Glorious, Glorious Books
By Nancy Muldoon
Almost nothing excites me more than finding a good book in a used book store.
I do not understand why more people do not shop for books at used book stores and garage sales. Some of the best books I own have been bought second hand.
Buying books is the most self indulgent thing I buy when I have a few extra dollars in my pocket. I often wonder why people discard books in the first place.
Most of the books I own have either come from used books stores or garage sales or thrift shop. I recently found book of Selected Stories by Alice Munro, in a local thrift shop, I couldn’t believe my good fortune, and the best part of it was that it was free.
Like most writers I am a bookworm and always have been since I learned how to read back in kindergarten. Any free time I have, I usually have my face in a book.
My new favorite place to buy used books in Saratoga is the Book Bag which is located in the Saratoga Springs Public library. I am always elated when I go in there and find the exact book I have been looking for.
Case in point, back in March I was looking for Michael Patrick MacDonald’s All Souls ($2) and I not only found it but I also scored his follow up book Easter Rising in hardcover no less for $4!
A couple of months ago I almost peed my pants when I saw Katha Pollitt’s Subject To Debate which I bought for $2 and Pete Hamill’s News Is a Verb also for $2
I was in the Book bag the other day just browsing and saw a number of books worth having; I spied Eldridge Cleaver’s classic Soul On Ice for $2 and Susan Faludi’s Stiffed, for $3.
The cost of books these days is just a few dollars, the education you can get, not to mention the endless conversations you could have about books is absolutely priceless.
Hey Nancy – Susan Marr here in SF. I am also a bookworm, book lover and book buyer and I totally agree about garage sales and the library book shop – you never know what you'll find. If you have the time, I also recommend http://www.PaperbackSwap.com, a trading site. I found several of my grad school books (older edtions but still with pertinent material, plus I ain't spending $90.+ on a book I'm only going to read 3 chapters of…). The drawback to the site is going to the post office once or twice a week. The benefits (for me) far outweigh this. Keep on reading, y'all!