Book Stores - Bad For The Wallet But Good For The Soul
I went shopping for my Mom's birthday present at Bookstar on Sunday morning. It wasn't easy getting out of there with just purchasing two books for her.
I'm like a crack addict with someone dangling a lot of pipes in front of me when I go into a book store. All I can think is, "I want that one. I really need that one. Oh, that one looks so good, I must have it." I could easily drop a couple of Benjamins every time I go in.
However, I've been trying to convince myself that I don't really need to buy books. First, it seems silly to spend $9 to $30 on something that I'll be done with in a couple of hours. Second, I don't have the space to store them. As it is, I have books tucked away all over my condo. Finally, I have a really good library system available to me and it's really easy to reserve something and pick it up in a few days (assuming I can wait). What I try to do is make a list of everything I want to buy then reserve them at the library. I put in my request list tonight and I now have 8 books on hold, 6 of them available immediately.
All that logic against buying was enough to get me through my birthday shopping but it wasn't easy. I had no idea there were so many new vampire/werewolf/magic series out there. Every time I turned around I saw another one that intrigued me.
I also saw new releases from some favorite authors. Phillip Margolin has a new book out. So does Laurell K Hamilton (though I've heard it's not very good). Then, there are lots of poker books. So far, I've only read Phil Gordon's first book and tried to read Phil Helmuth's but couldn't get past it being Phil Helmuth talking. But, I saw all three Doyle Brunson System books that I've been meaning to read and T.J. Cloutier's book...fortunately, I didn't see Annie Duke's because I probably would have had to buy it.
If I won the lottery (or snagged me a rich husband which is probably about the same odds) I'd go back to being a part-time bookseller. Of the jobs I've had, it was my favorite. Except for the pay thing which is not so great. I could have easily spent hours in there just browsing through the titles. The smell of the new books, chatting with the booksellers about favorite titles and authors, compulsively straightening the shelves...it all appeals to me.
If they would just server Miller Lite, it would be Nirvana.
I'm like a crack addict with someone dangling a lot of pipes in front of me when I go into a book store. All I can think is, "I want that one. I really need that one. Oh, that one looks so good, I must have it." I could easily drop a couple of Benjamins every time I go in.
However, I've been trying to convince myself that I don't really need to buy books. First, it seems silly to spend $9 to $30 on something that I'll be done with in a couple of hours. Second, I don't have the space to store them. As it is, I have books tucked away all over my condo. Finally, I have a really good library system available to me and it's really easy to reserve something and pick it up in a few days (assuming I can wait). What I try to do is make a list of everything I want to buy then reserve them at the library. I put in my request list tonight and I now have 8 books on hold, 6 of them available immediately.
All that logic against buying was enough to get me through my birthday shopping but it wasn't easy. I had no idea there were so many new vampire/werewolf/magic series out there. Every time I turned around I saw another one that intrigued me.
I also saw new releases from some favorite authors. Phillip Margolin has a new book out. So does Laurell K Hamilton (though I've heard it's not very good). Then, there are lots of poker books. So far, I've only read Phil Gordon's first book and tried to read Phil Helmuth's but couldn't get past it being Phil Helmuth talking. But, I saw all three Doyle Brunson System books that I've been meaning to read and T.J. Cloutier's book...fortunately, I didn't see Annie Duke's because I probably would have had to buy it.
If I won the lottery (or snagged me a rich husband which is probably about the same odds) I'd go back to being a part-time bookseller. Of the jobs I've had, it was my favorite. Except for the pay thing which is not so great. I could have easily spent hours in there just browsing through the titles. The smell of the new books, chatting with the booksellers about favorite titles and authors, compulsively straightening the shelves...it all appeals to me.
If they would just server Miller Lite, it would be Nirvana.
