It’s a common adage that you shouldn’t go grocery shopping while hungry. No one has ever put a prohibition on shopping while gift stressing though, and that is a relief because the heat is on to find those perfect gifts. Fortunately, Bookmans makes it easy! The mad dash for the checkout lines has begun and those of you who put off your holiday shopping until the last minute are feeling the strain. There’s no need to ‘mall’ when you have local businesses that carry everything you’re looking for.

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You need not torment yourself (and your credit score) trying to battle with the festive hordes. Here is what you do: take a deep breath and listen… the answer is Bookmans. It works like this: you collect all those past presents that you were too nice or too busy to return, put them in a box and bring them to us. We evaluate them for resale and then make offers either in cash or trade credit to buy YOUR stuff. That’s right folks, Bookmans will pay YOU to shop for your holiday gifts. That isn’t crazy, that’s amazing. It’s even more amazing when you realize that you can buy all of your holiday gifts here with said Trade Credit. And if you think that is the best part, then you haven’t gone crazy shopping here yet.

We have everything, and that almost not an exaggeration. Bookmans stores are famous for having the most unusual, quirky, unique, one of a kind, handmade, vintage, new, weird and absolutely perfect items that will make the season of giving gifts merry and bright (and stress-relieving too).

*We thought it would be fun to take a tour through the store and have a look at some of the fantastical items that could be found. We quickly discovered that any kind of comprehensive overview of our merchandise would be utterly impossible. There are simply too many cool things tucked in every nook and cranny, on every shelf and case to describe. We are dreamers though, ever optimistic that we can give you at least a tiny peek at what wonders await you in our stores.

Let’s start with board games and puzzles…
We found two board games that particularly caught our eye. One was called JUNTA! (yes, all caps) and it claims to be “the game of power, intrigue, money, and revolution.” We can’t honestly tell you how fun it is but we plan to find out because the characters are insane. Perfect for holiday parties, right?

The next game has a deceptively dignified feel. Troyes is a medieval historical, military, religious and civil influence game. The game begins in the year 1200 when the foundation is laid for the cathedral of Troyes. We aren’t sure but our guess is that civilized things quickly become, as they say, medieval.

Next we found many items for the scientist in your life. We found some killer puzzles that would be ideal for after-dinner relaxing.

Now on to some stranger stuff…
How about Frank Bowman’s Introduction to Bessel Functions? YEAH. Bessel Functions. We know that our customers have someone in their lives who not only KNOWS what this title means but will also really dig getting it as a gift because… who would see it coming? Next is a Molecular Visions flexible molecular model kit. He thought last year’s bike was a challenge. Let’s see dad put this baby together Christmas morning.

There’s more…
We found an unbearably cute pair of orange smiley face mugs, and they matched our shelves! Everyone would love a Buddha flashing a peace sign or two ceramic dogs chained together. Speaking of pairs, we found a set of frogs chilling on logs, a set of vintage radish head salt and pepper shakers, and Mr. & Mrs. Dolls that are made of ceramic cork. As for corks, we found a vintage cork board – made of corks!!

And more…
A Hawaiian shirt cookie jar, a depression-era Democratic Party watch, a tiny, tiny hand painted table, a palm frond doll, tarot cards of every type (even unicorns!! Yes, Unicorn tarot cards… awesome, right?) and of course jewelry. Oh, and vinyl. Some really weird vinyl. Even we don’t know what it is but it looks cool so why not? We actually did have a kitchen sink here once, it was gorgeous and sold really fast so we can literally say “everything including the kitchen sink.”

We didn’t have time to get to the books. That bums us out because what we found really cracked us up. I mean, “Grunt” Pigorian Chant? Now that is worth celebrating. Don’t forget to check out our Pop Culture and Unusual Finds sections for some of our less mainstream items. Who knows what you will find but we are certain that there is something for all your peeps, every single one. Bring your trade credit (or cash!) in and get crazy this holiday season at a Bookmans near you!

*This blog is originally from 2016, but the message remains the same – you’ll always something fun, unusual, or serendipitously perfect for everyone on your gift list at Bookmans!