books are one of the very few things that I don't mind spending money on (along with chocolate cake, the very occasional Anthropologie throw pillow, and lavender hand soap). when it comes to money, I am all about saving it - you know, for a "rainy day". as they say. I think. I don't even like to keep cash in my wallet. instead, I cram it all into a tiny jar and put it in a cupboard that's just high enough out of my reach that I really have to be committed before getting it down. (J thinks this is a terrible plan, by the way. "it's just sitting there! don't you want to collect interest?" hehe)
anyways.
books I can buy without any guilt and today was a bookstore kind of day. every year I forget that June in Oregon still means rain. every year I'm surprised. you guys! can you believe this rain??! it's June, for crying out loud! June! so in the spirit of this rainy summer day, I spent my afternoon perusing one of my favorite bookstores. I'm all about Barnes & Noble and Powell's, but there's something to be said about a local family-owned bookstore. this place is the epitome of organized chaos. down every aisle the floors are lined with rows and rows of (neatly) stacked books that come all the way up to your knees. your knees! it's a sea of books! there's no way of knowing if they have the book you want. I don't think they even have a computer in there. you just have to search (and search and search and search). this is certainly not the place to go if you're in a hurry.
luckily for me, I had all the time in the world.
my goal this summer is to finally spend some time reading books for fun, and not just for school. I went in today hoping to find david sedaris' latest book, let's explore diabetes with owls. I keep hearing about it and figured it was worth checking out. amazingly, I was able to find it without having to climb too many mountains of books, but then - blasphemy! turns out it was $27 and we all know that wasn't about to happen. (clearly, Amazon is the way to go)
so, there I was, an hour later with 12 books in my basket. oops.
after a long debate, I finally left with 2 zadie smith books - white teeth and on beauty. (have you ever read these?) as you can see, I found two copies of on beauty - a white and a pink version. this put me in a bit of a predicament because, shamefully, I have always judged a book by its cover (sorry books!). I finally decided on the white version because it felt a little more worn in and the font was nicer. do I sound crazy yet?
I'll let you know how they go.
(p.s. those two books only cost me $11, so take that, david sedaris!)
What's on your summer reading list? Any books that you'd recommend for me?
Gosh, I love reading! School is awful in the way that it takes up all of my free time so I usually only read on my long breaks from school. I'm currently reading The Bourne Identity. Loved the movie, so I'm hoping the book is just as good.
ReplyDeleteHave you heard of Goodreads? It's a great way to keep up with all of the books you want to read and are reading :)
I love reading soo much, I can totally understand wasting hours in a bookshop ;). I'm currently reading Franny & Zooey, which I totally love, you should definitely check it out. Other than that, I'm in full exams mode at the moment (so much stress!), so I don't really have the time to read all that much. I can't wait until July is over and I can curl up with a book for hours again!
ReplyDeleteHaha, I'm like you -- I have no shame in buying books or spending too much on them. Take me to any other store and I would feel so guilty spending money... except a bookstore. Books are different, you know. You'll keep them for years and read them countless of times and maybe even give them to your children some day or to a friend. Shirts, shoes and purses could never outlast a good book.
ReplyDeleteI think it's so funny that you chose the same book in two colors, I noticed that in the picture and was curious to what edition you chose! I, too, would pick the book with the better font. That's a biggie for me... I can't tell you how many stories I couldn't read because of the font that was used.
Anyways! I, too, want to read more. I remember years ago I could finish 50 books a year.. now I'm lucky if I read five. It's sad. Right now I'm reading "What color is your parachute" -- it's just one of those books you've heard of for years and always been curious about. It's a goodie! But you definitely have the pace yourself through it.
I did, however, recently finished The Book Thief -- my favorite story that I've read countless of times before. If you haven't read it, you gotta check it out!
As for books I am reading... I tend to want to re-read some of my favorite books. Is that weird? I feel like I need to try something new though!