It is not that I have anything against e-books; after all, they’re easily accessible and usually fairly cheap if not free. It is just that nothing can quite replace the feeling you get when you open a book. The scent of the paper, the sound of the pages turning, the sight of open pages filled with ink markings that seem to welcome you, to usher you into the fantastic, the terrible, the inspiring and knowledge-giving realms of literature.

Books are vessels of wonderful enchantments that can challenge the mind, uplift the spirit, or petrify the soul. Books are capable of better connecting us to the world we live in or helping us to escape it and journey to other realms, planets, solar systems, or states of mind. Books are very dear to my heart, and I thank the dedicated members of the OTF Tribune for letting me tell you all about my favorite places to acquire these magnificent tomes.

My all-time favorite bookstore is Half Price Books, Records, Magazines, which has stores located throughout the United States. (Go to their website for a listing of all their locations.) This bookstore has old and new books for a fraction of the publisher’s price; half price, usually. They have an excellent selection of books in every subject; fiction, non-fiction, fantasy, horror, science fiction, history, technical, nature, self-help, humor, cooking, gaming, roleplaying, children’s books, comic books, and more. Their selection of computer programs and magazines is just as extensive; most of the ones I have visited have had multiple shelves dedicated to National Geographic alone.

For the music lovers out there, these stores are well equipped to fit your musical needs. Whether you are looking for records, 45’s, cassette tapes (I think I saw some 8 tracks once), or compact discs, you should be able to find something here to your liking. They have albums from every music genre; classical, country, reggae, religious, rock ‘n roll, rap, pop, international, easy listening, inspirational, big band, etc. If you listen to it, Half Price has probably had it at one time or another.

Should you have some old books, CD’s, magazines, or computer programs you don’t use anymore lying around and taking up space, take them down to Half Price and after a few minutes of evaluating the books, they will make an offer to purchase them from you.

I have frequented these wonderful shops for as long as I can remember and can probably count all the times I left without purchasing something on one hand. Unfortunately, Half Price doesn’t always have brand new books in stock unless someone has bought them and resold them.

When I am looking for a new book that Half Price doesn’t have, I go to a Texas-based bookstore by the name of "75 Percent Off Books". There is a store in almost every major city in Texas; check their Website, to find the location nearest to you.

At this bookstore, nothing is priced over $5.00 USC, guaranteed. 75 Percent Off Books manages this wonderful price break by purchasing books that were formerly owned by bookstores that went out of business or were overstocked. I have found several very useful books there; in particular, my entire collection of computer programming manuals (which have proven to be invaluable) and a few others that are currently at the bottom of a huge pile of books with their titles facing away from me, thereby keeping me from reading the titles. If it’s new, a book, and you are looking for it, try 75 Percent Off Books for a great deal.

I hope you have found this article to be useful, good citizens of Outpost10F; but for now, I feel I must stop writing and get back to my real life job so I can afford to feed my literary hunger. Take care, keep reading, and try and visit the bookstores I have just finished writing about sometime soon. You never know what you will find at either one.

Until next we speak, good readers, farewell.