For my Memorial Day celebration last week, I ventured out into public areas without any nudging or prompting from outside sources (mom, dad, friends, desperate need for food). Yes, little hermit crab/homebody/anti-social (pick your descriptor) me voluntarily went outside the four walls of her apartment on a weekend. And I liked it. However, me enjoying this journey was due in large part to where I was going to.
I have a great love of books. They are little friends - memories of classes I had, people I met, feminist professors I did not quite "get." Sadly, some of them had to be rid of. In the end I believe I got rid of books associated with college courses I did not enjoy or do well in. Alonzo's Texas History anyone? How about the second half of African history, which makes little sense without first taking part one. You would think that would be an obvious assumption, but not obvious enough for my junior-in-college brain. So, with my two bags of unwanted books, I ventured to what could be a happiest place on earth - Half Price Books.
Half Price Books is glorious. It is like an animal shelter for books, except the books never die and they don't chew up your baseboards or leave "presents" on your carpet. Each store is unique because each store's bookshelves are stocked with whatever books your neighbors read. Apparently my neighbors like cheap romance novels. I dropped my bags of unwanted books off at the resale desk and began the hunt for replacement books. I wanted to purchase some classic books; Dracula, The Jungle, Frankenstein, and a beautiful hardcover Jane Eyre that was about $7. Also at the store I found a book I came across at a bookstore in college but did not purchase at the time, My War Gone By, I Miss It So. I will not go into details about this book because I shall give my take on it at a later point in time.
One book I could not find, however, was A Perfect Red, which I have read reviews of and desperately wanted to read for the past nine months. And yet, this book was not to be found. This book is quickly becoming the Holy Grail of books for me. I cannot find it anywhere; not the library, not Half Price, not Barnes & Noble. "Why don't you just order it online, then?" you ask. Because. Because I have such high hopes that this book will be great that I refuse to take the easy way out. I want to work for this book, or at least not cave into buying it online until I have let everyone in my birthday and Christmas gift-giving circle that this would make an excellent gift for me. Hint, hint.
The Half Price people called my name over the intercom, it was time to see how much money I was going to get for my two bags of books. Grand total was about $12. Yes, $12 represented the hours of labor it took me to read Talons of the Eagle, African Perspectives, and other sleep-inducing writings. Well, it is $12 worth of books I don't have to haul around anymore. I slowly approached the check out line, trying to think if there were any more books I could possibly want at a discounted rate, plus an extra 20% off for Memorial Day sale. No, I was set with my five books. With my discount and $12 off for my resale books, grand total came to about $10. Yes, you are not reading that incorrectly, ten dollars for 5 books. Oh, Half Price, how magnificent you are.
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