Some “life hacks”
(1) Stretch pants.
(2) Using the Internet to find out what’s avaliable at your local Half Price Books store.
This is harder than you might think.
The critical link:
https://www.hpb.com/search?q=&prefn1=instorePickUpAvailableStores&prefv1=HPB-131&prefn2=rareFind&prefv2=No&srule=recently-added&sz=80
Suppose that, at Christmastime, both sets of in-laws put gift cards for HPB in your stocking.
Rejoice! Be glad!
But also: How good is this “good” luck, really?
For it may be that you live in South Bend, on the West Side, and that HPB is in faraway Mishawaka (known, locally, as “BFE” or “near-BFE” [“E” is for east; “BF” is vulgar]). Who wants to trek out east twice in January to use both $5 discounts – each, activated by a separate $25 gift-card purchase – without prior knowledge of the inventory?
But HPB has online ordering!
Alas, it costs $3.99 to have each book shipped to your house.
But books in your preferred store can be reserved online and retrieved, gratis, in person.
Again, how are you to know what’s in your preferred store? (Besides by searching for one book or author at a time and then trawling through items that may or may not be in that store.)
By clicking the above link, that’s how. Behold a list of most of the books in the store.
Here’s the link again:
https://www.hpb.com/search?q=&prefn1=instorePickUpAvailableStores&prefv1=HPB-131&prefn2=rareFind&prefv2=No&srule=recently-added&sz=80
I’ve tweaked the search to exclude collectables and to show recent arrivals on top.
To add keywords (e.g., “Agatha+Christie”) to the search, type them into the web address between the first equals sign and ampersand:
https://www.hpb.com/search?q=Agatha+Christie&prefn1=instorePickUpAvailableStores&prefv1=HPB-131&prefn2=rareFind&prefv2=No&srule=recently-added&sz=80
Maybe you don’t want to order and retrieve from Mishawaka’s store. Maybe you live in darkest Chesterfield, Missouri. Then replace “131” above – the Mishawaka store’s number – with the “120” pertaining to Chesterfied’s store.
https://www.hpb.com/search?q=Agatha+Christie&prefn1=instorePickUpAvailableStores&prefv1=HPB-120&prefn2=rareFind&prefv2=No&srule=recently-added&sz=80
Voilà.
(The “store finder” page is here.)
(2) Using the Internet to find out what’s avaliable at your local Half Price Books store.
This is harder than you might think.
The critical link:
https://www.hpb.com/search?q=&prefn1=instorePickUpAvailableStores&prefv1=HPB-131&prefn2=rareFind&prefv2=No&srule=recently-added&sz=80
Suppose that, at Christmastime, both sets of in-laws put gift cards for HPB in your stocking.
Rejoice! Be glad!
But also: How good is this “good” luck, really?
For it may be that you live in South Bend, on the West Side, and that HPB is in faraway Mishawaka (known, locally, as “BFE” or “near-BFE” [“E” is for east; “BF” is vulgar]). Who wants to trek out east twice in January to use both $5 discounts – each, activated by a separate $25 gift-card purchase – without prior knowledge of the inventory?
But HPB has online ordering!
Alas, it costs $3.99 to have each book shipped to your house.
But books in your preferred store can be reserved online and retrieved, gratis, in person.
Again, how are you to know what’s in your preferred store? (Besides by searching for one book or author at a time and then trawling through items that may or may not be in that store.)
By clicking the above link, that’s how. Behold a list of most of the books in the store.
Here’s the link again:
https://www.hpb.com/search?q=&prefn1=instorePickUpAvailableStores&prefv1=HPB-131&prefn2=rareFind&prefv2=No&srule=recently-added&sz=80
I’ve tweaked the search to exclude collectables and to show recent arrivals on top.
To add keywords (e.g., “Agatha+Christie”) to the search, type them into the web address between the first equals sign and ampersand:
https://www.hpb.com/search?q=Agatha+Christie&prefn1=instorePickUpAvailableStores&prefv1=HPB-131&prefn2=rareFind&prefv2=No&srule=recently-added&sz=80
Maybe you don’t want to order and retrieve from Mishawaka’s store. Maybe you live in darkest Chesterfield, Missouri. Then replace “131” above – the Mishawaka store’s number – with the “120” pertaining to Chesterfied’s store.
https://www.hpb.com/search?q=Agatha+Christie&prefn1=instorePickUpAvailableStores&prefv1=HPB-120&prefn2=rareFind&prefv2=No&srule=recently-added&sz=80
Voilà.
(The “store finder” page is here.)