Before books, students had to tote engraved granite slabs all over campus, which is why the most accomplished philosophers gave the best piggyback rides. Enjoy lighter reading material with today’s Groupon.

$15 for $30 Worth of Books, CDs, and Paper Goods

• An autographed copy of Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris ($12.99)
• Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter by Seth Grahame-Smith ($4.99)
• Spanish For Your Trip CD from Berlitz Publishing ($4.99)
• 30 embellished all-occasion greeting cards ($19.99)
• Mindbogglers 1,000-piece jigsaw puzzle featuring swans ($6.99)<p>

BookCloseouts.ca

A purveyor of books for bibliophiles of all ages and tastes, BookCloseouts.ca ensures that home libraries remain stocked with titles from a wide range of genres discounted 50–90 per cent from their retail price, covering everything from art to children’s fiction to science. The online retailer’s digital shelves brim with the glossy jackets of bestsellers, and also house a vast selection of scratched and dented works eager to be judged not by their covers but by the contents of their tables of contents. A section dedicated solely to autographed books outfits fans with the flourished inscriptions of their favourite authors. The store’s catalogue of audiobooks on CD and DVD floods cochleae with the sounds of literary genius without the hassles of playing telephone with Margaret Atwood, and sleek calendars enable streamlined schedule maintenance.