All Blog Posts

Welcome to the HPB blog archive. Here, you can find every post we've ever posted and really get lost — in a good way.

10 Heartthrobs of Literature We Love

Some we fall in love with as soon as they are written onto the page. Others we gradually grow to love as the story progresses. They are the men we wish would step out of the book and whisk us away. They are why we turn the page. You may ask, “Who are these men… View Article

Plum Ready for “One for the Money”

When I heard that Janet Evanovich’s first Stephanie Plum book, One for the Money, was finally hitting the big screen, I thought, “It’s about time.” Finally, the luckiest (though not the most competent) bounty hunter and her two hunky counterparts will be chasing bad guys, hauling in naked septuagenarians and blowing up cars at a… View Article

40 Classic Books You Should Have Read in School

Earlier this month Jim Swayze challenged you to read Classic Literature, but if you are anything like me, you wonder when a book stops being a regular book and starts being a “classic.” Interestingly enough, no one really knows. In fact, essays have been found debating the topic since the early 19th century. The term… View Article

Back to School + Ripping Out Textbook Pages

Hey stoods and profs: We’re talking to you today. What up? Has anyone coined the term ‘stoods’ for students? I think I need cred for that. What?! I’m hip! The start of the Spring Semester always seems like a misnomer. First of all, for many, the first day of the “Spring” Semester means donning a… View Article

HPB Reading Challenge: Lit Classics

Did you know that the weather powers-that-be predicted an exceptionally cold winter this year? When we first heard that, Jenni and I headed to Half Price Books to stock up on some great “cozy up to the fire” reads — so even though Old Man Winter is later than normal this season, we’ll be ready… View Article

Meryl Streep as Iron Lady: Oscar-Worthy?

With the release of Iron Lady (limited release tomorrow and wide release January 13), there is already a lot of Oscar buzz surrounding this film. The major question looming is, “Will this movie get Meryl Streep her third Best Actress Oscar– and her first since 1983 for Sophie’s Choice?” In Iron Lady, the 62-year-old Oscar… View Article

Tiny Book of Tiny Stories by Joseph Gordon-Levitt

Ever since the days of 3rd Rock from the Sun and his Hanson-like hair, I’ve had a secret crush on Joseph Gordon-Levitt. As his acting career has grown in popularity with movies like Inception, (500) Days of Summer, and soon The Dark Knight Rises, Gordon-Levitt has not forgotten where he came from. Especially lately, it… View Article

HPB: Whistle While You Work

Is there anything better than a new Half Price Books coming to town? No? Oh…well, would a video about a new Half Price Books coming to town suffice, for the time being? If you said yes, then this is for YOU! The crazy crew at HPB has made the fine art of building a store… View Article

American Homer: An Ode to David Halberstam

People can, and do, quibble about the dates, but no nation in history has been as rich, free, and powerful as the United States in the post-war years from 1945 – 1975. The pen that best chronicled these American decades belonged to David Halberstam. A Harvard man (he edited the Crimson), Halberstam went in the… View Article

If You Liked The Tournament of Mysteries, You Might Also Like…

I am a total book nerd, and I love lists. So, when I was told Half Price Books was having a Tournament of Mysteries as part of Mystery Madness, I set out to read all the books on the bracket, in order to vote for the right book with each pairing. Now that I have… View Article