Book Sales

There's nothing nicer than spending my rainy Saturday morning at a Library book sale. I just returned from the Dearborn Heights Caroline Kennedy Library with over 50 books that I purchased for $10.00. 95% of the books are hard cover children's story books, so I'm thrilled.

When I pulled into the parking lot at 9:45 a.m. there were a few cars waiting in the rain. The bag of books sale started at 10:00. I had brought a cup of coffee to drink while I waited.

When I parked my car an older gentleman in the car in front of me, looked at me, got out of his car and hurried to the front door of the library. Even though he was under a porch, it was still rainy and cold, but I guess he had to be the first at the door. So there he stood, for 15 minutes, at the door. It was as if he were forming a line and he was the leader. This always happens at book sales. There might be 1000 books available, but someone always has to cozy up to the door, as if they might find a treasure worth millions. Since this was the third day of the sale, I was pretty sure the vintage books were gone, so I waited in my warm car, sipping my coffee.

At 9:58 someone unlocked the door and the man bolted into the library. About 30 seconds later I walked in and saw him filling a bag with videos. I was amused at how hurriedly he grabbed up the videos.

Since I was on a mission myself, I got a paper bag and walked over to the children's book table. What a treat! There were hundreds of books to pick from and I was the only one looking there. I filled the first bag in minutes. I got a second bag and loaded it. I felt a little greedy as I shuffled through the rows of books, snatching up the nicer hard covered books. But I told myself it's for a good cause. (me). I only brought $10 to the sale, to keep myself in check, so I lugged the bags over to the "Friends of the Library" volunteers to pay. I saw that there was a little room left to fit a few more books in my bags, so I wandered over to the fiction section. I found an Edgar Allen Poe book, The Greek Tragedies, and a book called "Studies in Fiction" which is full of short stories by James, Tolstoy, Hemingway, Fitzgerald, etc.

After I paid I transferred the first bag of books into a vinyl bag I use, carried it out to the car, emptied the books into a box, and went back in for the second load of books.

I was home by 10:30, my coffee still warm.

Some of the books I bought...

What I collect

I have different catagories of books that I collect. I love children's story books, especially when they are beautifully illustrated. I collect the classics, my favorite is Jane Eyre. I have 6 or 7 copies of that book (none of the book covers are the same). I like reference books that deal with writing and english, motivational books, scary books (not gory) and vintage children's books from the 50s and 60s (and older). Two of my book cases have 5 shelves and they are packed with books. The other book case has 4 shelves and it too is overloaded. I have to either stop collecting or get another book case. I guess you know that I'll be doing the later.

Here's a link to a website that lists book sales across the country.