Uncover hidden gems at the Lifeline Bookfest

February 06, 2016 Explorer Gabor 0 Comments

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Does anyone need a Steve Waugh autobiography? 
There's an opportunity each year to buy more books than you could imagine for less money than dinner and a movie.  After hearing about it for years, I made it to the holy grail of book sales.

What can I say but...OMG...it's a book lovers heaven.  I've never seen such a variety of books in one place than at the Lifeline Bookfest.  There were lots of popular titles, stacks of autobiographies and fiction, more children's books than you could imagine, as well as classics and rare books.

Split into three sections, we first checked out the $1 section - all books at a dollar with kids books just 50 cents.  Apart from being placed on long tables grouped by classification (children's, fiction etc), the books are in no particular order and you just roam the rows looking at the sea of titles.   Most of these were older titles and popular authors included Wilbur Smith, Barbara Taylor-Bradford, Jackie Collins, Stephen King and John Grisham.  There must have been at least 50 copies of the Da Vinci Code.

Next we moved into the marked price section where books are individually priced.  It was like stepping up from a Crazy Clark's discount store to Target.  This was by far the largest section of Bookfest, the majority of books were in good condition and it was the place to find more recent releases. Still arranged by classification and in no particular order, most of the books we looked at - autobiographies, fiction and children's books - were $4 - $6 each.  Excellent value for books in such good condition.
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Inside Brisbane's Lifeline Bookfest
By this stage, the kids really needed a break and our arms were aching under the weight of our book selection.  Luckily, this section includes a cafe and we took the opportunity to take a break and review our intended purchases.  This allowed us to whittle down our hefty load to something we could actually carry.

The last section of the Bookfest offers books for $2.  By this stage, we weren't able to carry any more and didn't feel like walking to the car to unload our purchases.  Next time I think I'll try the $2 section first as the $1 books didn't quite cut it with my brood.

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Our Lifeline Bookfest Bonanza: 18 books for $80

Our final haul was 18 books for $80, which is pretty good value.  Some of the books were like new and the rest in excellent or good condition.

Bookfest is held in Brisbane every January and in various cities across Queensland throughout the year. It's also for a good cause - funds are used to support a number of important Lifeline support programs across the state.

The best bits - so many books to choose from and you can pick up good quality books for a bargain.

The so so bits - with books grouped only by category, it can take a while to find a specific book.

Put aside plenty of time to explore Bookfest.  Before we knew it, we'd been there two hours and I could have easily stayed longer...if I had someone else to carry the books for me!

The Lifeline Bookfest....whether you love books or just like them a little, it's worth exploring further.

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