This past Saturday was one of the monthly book sale days that I attend during the summer. I was quite surprised though, when the gentleman who runs the book sales for the historical society asked me if I ever get bored. The surprise must have shown on my face because he backtracked just a bit by saying that he noticed I've shown up for every sale and, after all, many of the books are the same.
I tried to explain how much I enjoy looking through the tables and shelves filled with books, told him about some of the treasures I'd found like "Sierra" by Richard Wheeler, whose blog I enjoy, but had never read one of his books. He remained unconvinced that a person wouldn't be bored to death looking at the same books month after month. And this man collects the book donations and spends weeks getting everything set up, adding new books for every sale. How can he not be thrilled by the books that show up on his tables?
For me, the book sales are a place to find writers I've heard about on the Internet, books that my library and WalMart doesn't carry, and authors who are no longer published. There are books to be found that were printed before I was born. I can see my life reflected in titles that I read as a child and a young adult. Walking through the aisles of books is pure bliss for me. How could I possibly be bored?
So how about you? Do you get bored walking through used book stores or even new ones? Do you go out of your way at a yard sale or flea market to look through boxes of books? Does your heart leap when you find a book that you didn't know you were looking for? Ah, just admit it, you love the search as much as I do. So, tell us about your latest find and where you found it.
My best find this weekend? "The Western Hall of Fame: An Anthology of Classic Western Stories Selected by the Western Writers of America". I didn't even look at the table of contents. I saw edited by Bill Pronzini and Martin H. Greenberg and knew I couldn't go wrong!
8 comments:
I have that Western collection. I found it at a booksale. I never pass by any books for sale without having a look. I've never been bored a moment in my life in a book store or at a book sale.
Bored, never! Overwhelmed, yes. Sometimes so overwhelmed that it becomes almost impossible to make a selection for purchase. It's the book-shopping equivalent of being tongue-tied, I guess.
Oh, Naomi, I have a shopping bag I take with me and only purchase as many as I can fit in the bag. This last sale the bag slit up the side and they gave me a new bag - a larger one! Overwhelmed is the right word! I wanted to take them all home.
I'm the same way, Charles, if there's books, I have to stop and look. I don't want to miss one.
I get a "high" plunging into boxes and tables of used books. If I give it long enough, the high wears off and I'm putting things back and settling for just one or two.
The library book sales used to be fun till they were overrun not with book lovers but people snapping up everything they thought they could sell on ebay.
I can't go a week without hitting either one of Atlanta's used book stores or one of the big chains. I can disappear for hours (it feels like minutes) and even if i don't walk out with a purchase, there's something captivating (and soothing) about browsing and sorting through the shelves. LIke hunting treasure.
We don't seem to have that problem with our booksales, Ron. There are old Ellery Queen's in hard back, Perry Masons, even a few of those rare paperbacks that people collect. People just show up and enjoy the hunt for good reading.
Treasure hunting! That's it exactly, Frank.
I do feel bad that a few years down the road I load up bags with books I bought and never read and donate them back. But at least someone made money from them twice.
At our library sales (ongoing now) there are books six months old. That makes me wince for our tax dollars sometimes. No need to buy two dozen of the newest Patterson.
Yes, I took three boxes of books back to the sale this year, Patti. I'd read most of them and didn't want to keep them, but there were a few that I just couldn't get into.
Our library doesn't hold a sale, but has a cart full of books for sale all the time. There's also racks full of paperbacks that people just swap back and forth as you don't have to check them out. The most Patterson's we get are three and there's still a year long waiting list to read them. Small libraries don't seem to waste the tax dollars quite so easily as the bigger city ones.
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