19th C. The later is a fantasy author of over 47 years. So any & all of these to the funeral pyre.😂

[@Claire_Fenby]

🔥 ⚰️

[@cassiegerrard813]

I have several editions of my favourite book, Pride & Prejudice.. I just can’t help myself!

[@Claire_Fenby]

I'm exactly the same with P&P!

[@sandyokey7728]

You held my favorite book, The Great Gatsby. The movie edition is lovely also. I don’t usually like movie tie-in covers, but an exception is Edith Wharton’s The Age of Innocence with Michelle Pfeiffer on the cover. You showed many of my favorite books and they’re all beautiful. I love inscribed books, and I believe Barbara kept her book until it found its way to you.💕

[@Claire_Fenby]

I saw that The Age of Innocence edition in one of the charity shops! It's beautiful

[@kimbarbeaureads]

I love my fifty cent friends of the library collection. All but a few of my classics have come from there. I have purchased a couple nice copies from Barnes. The rest have been a dollar or less .

[@bfranklin1052]

Loved this topic. In my town in California we don't have charity bookshops and I'm longing for what you're sharing about. So I'm living vicariously through you right now. I've loved all the movies and books you mentioned, though I doubt I'd take them to the grave with me 😊🔥📚

[@glendaslanina9939]

I know what you mean. I live in Southern California and I have one charity bookshop in my surrounding area. Like Claire, I do not buy online, so purchasing books usually only happens during vacation to a different area. I am a big library user and fortunate that the LA County library system is fairly well stocked.

[@bfranklin1052]

@@glendaslanina9939 Loved your comment, Glenda. I do exactly the same! LAPL is great. I love Claire's cozy videos and have to make do with the fantasy of her shops till some future vacation. Cheers.

[@Claire_Fenby]

I had no idea that the US didn't have such a strong charity shop culture! It's so interesting to hear about these differences especially as a lot of my subscribers are based in the US 📚

[@agnespm4181]

I've loved this video ❤❤

[@ambarrose]

Okay, as a recent follower you surprised me here with thorn birds. Not many people remember that book in this new age of constant new releases. I've known the story for more than a decade, perhaps two. While the reality of the book puts us out of our comfort zone nowadays, at the time of the book what was written was very common in a way. I would love to discuss that book more. I love browsing second hand book stores. We find such gems. Besides, you get books that have already gone through one or three or God knows how many owners. They have been loved, they hold memories... And I find that personally I love those books more because of that.

[@Claire_Fenby]

I completely agree! They have their own little histories 📚 The Thorn Birds is definitely a guilty pleasure ahaha

[@laurencehenne2540]

What a sweet video ! 📖

[@alexandramacgregor]

Love a good charity book shop. Visited a few when we were in the UK last year.. I don’t buy multiple copies of books… I just don’t have the room on my shelves! 😂 📖

[@Claire_Fenby]

You need a new bookshelf then 😂

[@booksandbabble6847]

I had to laugh when I heard how 'Drogheda' was pronounced in the Thorn Birds series. They pronounce it like drogeeda when really it should be pronounced like Dro-ha-da. It always makes me chuckle 😂

[@Claire_Fenby]

It kills me every time!

[@Kafia_]

Charity shopping for life 📚

[@Without_words1]

What a beautiful blouse you are wearing ❤

[@DeeDeeCatMom]

I wish we had charity book shops in Canada! We have thrift stores with large book sections (like Value Village- Savers in the USA) but the books are 6 or 7$ CAD. I went to an SPCA used book store while on vacation, books 1$, but the selection is mostly mass market thriller mysteries...can't blame them, that city has no regular high street book shop and people must buy their books from Walmart. Anyway, my fave used editions to look out for are the McClellan and Stewart 1970s editions of LM Montgomery books. They're trade paperbacks in vivid colours with a floppy binding- I love them! I have an Emily, and The Blue Castle in these editions 📚

[@Claire_Fenby]

I'm excited to visit Canada next year so will definitely be going thrifting shopping while I'm there!

[@sandrawoodall6545]

I’m completely with you on the sound of music.I’m 65 and have watched this since it came out in the 60s it’s my most favourite film and I adore Julie Andrews, Mary poppings is my next favourite. But I also know that the real Marie and the people of Austria didn’t like the film,can’t remember why though.😊

[@giselaperez6746]

I wish I could have more second hand or charity shops here in Puerto Rico but we don’t. I should say that my local used book/charity shops near my house are not cheap at all. Paperbacks start from $3.00 or more and hardbacks cost $5 or more no matter the condition of the book😳That’s is the reason I buy some books in eBay. I love to watch other book shopping videos,,specially buying books from second hand shops. I also love to find curious bookish items inside used books and I read those dedicatory notes❤ At this moment I have various editions of Jane Eyre, Persuasion, Rebeca, Withering Heights, Harry Potter series and some other contemporary adult novels.

[@XOXOLOLA100]

I don’t collect different editions of books but I would love to switch the books that I read and loved for good hardcover copies as they have better durability.

[@Claire_Fenby]

Yes, that's exactly what I've been doing over the years. I want them all to stand the test of time 📚

[@moominesque6081]

Thank you for an enjoyable video. It's intetesting that you mention the immovable 'stickers' on book covers. I dislike them, and if publishers do too, why do they produce covers with them? I have an 80th anniversary edition of Rebecca. I pre-ordered it, and the cover is lovely: '80th anniversary edition' at the top , great graphic in the centre, and the author's name at the bottom, and then to ruin the cover, underneath D du M, 'introduced by Sarah Perry'- why? The book didn't need this on the cover, and it needs no introduction 🙄 - and like you say, covers are important! I first read Rebecca at 19, and I've read it lots of times since. It's interesting to see how my opinion has changed over the years - not the quality of the book, that's not in question, but in how I perceive the characters and their actions. I thought the TV adaptation of The Thornbirds was weird (I've never read the book) something very uncomfortable and unnatural about the relationship between the priest and the young girl.

[@Claire_Fenby]

Sorry, I realise I misspoke in the video, publishing houses love roundels! They massively improve sales and help people (who might not read as regularly) find their next book. Publishing is ultimately about selling books and it’s just another way to help market them. It doesn’t mean we always like the aesthetics of it though but they serve a purpose. For instance, Sarah Perry has had more recent bestsellers (including in the supermarkets) so might be more known to some people than Rebecca. When I worked as a bookseller, I came to realise that book shops were quite daunting to more casual readers who might only go in once a year (often around holidays or just to buy gifts for other people) and it made me rethink how I approach books. For some people Rebecca does need an introduction so the cover tries to do that. Yes, there are many things about The Thorn Birds which are uncomfortable even if nothing happens until she’s an adult.

[@Milly2u2]

Love reading Classics but not as yet got multiple editions. If I was to buy multiple editions of an authors novels it would be Jane Austen as she was the author who got me to fall in love with reading. ❤

[@Claire_Fenby]

What is your favourite Jane Austen novel?

[@katiejlumsden]

📖

[@manuelespinosa724]

Very interesting!

[@normanorourke3244]

Agatha Christie 📚 books are my favourite

[@FashionAplenty]

I like vintage books too but how do you guys check for bed bugs? Do you have a system for this?

[@Claire_Fenby]

I freeze the books if they’re not in great condition!

[@johnsilva9139]

Is she actually saying "trash" shops? Must be a British thing, though I do often say I Iike to read trash (pulp fiction). I'm in the USA but it's good to see I have a kindred spirit in England who also likes to find interesting older editions of the same title. Of course I also love to find old books that have been inscribed to someone, usually in impeccable cursive writing which has become a lost art form. Also have found many old letters and clippings in old used books. Such fun. Sounds like I need to make a trip to York. New York is surprisingly lacking in cheap second hand bookstores these days.

[@Claire_Fenby]

I’m saying charity shops! All our thrift shops are ran by charities and each purchase acts as a donation.

[@johnsilva9139]

@@Claire_Fenby Okay. Now I hear it. Americans love hearing British people speak, but often have a hard time making out even familiar words.

[@Claire_Fenby]

No problem!

[@sineadpaull1863]

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[@LuneFlaneuse]

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[@mariat.3961]

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[@anngvintage3756]

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