Deck the Halls with Recycled Reads!

It’s crunch time for all of you last-minute holiday shoppers, so have I got a deal for you! This Saturday (December 19th) from 12-5pm, Recycled Reads will be having a special one day only Holiday Gift Book Sale!

Thanks to a very generous donation this week by a local civic-minded business, we are pleased to offer a selection of new and collectible oversized and “coffee-table” gift books for the ridiculously low price of $5 each. Normally these beautiful large volumes are found in retail bookstores at this time of year with a sticker price of $30 or more. Most of these books are in mint condition and would make elegant gifts for anyone. And at these prices, how can you refuse?

In conjunction with these beautiful large volumes, we are also pleased to offer a large number of brand new soft-cover and hardback books from the same donor at our usual ridiculously low price of $1 and $2 each. These new offerings can be found on shelves throughout the store and on display near our Collectibles Cabinets. To round out your gift selection, a number of brand new CD’s still in shrink wrap can be found in our Media section for $1 each.

In addition to these new offerings, we are pleased to include a limited number of items from our Collectibles Cabinets in our one-day $5 sale. These items will be plainly marked down to $5 and available for purchase at our Holiday Gift table located in front of the Collectibles Cabinets. As always, all of the items in our Collectibles Cabinets are available for purchase at ridiculously low prices and would make excellent gifts for the discerning collectors and book lovers on your list.

To help make your hectic holiday shopping day a little easier, your trip through our aisles on Saturday will be serenaded by the warm sounds of the Hill Country Brass Quintet. Founded in 1989 by trumpeter Randy Heaton as a student group at Southwest Texas State University (now Texas State University), Hill Country Brass has developed into a professional brass quintet performing extensively throughout the state of Texas and New Mexico. Heaton is joined by fellow STSU grads Ron Ledbetter on trumpet and Paul Dixon on French horn, United States Army Band alum Brenda Sansig on trombone and Keith Robinson on tuba. Hill Country Brass is dedicated to bringing the joy and grandeur of brass to music lovers of all ages, and we are sure they will make the time you spend with us a pleasant one.

So you’ve looked all around and still don’t have a clue about what to get that special someone on your list? Don’t worry! Our Recycled Reads Gift Certificates make great stocking stuffers at $5 or $10 each. We have thousands of books, CDs, DVDs, records and tapes to choose from at ridiculously low prices. They may be small in size, but just one of our Gift Certificates can buy more than Santa could possibly carry down the chimney!

New Collectibles
This week we continue to highlight selected new additions to our Collectibles Cabinets. Here are just a few of the many new additions that will be made available this week:

The Paper Republic (2009) – Mint-condition Texana, First Edition, First Printing (November 2009). As reviewed on Amazon.com: “A new take on the stirring story of the Texas Revolution, this history focuses on the financial underpinnings and monetary issues that factored into the struggle. Deftly weaving numismatics and history into an engaging and highly entertaining narrative, the story unveils a verifiable trail of many of the most significant people and events surrounding the struggle for independence in Texas. It is replete with colorful anecdotes about visionary kings, obsessive dictators, crooked politicians, and counterfeiters and includes a detailed history of each piece of coin and currency used in the old Republic.”

The Nancy Drew series (Applewood editions) – 15 volumes of the famous Nancy Drew girl detective series. Applewood Editions are facsimiles of the original Nancy Drew books as written by Carolyn Keene and contain no updates or changes from the original stories. These editions contain the original black and white illustrations printed on glossy paper. This is a rare out-of-print collection and all volumes are in near-mint condition.

The Bobsey Twins series (vintage) – 36 volumes of the Grosset & Dunlap “Green Board Format #5” editions of the Bobsey Twins, the longest running series of books for children. Thirty-one of these volumes are complete with original issue full-color dust-jackets dating from the 1930’s. This is a rare out-of-print collection and all volumes are in Good to Good+ condition.

The Maida Westabrook series (vintage) – 8 volumes of the Maida Westabrook series about a “poor little rich girl” who grows up with unusual friends. Unlike most other contemporary long-running series for children, these books were written by one person: Inez Haynes Gillmore Irwin, an influential writer, feminist leader and political activist. All volumes in this set include the original issue full-color dust-jackets. This is a rare out-of-print collection and all volumes are in Good to Good+ condition.

The Perfect Gift

Are you one of those people who dread the holidays? I admit that there are times when I am one of those people, especially when this season rolls around.

Whether you celebrate Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Yule or none of the above, the days and weeks surrounding the winter solstice are historically filled with grand traditions involving eating, drinking, socializing and gift-giving. Most of us don’t have a problem with those first three (unless you count over-indulgence as a problem), but some people visibly cringe at the thought of having to attend an office party or family gathering where gifts are exchanged.

Picking the right gift to be given during a holiday can be stressful. The ideal gift is one which will bring joy and delight to its recipient without causing undue anxiety on the part of the giver, the recipient or any casual observer. However, achieving that ideal is easier said than done. When selecting a gift I invariably ask myself all sorts of questions: Will the person like this gift? Am I paying too much or too little? Is it appropriately tasteful or too tacky? Is anyone else giving them the exact same thing and will it be opened before my gift? All of this can add a great deal of stress at a time when additional stress is neither desired or needed. And we won’t even begin to talk about that White Elephant party at the office…

Receiving gifts can be almost as stressful. How many times have you gone to a family holiday gathering where gifts were exchanged, and when it was time to open your gift (under the close scrutiny of everyone in the room) you discovered that your gift was an embarrassing novelty item. Or had the wrong name tag on it. Or was two sizes too large. I don’t know about you, but “Oops! Sorry!” doesn’t quite cut it for me in those situations.

Fortunately for everyone involved, this year you can find some sure-fire holiday stress relief at Recycled Reads. We all know that books make perfect gifts but it can often be tricky when trying to decide just which book you should give. Now you can avoid all the stress of choosing the perfect holiday gift by giving everyone on your list a Recycled Reads Gift Certificate! Whether you give a certificate for $5, $10 or more, we have thousands of books, CDs, DVDs, records and tapes to choose from at ridiculously low prices so your generous gift will buy more here than at any other book store in town.

And you never know – come in to visit and you might even get this perfect gift for yourself!

New Collectibles
This week we continue to highlight selected new additions to our Collectibles Cabinets. In conjunction with our one-day-only Vintage Children’s Book Sale on Saturday December 12th, here are just a few of the many new additions that will be made available this week:

Peter Rabbit Muslin Board Game (1913) – Many of us can remember playing “Pin the Tail On the Donkey” at a childhood friend’s birthday party. This unique variation on the timeless children’s game uses Peter Rabbit in place of the donkey and cabbage leaves in place of the tail. Published in 1913 by the Saalfield Publishing Company of Akron and printed in color on finely woven muslin cloth, this game was released while the original Beatrix Potter stories were being published for the first time. Measures 18”w x 21”h with an 18” high color image of Peter Rabbit surrounded by four smaller brown line vignettes from the book. Although the small cabbage pieces have been lost, this relic of a more innocent time can be cherished for many generations to come.

The Tale of Peter Rabbit (1907) – This is the original story of Peter Rabbit as written and illustrated by the famous children’s author Beatrix Potter. The Henry Altemus website suggests this could be a 2nd edition 2nd state, although on-line booksellers claim this to be the first edition (and thus the pirated edition). The title page date is 1907, with a gift Inscription dated 1914. The book is in excellent condition and the cover boards have been very well protected by the extremely rare dust jacket.

Some Things DO Improve With Age!

Of the many tasks we perform each week at Recycled Reads, my favorite is the opportunity to sort through donations. We process a lot of books from the Austin Public Library warehouse and these make up the majority of the books we ultimately sell, but almost by definition the books we receive from the Library are “middle-aged” – neither very new nor very old. This is not usually the case with donations.

Thanks to the generosity of our donors, many days we receive books that have been recently purchased, read quickly and given directly to us to raise money for the Library. If you are a frequent visitor to our store, you may have noticed a current best-seller being placed on one of our tiered displays near the front entrance – and don’t blink, for these tend to disappear just as quickly as they arrive! However, just as often we will receive boxes that have obviously been stored in a dark and dusty place for a long time. While we greatly appreciate getting new books that can be resold quickly [at ridiculously low prices of $2 for hard-cover, $1 for soft-cover and $0.50 for children's books], it is these older volumes that get my heart pumping.

One thing I have learned in my years of selling books is that some things really do improve with age. Surprisingly, original cost and rarity do not always imply increased value over time. For example, you would expect a nice coffee-table book which originally cost $75 to be opened and read occasionally then stored on a bookshelf after it has been replaced with another decorative item. While this is great for the book, such fine treatment does not increase the book’s resale value with age since almost all expensive mass-produced decorative books are treated in this fashion. Another example is the “best-seller”: its novelty value quickly reduces over time as more copies are produced and more people have a chance to read it. Except for the occasional rare first edition by a famous author, best-sellers over 10 years old hardly sell at all today.

Ironically it is those books which are not considered to have any great value (and are therefore not handled as carefully as more expensive ones) which tend to become more valuable with age. What books do I think appreciate the most over time? Easy: children’s books. Think about it – when was the last time you saw a well-preserved book in your infant son or daughter’s toy box? Chances are good that even the nicest new book was chewed, dunked, torn or colored within the first month of its existence.

Fortunately for all of us, our ancestors held a higher reverence for the printed word than we do today. Thanks to their foresight, wisdom or simply stricter household rules, books of all types were treated as the treasures they were. In the days before television, iPods and video games, a child’s book was considered both educational and entertaining. Popular artists would often lend their talents to illustrating books for children of all ages, making vintage children’s books quite collectible to fans of these artists. When added to the relative scarcity of books printed for children in earlier days, a finely illustrated child’s book in good condition can be very hard to find.

So where does this lead? To our next big sale, of course! For one day only on Saturday December 12th, Recycled Reads will hold a Vintage Children’s $5 Book Sale. Just in time for the holidays, a limited selection of beautifully illustrated vintage children’s books will be offered for sale at the ridiculously low price of $5 each. These unique books date from the Victorian era through the early 1980’s and will be available on a first-come, first-served basis in front of the Collectibles Cabinets.

Better hurry, though – unlike these books, this sale does not improve with age!

New Collectibles
This week we continue to highlight selected new additions to our Collectibles Cabinets. Here are just a few of the many new additions that will be made available for next week:

Monkey Shines & Good Times With Funny Folks (circa 1910) – Today we take children’s comics for granted, but 100 years ago comic illustrators focused mainly on producing political cartoons for periodicals. Monkey Shines is an entertaining example of what happens when a Victorian cartoonist (Raymond H. Garman, aka “Gar”) illustrates a children’s book.

Cutey-Cuddledown (circa 1916) and Kellog’s Funny Jungleland Moving Pictures (1909) – Two fine examples of early 20th century promotional marketing books targeting children. Cutey-Cuddledown was a cartoon model for the Quaker Robe Company of Philadelphia, and this unusually shaped die-cut tells a poem of how Cutsey stays warm in her Quaker Robe. Funny Jungleland is a fanciful “moving-picture” book produced by the W. K. Kellogg cereal company of Battle Creek, Michigan. A precursor to modern-day pop-ups, this colorful booklet contains fold-out pages of animal illustrations cut into horizontal strips which are cleverly aligned so that fanciful animals could be created from the overlay of different body parts.

Three Little Kittens (circa 1900) – One of a series of Father Tuck’s Nursery Tales, the Three Little Kittens is an example of sophisticated Victorian England artistry applied to paper using chromo-lithography and sepia-toned sketches. Each page of this cute story is illustrated with multiple sketches, and every other page is a full-color plate in striking colors – still in amazing condition after 100 years.

Little Red Riding Hood “Pop-Up” (circa 1900) – Lke the Kellogg’s book, this is an early precursor to modern pop-up books. This version of the classic Grimm’s fairy tale is finely illustrated with chromo-lithographs and Victorian lettering, and expanding colored tissue paper is used to create a simple dimensional effect between pages.

Fancy Dress A-B-C (1905) – A unique mix of toy and story, Fancy Dress A-B-C was printed by Dean’s Rags Books of London using cloth rather than bound paper pages. Marketed as being “quite indestructible”, these books could be used as primers in schools for years without needing to be replaced. Although slightly frayed on the edges, this book could easily be used to teach children their A-B-C’s for another 100 years.

Work and Play On The Farm (circa 1900), Bob’s School Days (circa 1890), Dame Crump (circa 1890), Hector the Dog (circa 1890), and Hush-A-Bye Baby (circa 1890) – Victorian-era publisher McLoughlin Brothers dominated the market for children’s books in the late 1800’s by pioneering the use of series characters and color printing techniques in that genre. Their books became an outlet for popular illustrators of the day, and at their height McLoughlin produced a wide range of items including cheap chapbooks, large folio picture books, linen books, puzzles, games and paper dolls. These 5 children’s books , several of which are extremely rare titles, offer lush illustrations in detailed Victorian themes.

What’s Old Is New Again

One of the most enjoyable parts of shopping at Recycled Reads is the opportunity to discover hidden treasure.

A serious comics sale at Recycled Reads

Super Comics Sale this weekend at Recycled Reads – over 1000 $1 and $2 collectible comics.

Halloween is in store at Recycled Reads

Days are getting shorter, nights are getting cooler and pumpkins are ready to be carved with frightful faces. This is the weekend of Halloween, All Hallows Eve, Dia de los Muertos, All Souls Day – when children of all ages get to dress up in their ghoulish best and go out in search of TRICKS and TREATS.

Recycled Reads helps you celebrate the spirit of the season this weekend with great deals for those who are haunting for some frightfully good fun. Every child of any age who makes a purchase this weekend will receive a special canvas “BOOkBAG” suitable for taking around the block or out on the town for Trick-or-Treat. We have a limited number of these special bags courtesy of the Austin Public Library Foundation, so don’t wait too long to drag Mummy and Deadly in for – OK, this is just getting silly now! You get the idea.

In addition to our usual assortment of werewolves, vampires and zombies, this Sunday we are pleased to host a special LIVE performance by the Literature LIVE! Theater Troupe to celebrate Dia De Los Muertos (Day Of The Dead). This is a special holiday to celebrate, remember and prepare special foods to honor those who have departed. On this day in Mexico, the streets near the cemeteries are filled with decorations of papel picado, flowers, candy calaveras (skeletons and skulls), and parades. Join us on Sunday at 2:00pm as La Catrina and Teresa share their stories while gathering gifts and memorabilia to place on the family altar.

ATTENTION COMIC BOOK FANS: Quick! Grab a pencil and mark these dates on your calendar: Saturday & Sunday, November 7-8. You will kick yourself if you miss this! [to be continued...]

New Collectibles
This week we continue to highlight selected new additions to our Collectibles Cabinets. Here are just a few of the many new additions that will be made available for next week:

The Little Prince (Antoine de Saint-Exupery, 1944). One of the best selling books of all time at over 80 million copies, this fanciful story of a Prince who lives on an asteroid and journeys to other planets to observe life and human nature is skillfully illustrated by the author. This volume is a rare stated “Third Printing” copy, English language translation.

Ford V-8 Cars and Trucks (1942) by Victor Page is an auto mechanic’s dream of schematics, photos, instructions and detailed specifications on everything associated with Ford V-8 engines. This compact hardcover edition includes a rare loose fold-out schematic illustrated poster titled “Location of the New Ford Model V-8 Power Plant Troubles Made Easy”. Written at a time when the V-8 engine was new technology, this edition is guaranteed to put a spark in the pulse of even the most die-hard backyard grease monkey.

What’s in a name?

Recycled Reads is more than just a bookstore raising money for the Austin Public Library. Our name says it all: we recycle what you read.

The word “recycled” can mean different things to different people. Some think of the environmental benefits of recycling, and to be sure this is indeed a major focus of our operation. Whenever you shop at Recycled Reads you are supporting the City of Austin’s Zero Waste Initiative. Before Recycled Reads opened this year, most of the materials that were removed from circulation from the Austin Public Library system would ultimately wind up in the city landfill. While I don’t know the exact amount of waste this represented in the past, I do have a good idea of the amount of material we process in the store on a weekly basis. On average we receive and process 6 pallets of boxed materials from the city warehouse each week. Each pallet contains approximately 30 boxes, and each box contains approximately 50 books. Rounding up, this translates to roughly 10,000 books each week that we are keeping out of the city landfill through our sales and materials recycling process. I don’t know about you, but that one week accounts for more landfill waste than my family creates in a decade.

“Recycled” also has another meaning when used in context with “Reads”: giving used books a new lease on life by passing them on for others to read and enjoy. Resale shops are not a new phenomenon in Austin, and the North Loop shopping district (we are located at North Loop and Burnet Road) is home to dozens of resale shops specializing in items ranging from vintage clothing to antique furniture. The adage “what was old is new again” applies as much to books as it does to fashion, especially so since any book that you haven’t read is essentially “new” to you. At Recycled Reads we make this aspect of recycling as painless as possible considering the cost of discovering a hidden treasure on our shelves translates to a mere $1 or $2 purchase.

Fall Music Extravaganza sale

Interestingly enough, the word “Reads” in our name is a misnomer. Not everything we recycle (in either context of that word) is something that can be “read”. As many of you noticed last weekend, a significant part of our floor space was devoted to our Fall Music Extravaganza sale. Hundreds of people flocked to this event which featured live music from various Austin musicians and a selection of over 2,000 music items including vinyl discs of all sizes, compact discs and cassette tapes. All of these items were either donated or removed from Library circulation, making this a quintessential recycling event.

So, what’s in a name? Plenty – when that name is Recycled Reads.

New Collectibles
In keeping with the title “What’s In A Name?”, this week we are featuring several unique additions to our Collectibles section: items which are signed or inscribed.

Marguerite Henry “Black Gold” (1957)

Newbery Medal-winning children’s author Marguerite Henry skillfully translated her life-long love of horses and animals into more than 60 published works (starting with her first at the age of 11). This 2nd printing of “Black Gold” includes her standard inscription “Happy Trails always! Marguerite Henry”.

Horton Foote “Always” (1999)


World-renowned Texas author, playwright and screenwriter Horton Foote is best known for his Academy Award-winning screenplay for the movie “To Kill A Mockingbird”. This 1999 first edition printing of his autobiography “Farewell – A Memoir of a Texas Childhood” contains a signed bookplate issued by the Texas Cultural Trust Council at its Premier Texas Medal of Arts Awards ceremony in 2001.

Fred Gipson “Old Yeller” (1956)


Another famous Texas author, Fred Gipson captured the hearts of children around the world with his Newbery Award-winning novel “Old Yeller”. The 1957 Walt Disney movie adaptation of his book is a classic and timeless coming-of-age story. A rare instance of the author’s signature appears on the title page of this presumed first edition copy.

Fall Music Extravaganza sale this weekend!

Thousands of vinyl records, LP sets, tapes and CDs on sale for $1 each

Recycled Reads in the News

This was a banner week for all of us here at Recycled Reads. Not only did we celebrate our 6th month of being open to the public, but we did it with style.

Early last week our store manager Mindy was approached by a representative of News8 Austin, a division of our local Time-Warner Cable affiliate. Seems he had been driving along Burnet Road en route to a news broadcast when he noticed our sign and was intrigued enough to stop and check us out. Once Mindy explained what the store was all about, this person got excited and said “This is a great story! Would you mind if we made a news broadcast from your store?”

As any good business owner would do, Mindy jumped at the chance to get some publicity. Within a few days of that chance meeting, three of us were standing under a bright spotlight near the center of the store with a TV camera focused on our faces and a News8 reporter asking questions.

News 8 Austin's Jenna Hiller interviews Mindy Reed

I should also mention that this was taking place at 7am on a Monday morning. Despite being her day off, Mindy had arrived at 5:45am that morning to greet the crew, open the store and help them get ready for the shoot.

Over the course of the next two hours, News8 made three live broadcasts and taped several segments for later showings. In the first interview, Mindy gave a description of our mission at Recycled Reads and how we are generating revenue for the Austin Public Library by recycling former library materials and donations. The second segment focused on the important part that volunteers play in running the store, with Marcia and I being interviewed as representatives of the volunteer staff. Needless to say, Marcia did a spectacular job describing our sales model and pricing structure, while yours truly fumbled through a description of the importance of volunteers and donations. Say, did I mention that it was 7am on a Monday morning?

If you missed seeing our live television debut, you can still read the article and watch the videos on the News8 Austin website. Thank you, News8 Austin!

New Collectibles
This week we continue to highlight selected new additions to our Collectibles Cabinets. Here is just one of the many new additions that will be made available for next week:

Gray's Poems & Letters - cover

Gray’s Poems & Letters (1857) is a beautiful and unique example of an early commemorative edition. Bound in ornately tooled embossed leather with gold-gilt pages and marbled endpapers, this impressive book was once presented to graduates of the historic Eton College at Windsor near London, England.

Typical of Victorian England in the late nineteenth century, this volume epitomizes the height of English culture and education with over-sized pages of idyllic poetry and prose interlaced with laid-in sepia photos of lavish countryside views. The poems of Thomas Gray (himself an Eton alumnus) were limited in number, and this volume includes Ode on a Distant Prospect of Eton College as well as his masterpiece Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard.

Published by The Chiswick Press, London.

Gray's Poems & Letters - title page

School Daze, Part Deux

Back-to-School textbook vintage collectible genealogy children illustrations