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I don’t know if other countries have stuff like this (I know the UK, Canada, and a whole slew of other countries have Boxing Day, but that is in December, and for most of my childhood I thought that it was celebrating the sport of boxing- like, they were really huge fans of Muhammad Ali or something?) but here in the U.S., we have Black Friday. But let’s be real: It isn’t even just on Friday anymore. Stores were open on Thanksgiving. Amazon has been shoving “deals” in my face for three weeks (none of them exciting, I might add). There’s Cyber Monday, Small Business Saturday, and like… Fiscal Friday, and uhh Warehouse Wednesday, and don’t forget Thrift Store Thursday. Okay, maybe I made those last three up, but still. 

Anyway. Books are rarely on sale during these events, it seems. Sure, you have a few Kindle deals here and there, and maybe a store will be nice and throw a coupon your way. But otherwise? Not so much. I don’t really see anyone lining up outside of Barnes & Noble at 5am. Because it will be closed. Because they don’t have bookish deals. You see?

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Obviously, this doesn’t deter the average bookworm/hoarder, and we go along our merry way finding whatever book deals do exist, and just shell out all the money we don’t have anyway.

And this may just be me, but do your families and friends shy away from buying books as gifts? Even when you beg, plead, grovel, and swear that it’s what you want? They just don’t seem to understand.

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So. I propose we share our bookish love! What is it that you wish for this holiday season? I am going to give you a chance to win whatever bookish thing your beautiful little fanperson heart desires. Would you like to see some of the things that my fanperson heart desires? Of course you. Perhaps you need ideas!

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I shall link to it all, for I am nice like that.

 

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Here’s the deal: I want you to have whatever you want this holiday season! Any bookish item is game. You want a book-to-movie? Great. A mug with a quote? You got it! Just a regular old book? Sky’s the limit, my friends! This is international, but shipping either has to be free, or included in the cost of your choice. Because bookish people (read: me) also tend to be poor, it seems 😉

a Rafflecopter giveaway

So basically, I need to know a few things: What bookish gift(s) are you dying for this holiday season? Does your family do the same thing mine does? And for the love of literacy, why do people think that books don’t make good gifts?!

Posted November 27, 2015 by Shannon @ It Starts at Midnight in Funsies, Giveaway / 103 Comments

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103 responses to “Bookish Black Friday (and a Giveaway)

  1. My parents mostly buy me a book on any special occasion as long as I give them a specific title and author. But whenever I ask my cousins or grandparents to buy me books instead of shirts and stuff, they don’t. I don’t even know why. Even though I only ask for at least bookstore coupons, they still hand me stuff I just leave lying around in my room (which is sad, really).

    Why do they really not understand our love for books? Because even I don’t know either. :'(

    I’m planning on asking for the whole Lunar Chronicles this Christmas, even though I’m not even sure my parents can afford it yet lol. Let’s just hope there’s a boxed set by December 25 so I won’t have to buy the whole series individually.

  2. OMG THIS IS SO FABULOUS. I’m kind of dying over all the book merch you just threw in my face. And of course you had to throw in that Hunger Games ;P I challenge you not to mention THG in your next five non-book review posts. XD XD I agree, there totally needs to be more book discounts! We should all line up outside bookstores during Thanksgiving! … not that I celebrate it. To me it’s just funny jokes about turkey week.

  3. Oh, I NEVER understood what Black Friday was. We don’t ‘do’ it here in Australia (that I know of) and I’ve been getting SO many Amazon emails about it… *confused* Anyway, we do do Boxing Day here, but I don’t really know what it is. It’s the day after Xmas and all the movies come out that day. Its kind of nothing?

    But thanks for the giveaway! You’re too sweet!

  4. Awk, you are SO GENEROUS. *tackle hugs you* And Australia definitely doesn’t do Black Friday sales. 😉 We do Boxing day sales!! Our family avoids like the plague though because we are all hermits and ugh, people. Boxing Day in our family is for introverting. XD

  5. Yeah I don’t get books really. Maybe cookbooks ( are they trying to tell me something???) but that’s it. And definitely no book goodies. I know amazon has 30% off one book and there is an audible sale going on FYI. Also some kindle sales out there. But I stalk internet sales like mad!

  6. I am very new to the culture of Black Friday, so I’m a bit lost as to where to start looking for great deals XD For the holidays, I only have books in my wishlist every year and I wish everyone knows how amazing it is to get books for Christmas! However, since I discovered Evie Seo’s shop, it’s become cluttered with her goodies, I wanted everything she has in it!

  7. I put myself on a book buying ban the past months, so Christmas will be the time to buy ALL THE BOOKS. I just need new stuff to read and I can’t wait to have actual books in my hands again. I do get eArcs, but since I don’t have an eReader, I have to read them on my laptop and that is so tiring. I’d really like to get the Lunar Chronicles, Ten Thousand Skies Above, Carry On, More Happy Than Not, Half Wild, Library of Souls, The Rest of Us Just Live Here or Zeroes. I am sure that at least one of those will be possible to get.
    Thank you so much for this giveaway. It’s such a nice thing to do!

  8. I’m considering buying myself the entire Harry Potter series as a Christmas gift, but I already bought myself a Kindle Voyage as a Christmas gift (in November, but it totally counts and I wouldn’t have bought it no matter what time of the year at all), so maybe I should buy some gifts for friends and family first? I did actually get my cousin a book and my aunt, her and I gave each other books of bookstore vouchers last year. And then I also just request amazon vouchers when people ask me, because I will never not have something to buy on there. I hope your family gives you something bookish this year! And cool idea for a give-away. 🙂

  9. I wish I knew of more bookish deals, the only one I am going to for Black Friday is B&N. They have signed copy and one book for 30% off. I wish there were better deals somewhere. Screw all the clothing deals, I WANT THE BOOKS.

    Plus, The Hunger Games edition is FANTASTIC. I need it in my life, like yesterday! 🙂

    Thanks for the giveaway, love!

  10. MJ

    Book Outlet has a sale, and Barnes and Noble has 30% off 1 book plus they have tons of signed books for this Black Friday/weekend. Also Amazon has 30% off 1 book.
    Thanks so much for the giveaway!

  11. I was just having this conversation with Maraia. I had no idea that Boxing Day was not a thing in the US. I love Boxing Day sales here in Canada. It’s funny, though, because everything is closed on the actual Boxing Day, and the sales start on the 27th. We do have Black Friday sales, too, but they are definitely not as good as Boxing Day sales.

    I hardly ever get books for Christmas. Non-readers just don’t understand! I do tend to get gift cards for bookstores, though, which is just as nice. 😀 Thanks for the giveaway!

  12. YES.Ihave to beg, plead, grovel, and swear that it’s what you want.and there’s still a possibility that i will be getting socks as a gift.
    even though we don’t have boxing day in my country, this applies to all festivities and celebrations.
    i beg and beg and beg but still no one buys me books T^T this happens mostly because they don’t have big discounts. the only exception is of course Christmas.The site where has reasonable prices and has many offers to give is The Book Depository which is a great book site not only for its variety of books but also for the simple and amazing fact that the shipping is free!!!!

  13. Kristia

    In my country we never get sales on books unfortunately! But I often shop from the Book Depository or Amazon when they have an offer I’m interested in. Thank you for the giveaway 🙂

  14. I agree that there are no good book sales oUT there! I remember a few years ago Amazon at least offered a few good books at an amazing price, but that doesn’t seem to happen anymore. I am lucky though because my family and friends do enjoy books as gifts. I especially love that my 10 year old niece and 7 year old nephew get excited when they open books!

  15. Books sales are a rare occurrence where I live, and even when there is – they are always pricey! I’ve recently been looking for foreign language children’s books to aid me with my studies as the ones on Kindle are too good, I’ve found!

  16. One year, my grandparents gave me a bunch of books (like 10), but they were all really strange. I guess my mom had told them I like to read and so they got me a ton of books, but they were all practically hallmark movie style books. I still enjoyed them, but since then I haven’t gotten any books. Last year, on my birthday, I did go out and buy myself 20 books, so does that count? If you are a part of bookbub, it will alert you to ebook sales everyday. I have quite a few ebooks and every single one of them was free through bookbub. Might be worth trying out. (I’m not an affiliate of them in any way, I just have used it before). I generally will just ask for money and buy my own books.

  17. I can feed my own reading needs quite easily from our awesome library system, but I buy books for my classroom library. One of my dear friends did give me a gift certificate for Powell’s Books on my last birthday, which was wonderful. As a reading teacher, what I’d really like are some book-related long sleeved t-shirts. I’m pretty doubtful that anyone will come through for me.

    • Oh sorry; I didn’t answer your question! No, I don’t see many book sales other than the regular sales table most bookstores seem to have. As an educator, I can usually get 20% of new books at both large and small bookstores, which is lovely.

  18. Not going to lie but I honestly had no idea that Boxing Day wasn’t a thing in the US. The sales and the crowds are absolutely insane on that day. I think we’re starting to pick up on Black Friday in the UK. I have notice that books are not usually included in these sales which makes me sad and frustrated. Thank you for this awesome giveaway and I’m honestly resisting all temptation to just buy everything from Evie Seo’s shop and the Raven Boys Tarot cards are so gorgeous!!

  19. Trix

    Lots of brick-and-mortar indie bookstores are having specials for Small Business Saturday tomorrow (try an #IndiesFirst search), and quite a few do Cyber Monday (my local one does). Also, If you read romance and/or LGBT titles, a lot of the indie publishers and e-retailers are doing sales and rebates this weekend, such as All Romance, Dreamspinner and its sister imprints Harmony Ink (which is YA) and DSP (with some freebies through Monday!), and JMS Books (Samhain is doing one, too, but their codes aren’t up yet). So, if you have a favorite publisher, it might be worth checking their social media or web pages today. I’m sure there are a ton I haven’t found yet!

  20. Ugh, the best I found by way of book sales is 30% off ONE physical book sold by Amazon -_- I’d rather get gift cards than actual books as a gift, but I did have a friend in high school who bought me an Anne Rice book as a gift once because she saw that I was always reading Anne Rice and I still remember that because I thought it was so sweet! So sometimes people actually do give books! Lol

  21. You are too sweet Shannon! Thank you so much for being so kind as to do this giveaway. It’s definitely annoying and a bit sad how with all the Black Friday deals there are how few of them are book-related. 🙁

  22. Yes, there are tons of book sales this week and next week. I grabbed a few Kindle books this morning that were less than $2, but I’m waiting for the price to drop on physical books next week (mainly Monday).

  23. Chenise J.

    I find Canadian Black Friday sales seem to be more geared towards online deals, but there is still never anything great for books. Always just seems to be the usual bestsellers that are included in deals but nothing towards anything I actually want.

  24. Oh, Shannon! This is such a lovely giveaway, and I would be thrilled to win because I don’t get presents anymore. lol

    I went Black Friday shopping today, and my haul was pathetic; cat treats, potato chips, lip balm, and a pop. lol

  25. Mandy McCauley

    We have to skip Christmas this year, so I’m not sure if there has been many bookish sales or deals. I love getting books for Christmas though, it’s my favorite type of gift.

  26. Cindy Jameson

    Well, I for one do not leave the house anymore on Black Friday! So no idea if there are book sales going on out there in the physcial world. In the virtual world, I like to get Freebies on Amazon! They have different titles available all of the time!

  27. I love to get books as gifts but I prefer to get bookstore gift cards so I can pick the book that I want…

    I have my eye on a few bookish things… (i.e. that Harry Potter Marauders Map duvet set…but I’m to cheap to buy it for $50) hahahaha and if I would buy that, I would have to get HP themed jewelry and those socks! so I’m avoiding shopping the rest of the weekend 🙂

  28. Oh I love bookish gifts! Out of Print clothing has some awesome stuff, like a Punk Rock authors tote bag. I find it awesome.
    I love to ask people for books -but yeah, my family hates buying them because they want to get me something DIFFERENT. Plus, it takes me awhile to read them sometimes so yeah…

  29. This is literally the only reason I don’t go black Friday shopping. Like, why do I want to go shopping if I’m not going to get good book deals? Is there any other reason to go shopping?????? I never find good book deals around the holidays except on Bookoutlet where my bank account has banned together with my overflowing bookshelves to ban me for life. =(

    My family’s not exactly that way? I mean, my mom is a bigger reader than me so she knows books are awesome and the power of books. Unfortunately, the rest of my family refuses to shop from a Christmas list so they never get me books because they complain that it’s “too hard” to find something I don’t already have. Like, that’s why I give you the list!
    Oh, and top of my list this year is a Harry Potter coloring book! Because…yes, I’m a nerd and it’s HARRY POTTER!

  30. The only bookish things I usually want are books…
    One time, my grandparents asked me what I wanted for my birthday…the conversation went something like this:
    “What do you want for your birthday?”
    “Books.”
    “Right…but what do you want?”
    “Books”
    “Well, yeah, but what do you want?”

    …they just didn’t get it.

    Fortunately, all the other members of my family understand me perfectly, and so they do buy me books…I compile a list for them, and they choose which ones to get me.
    And for one of my birthdays, most of my friends got me Dymocks gift cards, which was awesome 🙂

  31. We don’t actually celebrate Black Friday in Australia but yeah, I actually just went on Amazon the other day to look for sales and couldn’t find many! I think Liars Inc was on sales though. Man those Raven Boys tarot cards look amazing though!

  32. Before the #ShelfLove Challenge I was subscribed to so many emails that offered free eBooks. It’s the reason I accumulated so many eBooks. I unsubscribed from all of then when we started the challenge this year. I don’t miss them amazingly enough. One of my favorites was The Fussy Librarian though.

    Speaking of challenges, are you hosting the Discussion Challenge again?

  33. I am a hardcore Black Friday shopper (like get up in the middle of the night to get the best deals kind of crazy) and I was extremely disappointed when I found out that most bookstores do not have any good sales. It is not like readers are richer than everyone else, right? None of the bookstores near me were even open when I went shopping anyway, which is also kind of ridiculous.
    But, if I could get a bookish thing, I would get a t-shirt from Lithographs. I absolutely adore the Throne of Glass shirt and I think it would be insanely cool to have a whole book on your shirt. I would also love to get my hands on the Raven Boys tarot cards too. Thanks for the giveaway!

  34. I didn’t go out AT ALL this Black Friday! I tried to convince my sister for Target but she refused because of the crowds. Pictures of our local Target ended up appearing on the Daily Mail. Go figure. haha. I looked through Forever 21 online but they had nada. I tried Amazon, too, but they were pretty boring. I couldn’t find one actual book deal either!

    I think I only asked for books once. I asked my sister for a set of Emily Giffin novels a while back and she ended up getting them for me. I was surprised! My mom has offered to get me B&N/Amazon gift cards and I think I prefer that option, honestly. Sweet post! 😀

  35. I think that most of the bookish deals that I find are on Etsy. At least, as far as bookish related things and not books themselves. I could get lost on Etsy forever. =P

  36. Book Outlet is the only one I can think of – they have 30% off their already ridiculously cheap books, plus you can get a $5 coupon before the sale starts (which takes care of the bulk of the shipping). I buy TONS of kids’ books at Book Outlet – it’s great for that!

  37. Suz Reads

    I’m usually shopping for other Black Friday deals so don’t really notice the books! Thanks for this amazing giveaway – I would love to win!

  38. Miranda

    It seems BookOutlet, Barnes and noble, Amazon all had really good Black Friday sales. I’m hoping next year I’ll have better finances and have a bit more extra to spend. 🙂

  39. Nope, the only book sales I ever see are random ones on Amazon. My family is totally the same way – I almost get books as gifts. I’d love a set of the Raven Cycle tarot cards, even though I have no idea what I’d do with them. (Maybe use them as wallpaper? Haha.) Thanks for the giveaway, Shannon!

  40. Bonnie Hilligoss

    I don’t budge out on Black Friday week-end, so have not seen any book sales. Hope everyone has a great holiday season!

  41. Mai

    I’m obsessed with book accessories so I usually check my fave stores in etsy or instagram. I think @thegeekycauldron did a Black Friday sales. Hoping they’ll do a holiday sales as well ♥ For book sales, I usually count on Amazon or author newsletters for announcements 🙂

    Here’s the link to their site @thegeekycauldron https://www.instagram.com/thegeekycauldron/

  42. You are so incredibly generous!! Thank you so much for the fantastic giveaway!!! I love Black Friday sales, and Cyber Monday ones as well. You see, I rarely leave the house to shop. I shop almost 100% online! I’m so happy that Black Friday sales are also online now, because I remember a few years ago you had to stand in line at a store at midnight to get the great prices. Gotta love sales!! BTW I’m totally obsessed with all of Evie’s designs on both Society6 and Redbubble. If I could have anything bookish for Christmas, it would be a pillow, mug, etc. with her design on it. They’re heavenly! <3

  43. Yeah, I work at Barnes and Noble, and we rarely have good holiday sales. My only love about the holiday is that we have employee appreciation days starting this week, which means we get 40% instead of the normal 30% off of books. Thanks for the giveaway!

  44. Summer

    The dollar store can be a good place to look for super cheap books, a lot of the time I don’t recognize any of the titles, but I’ve also lucked out and found books by Josephine Angelini, Anita Shreve, and other name authors, buying a hardcover for under $2 is a pretty great feeling.

  45. Oh, the beautiful bookishness… I am in luuurrvve! That pillow is the one making me drool. So I would love to know what it is with family members who don’t/won’t buy books as gifts. I give books as gifts OFTEN, and yet very rarely receive any. I think my family is of the opinion, having seen my bookshelves, that I already have “enough.” Bahahaha! Aren’t they precious? *ahem*

  46. Rhiannon

    I had to check out those bookish candles, and oh my did I find a bunch that I want. I love, love, love bookish items and it’s something hard to explain to my non book obsessed husband.

    I get probably close to 10 emails a day about what books are on sale. Kindle Daily Deals, Modern Mrs. Darcy Kindle sales, Ebooks Grow on Trees, Anna’s Book Blog, and several others.

  47. I am very much a boxing day shopper and yes, I take advantage of that deal! I am going to be honest here though – YOU are the main reason there are a lot of bookish things I want. Ever since you introduced me to Society6 I bookmarked like twenty five items that are just must haves for me and some more on the side as well 😉 I shall get them all! When I stop being as broke as I am now ;.;

  48. Katarzyna

    Amazon has a promotion now, 25% off one paperback book ordered between now and Dec 14, I’m glad I waited a bit longer with buying gifts for friends 🙂

  49. I always want books for Christmas, my parents don’t even ask anymore! There used to be better sales, I think. Or now books are just more expensive? Either way, we just can’t stop reading, can we?

  50. Stacy

    I love bookish candles! I bought some last year from an Etsy shop for myself, my brother, and some of my bookish friends. I bought mostly Harry Potter inspired ones, but they are awesome! As for book deals, some stores have Buy X Get 1 free deals (like Books a Million and Barnes and Nobles) but then you have to pay shipping (and for some sites you pay more than you would save). I was able to treat myself to some $10 hardcover books from Target on Black Friday, which was nice. My family knows it is better to get me book gift cards than books because I just cannot help myself and I usually buy the books that I want, especially if I see a good deal.

  51. Eileen

    Chapters in Canada has some pretty cool deals for Christmas time 😀 Amazon and Book Outlet send outs coupons too!

  52. Bube

    Nope,only on Amazon,or The Book Depository,but in our country we don’t celebrate Thanksgiving,and the only time when the books are on sale is Book Fair and before Christmas and New Year,and through summer months 🙂
    Happy Holidays and Thank you for the great giveaway 🙂

  53. The best book sale I’ve seen this season was the Scholastic book fair sale. Although I’ve been to several, the one I recently went to was in a huge convention room. It had 1/2 price books, and some were already marked down. I got many gifts!

  54. Thank you so much! My husband buys me books for Christmas. It’s taken a while to get him to understand that, just because critics SAY a certain author is wonderful, doesn’t mean I like him. He continues to ask me every year about John Grisham. There are a very few Grisham books I’ve liked. Mostly, I find his work contrived and often the endings are often just that: endings. Each year, I have to remind him that I don’t read Grisham (unless completely desperate). My parents always bought me books growing up.

    As for sales, I’ve not found any truly epic sales. It’s really a shame because Christmas is the time when we try to save money to buy several gifts for my children. My daughter really wants some anime/manga books. They’re expensive and we’d be able to really do something great for her AND help promote several authors at the same time. Alas, no sales. That means I don’t get many books either – just one or two (but they’re always by my ‘collectible’ authors and in hardback).

  55. BookAttict

    I never see any book sales during the holidays. I have, however, trained most of the people in my life to buy me books or gift cards for books (even my boss bonuses me in Amazon GCs!).

  56. Kathy E.

    We have a BAM bookstore in our mall and they have great book sales! Also, a huge clearance section which I could spend my whole paycheck on, but can’t.

  57. Autumn

    Target on Black Friday always has some good books for sale. Thanks for the awesome giveaway. I love book themed pillows.

  58. You are so right, about the lack of sales and folks not gifting books. When I was a kid my dad would buy me all the books, guess he liked to encourage reading. These days however, my ‘booklist’ falls on deaf ears. Sometimes my brother buys me an amazon gift card and I swear he stopped when he discovered I was buying books with it. Maybe thats my imagination. And as for sales. Well yeah Bookoutlet had some good ones Black Friday but they are few, very few, and far between.
    You are pretty amazing for such a giveaway

  59. Ada

    I don’t really notice big sales on books around the holidays, at least not what I would consider big a deal. But I try to save enough gift cards that even a little sale is good for my budget!

  60. Anita H.

    I love shopping at The Book Depository. Not only does it have free shipping to my country, they do a lot of sales, you just have to keep checking! I’ve filled my bookshelves thanks to them!

  61. Ana M

    I can never find good sales during the holidays. I manage to get a lot of new books because my friends and I trade books amongst ourselves around christmas time, so we manage to free space in our bookshelf and get new books to fill it 🙂

  62. Isabel

    For cheap books, I always use Book Depository. I’m not sure they have holiday sales, but they do have good prices and are fast and efficient! 🙂
    Thanks for the giveaway and happy holidays!

  63. I am always looking.. Always! I don’t know how people find the good deals they do, but I wish I could figure it out. I also use Book Gorilla for really great prices on Indie’s!

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