Most people know better than to judge a book by its cover, but that hasn’t stopped publishers from plastering shirtless vampires all over underselling copies of the Farmers' Almanac. Stock up on eye-catching titles with today’s Groupon: for $10, you get $20 worth of gently used books and a small drip coffee or tea at Characters Fine Books and Coffee Bar (up to a $21.87 value).

Characters sells and trades books in order to stock more than 35,000 gently used novellas, novels, and tomes in a panoply of genres across its shelves. Peruse sweeping collections of mystery, thriller, and nonfiction books, such as the 1950 Rosicrucian Principles for Home and Business ($10), as well as classic creative works, such as Asterix and Caesar's Gift ($9), rows of pocketbook fiction ($6+), and archaeological dig sites of ancient blanket forts. Many of the books Characters puts back into readers' hands are uncommon and rare titles, both in print and out of print. Knowledgeable staff are on hand to unearth customer-requested opuses from brimming shelves and can swaddle any book in a Brodart dust jacket to wear at black-tie book-club meetings. Customers can pair books with an included small cup of Salt Spring Island Roasting Company's drip coffee or a small tea ($1.87). Roasted locally, Salt Spring Island harvests its organic beans from global growers while adhering to fair-trade processes.

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