I’m one of those people who sells back any books that I read upon finishing them. So, it isn’t unusual for me to barge into Half Price Books with a tote or two full of the most recent novels I’ve read, in the hopes that I’ll make a few bucks and share the joy of reading with other bookworms.

Imagine my surprise when I did so yesterday … and was confronted by an in-store display of my fiction novel (first edition) alongside books like the Life of Pi, Brave New World, and a novel by David Baldacci.

It caught me off guard — I literally did a double-take. It was an odd feeling to have no idea that your book is even stocked in a certain store … let alone displayed in a prime spot right smack dab on the sales floor.

I decided to take a peek and see if anyone had sold my other books to HPB — and it turns out that someone did. Thanks to some anonymous readers, pre-loved copies of Sick Idiot and To Exist are gracing the shelves of not one, but several, Half Price Books locations. This is a fact that, until stumbling upon them by accident yesterday, I did not know.

As an author, I am neither offended nor disappointed to see my books for sale in a bargain store like Half Price Books. It means that someone — or several someones — bought and, presumably, read, my books in the first place … and now readers who would have formerly been unaware of my existence now know my name and my work. I’ll take it.

Bookstores like this one are a great way for literary works to get a second lease on life. So thanks to whomever (however inadvertantly) helped to get my name out there and familiarize new raeders with my work. An aditional shout-out goes out to Half Price Books. Seeing my books on display as I walked in was a happily-welcomed surprise.

(You can find To Exist on display in the Robinson location, and also in the Sci-Fi section. Sick Idiot is shelved in the Self-Help section. Happy bargain-reading! … Though I would prefer you order from, say, Amazon or Barnes & Noble. Authors gotta eat, man.)

But all kidding aside, check out your local Half Price Books. They have current best-sellers, classics, new and used, and everything in-between! (And no, they are not paying me to plug them.)