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: for $10, you get $20 worth of used books at Moe’s Books in Berkeley, located mere blocks from the University of California Berkeley campus.

In 1959, Moe’s Books tattooed itself onto the supple skin of Berkeley, making itself a longtime favorite of prose-loving pirates seeking used literary treasures. Thousands of beloved tomes line the shelves, anxiously awaiting adoption by benevolent bibliophiles. Recent offerings on the ever-rotating roster include New York Times bestsellers Michael Pollan’s In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto and Carlos Ruiz Zafón's The Shadow of the Wind (both $9). Current offerings populate the docket, so thrifty text-hunters can pick up pre-perused copies of the latest Zagat Bay Area dining guide ($9) or the original literary version of The Hangover.

Helmed by a knowledgeable staff of literature lovers, Moe’s Books is actively engaged in the world of the written word. As one of the Bay Area’s foremost venues for hearing scribes of every stripe read from their works, fans can rely on a steady stream of author appearances for the foreseeable future. Upcoming appearances include the poet Paul Vangelisti, who will be in-store on Wednesday, April 27, and oil industry expert Antonia Juhasz, who will appear on Wednesday, May 11, to discuss her book Black Tide, an investigation of BP’s disastrous Gulf oil spill.