POV: you’re at a thrift store
Books you will find on any given thrift store shelf in the US, for better or worse 😂 For books in a series or by prolific authors, I’ve only included one book so as not to overwhelm the list.
Suggestions welcome!
I think it goes without saying but just in case… I’m not necessarily recommending these books by having them on this list. (In fact I wouldn’t recommend many of these.) This is for fun!
created by honeydijon
last updated August, 2026
Comments
This is so niche and so hilarious 😂 I am obsessed! Another one that used to be in every thrift store was “Chicken Soup for the Soul” and also “Rich Dad Poor Dad”
I’m so glad you find it as funny as I do 😂 good additions!! I put them on the list!
I love this 😂😂
I would humbly like to suggest The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Steig Larsson and The Shack by William P. Young bc I see these two CONSTANTLY lol
Thank you 🤣 YES I will add those!
Hello, yes! Does it matter if the thrift store is ‘Christian’?? lol, will they still have 50 shades? (The answer is yes)
I think 50 Shades would materialize out of thin air if it had to in order to be ubiquitous 😂
This is so funny 😭 I love thrifting but you're not wrong...
Ideas: — Fourth Wing — something by Mary Higgins Clark — The Prayer of Jabez — a cookbook for fat loss
YES to anything by Mary Higgins Clark, there's no escaping her
I actually am even perpetually looking for certain ones of hers (my mom collects her) but it's always like... I'll Be Seeing You
Can’t believe I forgot Mary Higgins Clark! Added these!
Happy to amuse! I love thrifting too! I’ve been lucky to find a lot of great books while thrifting and I’ve definitely noticed some patterns haha
This is so good! It’s true that no matter where you are, there’s no escaping the 48 Laws of Power - that book will haunt us for generations 🥲
A tragic ripple effect 😩
nora roberts has SHELVES across my local thrift stores… you cannot escape her. this is a hilarious list!
She really just pumps them out like no other haha
Before the time when many a reader would have benefited from ereaders lol
You really can’t. And if you think you’ve escaped her… a J.D. Robb book lurks Glad you found it funny too 😂
The Fault In Our Stars LOL 💀 Accurate, my local thrift stores have no less than 4 at a time
Same 😂 I loved it as a teenager! But it is always at every thrift store lol
Oh man, this list is so inspired!! I volunteer at my library book sale monthly, and Nora Roberts and Danielle Steel truly have BOXES for their books. I would humbly submit Dan Brown - probably the Da Vinci Code is the one I see most
I believe that 😅😅 they’ve both written so much and it’s like there’s a billion copies in print. Oh 100% I can’t believe I forgot to put that on here! Added!
How does this not surprise me at all 😆 I swear to god, every time I visit a 2nd hand store there's like 10 Danielle Steel books minimum
And they're all different!! I think she has written perhaps 3 million books at a conservative estimate
ahahahaha, I think so
This is FANTASTIC!! I swear the left behind series stalks me to different thrift stores in my city!!
Thank you! Oh my god right?! It’s everywhere
Chicken soup for the soul and heaven is for real LMAO my goodwill employee days are haunting me🤣🤣🤣
Obesssed with this when I was a kid
I hardly ever encounter other people who worked at thrift stores!! Mine was a local place instead of Goodwill but still!!!
It was my first job! The whole thing was a fever dream tbh (one time someone came up to checkout like 20mins before closing with 2 full carts of clothes that totaled nearly $2000...that was a crazy night; I also have a distinct memory of working a shift after getting my wisdom teeth out and my manager let me snack on a popsicle while actively working out on the floor LMAO the professionalism bar was in hell, but also it was so fun)
😵💫😵💫😵💫😵💫 I’m actually impressed they racked up that high of a total. That’s genuinely impressive. And I cannot believe you worked right after getting your wisdom teeth out 😂😂 One of my more distinct memories (read: horror stories) from my time working at a thrift store involved 💩 and as much as I wish I could scrub the memory, it is vivid
This is incredible! May I suggest at least one book about quilting for beginners and an ancient PCs for Dummies?
Ahhh yes I cannot believe I forgot to put one of those on there! Adding 😌
Update I couldn’t find this exact one on here so I went with Finance for Dummies
Also a good one. Really any in the series would do. I see at least 5 every time I go. Lol
And it’s usually not something that would be interesting to read at this point lol
Exactly. 😂
Omg The Lovely Bones! That used to be in Target all the time when I was a kid and would go there to read!
But also please elaborate on going to Target to read, would you like sit in the aisle or? I love this lore drop
Haha I would usually sit on the little…IDK what you would call it, I guess just the most bottom level of the shelving/displays? Usually I could find one that didn’t have shelves immediately above it, so I could sit on there and just read for a while while my parents walked around!
I love that! Finding one of those bottom shelves that had enough space to sit fully upright on was like finding treasure lol
I was like this as a kid! My mom liked to shop at Winn-Dixie, and I hated standing in line. The book section was near the register, so I was allowed to go read. This is how 7 year old me ended up learning about the Sweet Valley High books! I could usually get through a chapter per visit. I also remember begging my mom for the 25th anniversary edition of Sesame Street magazine at that Winn-Dixie, and her saying yes - but that it would be my very last issue.
It has made its way from Targets everywhere to Goodwills everywhere 😂
Out of curiosity, is it also common to see a lot of bibles in thrift stores in the US? I thrifted almost all of my Danish books in Denmark and there were always so many bibles I had to walk past before finally finding something I'm interested in xD
I’m thinking no (but correct me if I’m wrong). Maybe Bible study books, but not actual bibles. The custom I know of is that you put your name and family tree in the bible and (I’ve always heard) in the past before official records (or for people who weren’t wealthy or important enough to be officially recognized) the Bible is where you recorded births, deaths, marriages in your family. So I’m sitting at my mom ’s bookshelf contemplating donating the books, and I already know I’ll keep the bibles because I’m sure they have personal stuff in them
That's really interesting!
I loved that custom but it seems to have fallen out of favor in recent decades :/ also so many people don’t bother with hardback or fancier bibles. They buy paperback “modern translation” bibles from their churches and then dump them when they get tattered.
Yeah it is a cool custom, but my family never did it to my memory. It is cool to stumble upon old Bibles that have these records though!
So incredibly common. I think at this point they get so overrun that they sometimes just throw them out after getting enough copies. They literally put bibles into drawers in some hotels. We’re overrun lol.
We are definitely overrun! Flattened by the mindset of patriarchal Christianity as well as the mountain of Gideons hotel drawer bibles. I’m sure there’s a political cartoon of this somewhere
😩🥴
And can’t forget the Book of Mormon in hotel drawers right next to it!
My thrift store gets so many Bibles, they donate a lot of them to shelters/prison ministry groups.
I feel like I do see Bibles every now and again, but like @unlikeableFP said there are usually more Bible study books than Bibles. I used to work at a thrift store and they wouldn’t sell donated Bibles, they would give them out for free 😂 that’s interesting the Danish thrift stores had so many Bibles though!
Actually respect to that place because you aren’t REALLY supposed to sell them lmfao.
Free bibles, great xD The Danish thrift stores were drowning in bibles and Danish song books lmao
I volunteer at one - we absolutely get a lot of Bible donations!
i LOVE this im cackling
Thank you 😂😂 I am way too entertained by my own list, I’m just happy other people are entertained by it as well
ill be using this as a scavenger hunt next time im in the thrift store book section im serious
YES my girlfriend and I have said we need to do this. Please tell me how it goes!!!
I WILL
This is so so funny and so accurate, and I am giggling! The ones that haunt me are the "For Dummies" books; I always find some wacky new how to at the thrift.
Thank you haha. I finally added a for Dummies book! I can’t believe I forgot to put one on here!
My sisters keeper by Jodi Picolt Men are from mars, women are from Venus All the beach read romance books ever by Nora 😅
The mortal instruments The song of ice and fire Dan brown anything
I'm sure I have more lol I go all the time
Oh yes every time I go to any thrift store I always see the mortal instruments
Thank you!! I will add these! I actually just pulled My Sister’s Keeper off my own shelves recently to get rid of 😂that’s so funny
Hahaha not you making this list and then totally being the instigator too
😈😇 I contain multitudes (but also I thrifted it originally so… full circle?)
We take from the earth and we giveth it back 😌
I got all of my Twilight books from the thrift store and there were so many I got to sit and pick the nicest editions of each copy lol 😆
I got The Host 🤩
ahhhh james patterson.... there is no escaping him anywhere
Unfortunately 😭😭😭😭
This is hilarious! There's got to be some reality Z- list memoir tucked in there too
Thank you 😂 Omg yes I definitely need to add one of those. Any specific names come to mind?
Bossy Pants (Tina fey) Yes Please (Amy Poehler) and why not me (Mindy Kaling)
Added!
Why is this so accurate 😂 This reminds me of the first time I went thrifting for books, where I found piles of “Freed” by EL James next to some Joel Olsteen books
😂😂 it’s so funny to me. LOL yes I feel like I often see the 50 Shades books right next to Left Behind or something. It’s hilarious
As somebody who volunteers in the book/media section of a thrift store - this feels accurate. Especially the "What to Expect When You're Expecting" one - our pregnancy/baby section barely sells anything at all, but the donations are abundant. Maybe add Rachael Ray cookbooks or the "Love Inspired" romance books. 😂
I used to work at a thrift store (like 10+ years ago lol) and I draw a lot of this list inspo from my experience 😂 I will definitely add a Rachael Ray! I’m not sure if I am familiar with Love Inspired 👀
Love Inspired stands out to me because my grandma used to subscribe to them and received one book per month. It's "inspirational/religious" romances. My very first foray into the non-YA romance genre when I was in high school.
We currently have a giant amount on our shelves at the thrift store.
Omg okay I bet I have seen those then 😂 I couldn’t find anything on PB when I searched Love Inspired — any specific title I should look for and add to the list?
I just looked up a few - the covers for "Safe in the Fireman's Arms" and "Once Upon a Texas Christmas" made me giggle a bit, so maybe them?
Oh my god these do look so familiar!! I think my mom may have had some lol added! Thank you!
You are welcome!
lmao this is so dead accurate. will say, you should really add angela's ashes by frank mccourt - I remember listening to a book riot podcast and that's one of the most donated books in the states, iirc.
I love seeing how many books from my list I can find when I go thrifting 😂 oh excellent recommendation, I thrifted it myself lol
This is so freaking accurate!!
It could make for a very dangerous drinking game 😂
Haha this is so accurate. I nominate A Year in Provence. That book is in every thrift store even though I've never heard of anyone actually reading it
I will add it! I haven’t read it but I do actually remember watching the BBC adaptation as a kid, and if my memory serves me correctly it is how I learned what truffles are!
This is SO funny i love it The thrift store i often go to ALWAYS has at least 4 copies of memoirs of a geisha. Sidney sheldon also shows up 😂 Also the "spy/war" section is like exclusively james patterson
Thank you!! I found it funny so I’m glad other people are amused too! I’ll have to add that! Ugh yes James Patterson everywhere 😬😬
i don’t think i’ve ever gone to a thrift store and NOT seen twilight on their shelves LMAO
It’s always there 😂
Omg stop I literally saw Little Fires Everywhere at the thrift store today 😭🤚 but also came to recommend David Baldacci and Lisa Gardner
😂😂 OMG I am so disappointed in myself for forgetting to add them 💀 thank you! They’ve been added!
When I Am an Old Woman I Shall Wear Purple (Here at my mom’s house thinking of donating her books, and I thought, any thrift store already has 3 copies of that one)
I’m not familiar with that book! But I can definitely add it if you’ve seen it a ton. Who’s it by?
This is hilarious! I always see pillars of the earth by Ken follett at the thrift store!
Thank you, I’ll add that!
I am not in the US but one book I can imagine is kinda global is Slumdog Millionaire, I see it so often 😭
I will add it!
This is perfect for when i want a thrift book section experience but not the drive to the store 😂 iconic. Also might I suggest at least one Fredrik Backman? I ALWAYS see either Bear Town or A Man Called Ove (which lowkey makes me sad bc I think those are great)
😂😂 no need to browse the shelves, we’ve got it all right here! lol I will add a Backman! He is a great author, which cannot be said of every name on this list lol
The accuracy of this list is both hilarious but also fascinating because I’m in Canada and the shelves are identical. SOOO MANY the help books!!!
Two I see a lot of is The Nest by Cynthia D’Aprix Sweeney and Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr
That’s funny it’s the same there too!
LOL I got Cloud Cuckoo Land at a thrift store I think 😂 I’ll add those!
This list is 💯💯💯! 🤣🤣🤣
Jumping in to recommend any book from the Dragonlance series published by Wizards of the Coast. But never, like, the start of a series or a full set - it's always just book 2 or 3.
I also really enjoy looking at the horrendously out of date textbooks. One of my last trips to Goodwill, I picked up a textbook from the '90s about criminal law studies.
Thank you, thank you haha. I added book 2!
Oh yes I love the outdated textbooks as well!! I have a few outdated nonfiction picks and textbooks I’ve collected from the thrift store. And can’t forget the super far right wing Christian books
Of course! Those are a staple. Bonus points if they've been conspicuously placed next to Twilight or 50 Shades.
Bonus bonus points if they’re also next to a Left Behind book. 😂
This is basically an unofficial companion list for the Made For Movies Quest
LOL this is an astute observation 😂😂
