I've always enjoyed thrift shopping. I suppose it's the element of surprise that I enjoy the most. Some days when you visit the shops, you'll find nothing but unwanted junk. No surprise there, as my wife and I have donated many unwanted things to thrift stores in our area. Of course there are the other times when you walk in and there are hidden treasures throughout the store.
Saturday was a hidden treasure day.
Photo courtesy of Steve Snodgrass. Used under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic License
My wife and I had cleaned out some things from our apartment earlier in the week, so on Saturday we drove up to the local YMCA Thrift Store to drop off the items. I generally enjoy going in this particular store. It's where I found the $1 copy of SimCity (2013) that I reviewed a while back, so I've definitely found some hidden gems there before. Plus, since my wife is a teacher, she enjoys browsing through the children's books.
I typically browse through the electronics, music CDs, and books when I go to a thrift store. Saturday was no different, and I made my way around the store looking for various things. Along the way, I spotted several interesting things including six copies of Titanic on VHS, a few Windows 98 PC games (it took a lot of willpower to pass them up), and a lot of classical recordings on vinyl. I chose to skip over all of these things, however, and I headed over to look at the music CDs.
Music on CD
Since I've been to a lot of thrift stores and browsed thousands of CDs, I pretty much know what to expect. Mostly 90s music, classical CDs, and almost always a Harry Connick, Jr. CD. Anyhow, this time I was able to spot several fantastic jazz albums. I love finding CDs because I can rip them into my PC at 320 kbps and enjoy listening to them anytime without an Internet connection. I know this seems bizarre in the era of streaming apps like Spotify, but I still enjoy a nice library of mp3s. Anyhow, here are the albums I picked up for $1 each:
Workin' With the Miles Davis Quintet
You can't go wrong with Miles Davis, and this album is especially great since it also features John Coltrane on the saxophone.
Time Out- The Dave Brubeck Quartet
I have listened to this album many times, but I didn't own a physical copy. Dave Brubeck, Paul Desmond, Eugene Wright, and Joe Morello unite for a very fun and entertaining album that contains one of my favorite jazz tunes, Three to Get Ready.
The Sermon! - Jimmy Smith
I've always enjoyed a good organ jazz tune, so when I saw this Jimmy Smith album, I had to grab it. I was even more delighted to find out that the trumpet player on the album is Lee Morgan, one of my favorite jazz trumpeters.
Bonus: Here's one of my favorite tracks from Lee Morgan
Stan Getz and The Oscar Peterson Trio
I admit, I had never listened to this band before picking up this CD, but I'm listening to it as I type out this post, and I've enjoyed it tremendously. Stan Getz and Oscar Peterson are both brilliant on this album.
From Left to Right- Bill Evans
I've always enjoyed listening to Bill Evans's fingers tickle the ivories, and on this album he bounces back and forth between an electric piano and a Steinway grand, making for some nice easy listening tunes.
I hope that if you are a fan of jazz, you've found some new tunes to listen to. I've greatly enjoyed listening to these albums since Saturday.
The Books Section
I already own too many books. In fact, one of my life goals is to read every book I own. I actively make this task more and more difficult each time I visit a thrift store, because I inevitably buy more books. This time was no different, as I discovered copies of Stieg Larsson's Millennium Trilogy, which I've heard good things about, but never gotten around to reading.
I'm looking forward to reading this series. I grabbed all three books for $2, so I'm sure I'll at least get that much entertainment out of them.
The Spectacular Surprise!
I have, of course, saved the best find for last. Before Christmas, a friend recommended that I read Patrick Rothfuss's The Name of the Wind. I enjoy fantasy books, so after Christmas, I bought the book and quickly began reading it. I highly recommend the book to anyone who enjoys a good fantasy read. It's brilliantly written. As I drew near to finishing that book, I knew I would want to purchase the second book in the series, but when I saw the second book, The Wise Man's Fear, sitting on the shelf in the thrift store, I couldn't believe my eyes!
I was thrilled to find this book, since I knew I'd never be able to get a hardback first edition for the $5 price tag it had on it. However, the surprises were just beginning. I opened the cover to see if it was indeed a first edition, and I discovered that the title page of the book is signed by Patrick Rothfuss, the author!
At first, I was skeptical. How on earth does a signed first edition end up on a thrift store shelf? But after confirming the signature on Google images, and with a friend who has an autograph from this author, it does indeed appear legitimate. Needless to say, I was ecstatic to be able to bring home a signed first edition of a book series that I really enjoy.
I hope you've enjoyed this look at my trip to the thrift store on Saturday. I'll definitely be going back in the next few weeks to see what else I might discover! I encourage you to get out and support your local thrift stores, especially since many of them use the proceeds to fund local programs and help people get jobs!
As always, thanks for stopping by! Let me know what you think in the comments, and I'd love to hear about any great finds you've picked up at a thrift store!