Blog

Gardner’s Used Bookstore In Tulsa, Oklahoma

April 7, 2021 by Lynn Leave a Comment

We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.

Gardner’s Used Books in Tulsa, Oklahoma, is our favorite used bookstore! Why is it our favorite? It is our favorite because not only does it have great books, it is a bookstore we visit often.

Bookstores have been hit hard over the last few years, and we want to help support them. We want bookstores to not just survive but to thrive. As we travel and visit bookstores, we love to share all about them with you.

Book lovers love bookstores, and we want to help you find some great ones to visit.

Gardner’s Used Bookstore is our local bookstore. We don’t live in Tulsa, but we do live in northeast Oklahoma, so Gardner’s Used Books is a store we visit often.

My kids and I have been visiting it for years. As little kids, they loved to spend time in the kid’s room picking out books to bring home.

Now as college students and adults, they still love to browse Gardner’s Used Books with me. Their tastes have changed, but we still always leave with a pile of books to add to our bookshelves.

The Nonfiction Section

Our favorite section at Gardner’s Used Books is the nonfiction section. This is the case at most bookstores. We love nonfiction, so we always spend most of our time looking in that section.

They have everything from memoirs to how-to’s, but our favorite part of the nonfiction section is the history.

Gardner’s has a great selection of WWII, American History, Presidential books, and more.

We could literally spend hours going up and down the aisles of the history section.

They have hardbacks and paperbacks, and they are both well priced. No matter what time period you enjoy reading about, you can probably find a book about it at Gardner’s.

Many of the books are ones that we have never heard of. This is exactly why we love visiting used bookstores. You never know what you will find.

The Fiction Section

Gardner’s has all kinds of other books as well. Their fiction section is huge. They have classic fiction, mass-market paperbacks, romance, mystery, and more.

If you love fiction, you are sure to find a book–or maybe ten–to add to your shelves.

The Religion Section

We also enjoy browsing their religion section because you never know what you will find. We have found some hidden gems in the religion section.

The last time we went to Gardner’s, my daughter found an old book about the history of hymns. It was an interesting, old book that only cost a couple of dollars.

Comic Books

There is also a huge comic book section, which is why a lot of people go to Gardner’s. We aren’t big comic book people, so I totally forgot to get a picture of the comic book section.

The Cookbooks

Since I love food and have a food website, I can never resist the cookbook section. The last time I went, I found an old Martha Stewart cookbook that I didn’t have. It will be perfect for my year of Martha Stewart cooking challenge.

The Prices

Let’s talk about prices for a minute. Overall, Gardners has great prices! Most of the books are $3.95 or $4.95. Mass market paperbacks are even cheaper.

If a book has been there a while or if they have quite a few copies of it, the prices tend to be even cheaper. For example, I paid $2.95 for the copy of Unbroken that I picked up to give my dad since he hasn’t read it. That is a great price for a book that was in good shape.

We always leave with a stack of books for the price of what we would pay for just a couple of new books.

What we bought at Gardner’s Used Bookstore

When we visit bookstores I love to show you the stack of books that we end up buying. Yes, it is usually a stack of books that we leave with, especially if it is a used bookstore.

This is my stack from our last trip to Gardner’s Used Books. My daughters and I went for the first time in about nine months. All three of us left with quite a pile of books.

This time I ended up buying quite a few memoirs. I love memoirs and their selection was great this time.

I think I am looking forward to reading Apron’s and Silverspoons the most. It is a memoir of a 1930’s English kitchen maid. It looks like a fun read.

My oldest daughter picked up this stack. She loves nonfiction history, especially military history. Her stack is always interesting to see because it is often so different than mine.

Grace’s stack is always interesting as well. She reads such a wide range of books that you never know what she will end up buying.

She got a couple of Louis L’Amour books to give an 80+-year-old neighbor whom she is friends with. I love that she has an elderly friend who loves talking books with her. Books span generations, and it is fun to see both of them sharing their love of books with each other.

Visit Garnder’s Used Books

I know that Tulsa, and NE Oklahoma, is not a place that many people visit unless they have a reason to come here. But if you visit this part of the country, make sure to stop by Gardner’s Used Books. I think you will enjoy your visit.

And if you are from Oklahoma and have never been to Gardner’s Used Books, you need to fix that. Support your local bookstore and give them a visit.

Do you love bookstores as much as we do? You can find other bookstores that we have featured here.

Backlist Book Challenge March Reads

April 1, 2021 by Lynn 3 Comments

We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.

My backlist book challenge continues with my March Reads.

March was a great reading month for me. In fact, 2021 has been a great reading year for me. I know that could change, but my backlist book challenge is really helping me find some great books.

I read eleven books this month. That is a little more than normal, but not a lot.

For some people reading eleven books in a month seems like a lot. For others, eleven books aren’t very many at all. When it comes to reading don’t compare yourself to others. Any amount of reading is better than no reading at all.

We are all at different stages of life and have different things going on. My reading varies month by month and year by year. Yours will vary too. If you focus only on the number of books you are reading you will quickly become discouraged. Just read and enjoy it!

We have started adding some videos to our book reviews. These are quick videos that are only a minute or two long. We plan to keep adding videos to some of our reviews. We hope that it is a feature you enjoy.

Now for my March reads.

Backlist Books March Reads

Red Sky Over Hawaii by Sara Ackerman

This historical fiction book was published in 2020. I picked this book up because I was wanting to read more about Japanese internment camps during WWII. I learned a lot from reading this one. You can read my full review here.

Will the Circle Be Unbroken by Sean Dietrich

This memoir-style book was published in 2020. I own several books by Sean Dietrich, but this is the first one that I have read. I think reading his memoir will help me understand his writing better. You can read my full review here.

Hotel On the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford

This historical fiction book was published in 2009. It is another book that I picked up because I wanted to read more about Japanese internment camps. Click here for my full review.

Syria’s Secret Library by Mike Thompson

Would you risk your life for a book? This nonfiction book about Syria was published in 2019 and it makes you ask yourself that exact question. You can read why I loved this book here.

The Engineer’s Wife by Tracey Emerson

This historical fiction was published in 2020. This book was not for me and it wasn’t just the wrong book at the wrong time. I have some serious issues with what the author did to the story on this one. I have lots of thought about this book that you can read here.

Wicked Autumn by G.M. Malliet

This mystery series set in England was published in 2011. This was another book that wasn’t for me. Click here to read why it wasn’t.

When Books Went to War by Molly Guptill Manning

This WWII nonfiction book was published in 2014. This was a fascinating event that I didn’t know anything about. Click here to read my full review.

Farewell to Manzanar by Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston

This nonfiction WWII book about a Japanese internment camp was published in 1973. It was another fascinating read that I wish I would have read a long time ago. Click here to see my full review.

Everything Beautiful In Its Time by Jenna Bush Hagger

This memoir-style book was published in 2020. You can read my full review here.

The Death of Expertise by Tom Nichols

I am going to share a full review of this one soon, but my brief review is that I have told my husband and several others that this is a must-read. This book was published in 2017. The author is a professor at the U.S. Naval War College. The subtitle pretty much sums up the book. The Campaign against Established Knowledge and Why It matters. This is an excellent book for our current times.

Freedom’s Light by Colleen Goble

This week I wanted a quick easy Kindle read for when I was exercising on the elliptical. This book was just that. I read it in just a couple of days while exercising. It was easy to read and didn’t take a lot of thought. For a Christian romance, this was a decent book, but the story seemed very unrealistic to me. The beginning of the book was fine, but the more I read the more unrealistic the book seemed. In the end this one was not one that I enjoyed..

Fall and Rise: The Story of 9/11

March 30, 2021 by Lynn Leave a Comment

We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.

It is hard to say that you enjoyed a book like Fall and Rise: The Story of 9/11 because it is such a tough read. Saying that it is an important and riveting read is probably a more accurate description.

Both my husband and oldest daughter recently listened to Fall and Rise: The Story of 9/11. As they both shared their thoughts with me about what an amazing and important book it was, I knew that I had to have them do a book review to share their thoughts on it with you.

Both of them listened to it on audio and said it was very well done. My daughter thought that it was such an important read that she bought a paper copy so that she could own the book herself.

The review of Fall and Rise that they are sharing today was written by my daughter, with a few thoughts added by my husband.

Fall and Rise: The Story of 9/11 by Michael Zuckoff is an excellent read that is also difficult and sad. It celebrates so many stories of heroism.

The people in the World Trade Center were ordinary people. They went to their offices on September 11th, 2001, expecting to go to meetings, complete projects, etc. like the average American did that day.

Those at the Pentagon expected to go home to their families at the end of a normal workday.

Those on the hijacked planes never dreamed that an ordinary flight would end so tragically.

The first responders that walked into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon that day never dreamed that they would see anything resembling 9/11 when they woke up for work that day.

Most of those directly involved were average people, just like you and me, who had their lives radically altered in a few quick, tragic hours. All of them had to choose how to react to the tragedy around them.

Many of these ordinary people became heroes to their coworkers. Others grew to respect first responders in a way they never had before. Chaos and tragedy gave birth to bravery and courage in unexpected ways.

The Fall and Rise: The Story of 9/11 not only captures the chaos of 9/11 as the hours of that infamous day progressively passed into history, but it also captures the lives of the ordinary Americans involved.

It details the stories of those directly involved as well as the dreaded suspense of those waiting to hear from loved ones involved-some of those who never heard their loved ones’ voices again.

So often 9/11 is spoken about as an event or we speak of those who died merely as a number. Zukoff personalizes 9/11, and not just “The Fall” but also “The Rise” during and after that infamous day.

True Crime Books

March 25, 2021 by Lynn 2 Comments

We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.

Do you love true crime books that are so unbelievable that it makes you wonder if it is fiction? If so today’s list of true crime books is for you!

Real-life is often stranger than fiction and nothing proves that quite like true crime books. A well-written true crime book will read like fiction. It will draw you into a story that is so obscure that you can’t believe it is true.

A good true crime book will also share the story of the person or crime in a fascinating way without glorifying or sensationalizing the crime that was committed. It will dig deep into the story of the person and their history without justifying their actions.

Most people, including my family, love true crime books because the stories are so twisted and fascinating that you can’t put them down.

We put together a list of our favorite true crime books. If you love true crime movies and TV, try picking up one of these true crime books!

And if you have a true crime book that you love, share it in the comments. We would love to find more true crime books to read.

True Crime Books

Blood and Ivy

Blood and Ivy combine Harvard and murder in the 1800s. If you love true crime mixes with how the medical system and college worked in the 1800s, this is one that you will probably enjoy.

Devil In the White City

The subtitle, A Saga of Magic and Murder at the Fair that Changed America, says exactly what Devil In the White City is all about. I think this is true crime at its best. I could not put this book down. It is like reading a real-life thriller. My dad recently read this, and he enjoyed it as well.

Duel with the Devil

Duel with the Devil is a true crime story from 1799. A young Quaker woman was found dead in Burr’s newly constructed Manhattan Well. It is our nation’s longest-running cold case.

Bad Blood

Bad Blood is the book my husband and I can’t stop talking about. We both read and loved this modern-day true crime story. It mixes the tech world with the medical world in an unbelievable true crime story that happened less than ten years ago.

Above Suspicion

Above Suspicion reads like fiction. This is such a well-written book, and I am now wanting to read more by this author.

Killers of the Flower Moon

Killers of the Flower Moon is well written and has a fascinating story that is almost so bizarre that it sounds like fiction. It is Native American history mixed in with the history of Oklahoma and the FBI. If you love interesting, little-known history, I think you will enjoy this one. I highly recommend this book for history lovers and those who love good mystery books.

Catch Me if You Can

This book had me laughing at some points and shocked at other times. It is unimaginable what Frank Abagnale got away with on his crime spree. Catch Me if You Can is a fascinating true crime story.

American Fire

American Fire is a book about fire and crime in rural Virginia. It is about how a close community of people lived in fear of being the next victim. The book is in a way a journalistic type of book, but at the same time, it is a page-turner. If you want to read about a modern-day crime story that you probably have never heard about, this is a great read.

Convicted

The authors of the book Convicted tell their life experiences and how those experiences changed them. It is amazing what faith and forgiveness can do.

The Cadaver King and the Country Dentist

I read The Cadaver King and the Country Dentist as part of my nonfiction book for every state challenge This book was so fascinating, yet so sad. It is a story that is so hard to believe happened and yet it happened and happened in recent history. My husband read this and enjoyed it so much that he recommended it to several friends.

The Man From the Train

If you love conspiracy stories, ideas, or just plain crime tales, The Man from the Train is a great book for you. I learned so much about early police work and fingerprints and how the justice system was sometimes misused.

Death In the Air

The author Dawson did an amazing job of intertwining the smog and the killer together In Death In the Air. In December 1952, London was brought to a halt by a historic smog event. One killer took advantage of the smog to hide his crimes. The Great Smog of 1952 is mixed with one of the worst serial killers of modern times. This book is part history, part crime, and part thriller.

What true crime books do you love?

Crazy Rich Asians: Book vs Movie

March 19, 2021 by Grace 1 Comment

We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.

We love a good book vs movie discussion and today we are talking all about Crazy Rich Asians book vs movie.

For a girl’s night, my mom, sister, and I watched Crazy Rich Asians, the movie. It was relatively clean, well done, good acting, a fun plot, and worth our time. As my sister donned it, a high-budget Hallmark movie.

You probably know what she means if you have watched as many Hallmark movies as she and my mom have seen.

I liked the movie. It was a great romance movie to relax with.

After watching it, I wanted to read the book because if you have read this site long enough you know that I often love the book even more than the movie. So I got the book Crazy Rich Asians and started right into it.

It is a bit slow and a lot of people to keep track of at first, but because I had seen the movie, it was easier to get into it and keep track of everyone because I had faces and settings to connect to.

I loved the book.

Part of why was because of the movie. However, the further I read in the book, the more I loved the book for itself not because I was already attached to the characters because of the movie.

This is partly because there was more depth to the characters in the books.

There were more scenes focused on characters in the book. I was so sad that the movie had left them out. They were focusing on the main love story between Nick and Rachel rather than other tales of love.

For example, I was not a fan of Michael or Astrid in the movie, but I am so reading the second book in the series because I want to know what happens in their relationship. Their relationship is totally different in the book. It was more realistic to me.

The book also handled the problems and also the abundance of money.

In the book, money causes more problems like in Michael and Astrid’s relationship. The book makes sure you see the issues more clearly than I felt the movie did it. It also has way more scenes of fancy shopping and houses than the movie.

I don’t want to spoil too much of the plot, but there were quite a few things the movie changed.

For many cases, I understood why.

I loved Awkwafina’s performance of Peik Lin in the movie. It was so good and funny, but I loved the books, Peik Lin, even though her character was different than the movie. Oliver was pretty close, and I liked him in both. Eddie has a bigger part in the book. And you get to read behind the scenes of people like Colin’s, who I had a different view and respect for because of the book.

The Youngs are also still rich in the book, but fewer people know them. More of a secret wealth.

Also, I felt I learned so much more about Asian culture in the book; however, getting to see it in the movie was amazing.

In the end, I think they should have done a TV series on Crazy Rich Asians. They missed so many subplots, and I was on edge and in an emotional attachment to Michael and Astrid, but in the movie, I was like “ah.”

I could see this being an amazing TV show. After reading the book, I can see how the following books may develop plots and characters more, or the same if it was a TV show.

So you know, if anyone out there is looking to do the TV show, I would love to help write it. I have lots of thoughts partially cause I just read it, but I could also see the rich Asians and family and romance drama making for a great new hit TV show.

Does anyone agree that Crazy Rich Asians should have been a TV show or at least a film series instead of a two-hour movie?

The movie was great. If you are looking for a good romance movie, you will enjoy the movie. If you loved the movie, you will enjoy the book.

Warning: there is a bit more sexual stuff and a decent amount more language in the book.

If you liked the book, the movie may be a little bit disappointing because it takes stuff out and changes some of the major scenes, especially those involving Nick and Rachel.

However, getting to visualize the wealth is kind of nice. Also the cute guys. And well, if you need a good romance movie with friends or family, it is not a bad choice.

They did a good job on the movie. The problem was there was so much in the book and such deep scenes that it could not be covered in the movie, so they had to change it.

So like I said, they should do a TV show.

What do you think about Crazy Rich Asians book vs movie? Did you like one better than the other? Or should they have made it into a TV show instead?

Let Us Help You Find Great Books!

Blog

The Nonfiction Section

The Fiction Section

The Religion Section

Comic Books

The Cookbooks

The Prices

What we bought at Gardner’s Used Bookstore

Visit Garnder’s Used Books

Backlist Books March Reads

Red Sky Over Hawaii by Sara Ackerman

Will the Circle Be Unbroken by Sean Dietrich

Hotel On the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford

Syria’s Secret Library by Mike Thompson

The Engineer’s Wife by Tracey Emerson

Wicked Autumn by G.M. Malliet

When Books Went to War by Molly Guptill Manning

Farewell to Manzanar by Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston

Everything Beautiful In Its Time by Jenna Bush Hagger

The Death of Expertise by Tom Nichols

Freedom’s Light by Colleen Goble

True Crime Books

Do you love discussing books vs movies?