Nerd for Halloween

You may say I am a nerd every day, and I quite agree. On Halloween I let the whole world know.

My Gryffindor robe and scarf, Iron Man mask, Captain America's shield, and Luke Skywalker's light saber. My Lothlorien Leaf tattoo can be seen. If I had a free hand I would have thrown up my "Live Long and Prosper" sign. I just need an Indiana Jones hat and a pirate sword and I think all my favorites will be covered.

Friends of the Library Sale

While I was at the library yesterday I saw their sign announcing a book sale today. Of course I made it part of my Saturday plans. I had never been to a sale day, only to their used book sale shelves. Other libraries have a "store" open every day. This particular library had two sections of books, one in their big community room, and one in a secluded corner in the adult area.

I went in not knowing what to expect. There were many more items than I thought they would have. I wasn't looking for anything in particular, but I have a couple books always on my list when shopping for used books. First, I always buy any copy of any version of Peter Pan I ever find. I love that story. I started "collecting" the Peter Pan books after the 2003 adaptation starring Jason Isaacs. The other books I always look for are any copies of Harry Potter. I lend those books out so many times, I figure I would keep a stash to let friends borrow, in case they are never returned. Right now I have two books out that are from my original library and I am anxious to get them back.

Today I bought:

*Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, A Charlie Brown Christmas, and Vintage California. All these are miniature books. I like to hang these on a small Christmas tree as book ornaments.

*Beauty and the Beast pop-up book. This is my favorite Disney animated movie.

*Mistletoe and Murder by Carola Dunn

*Holly and Homicide by Leslie Caine

*Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers. I already have a copy, but this one has Sauromon from the movie as its cover.

*Star Wars Episode 1 Journal: Queen Amidala

*Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

*The Christmas Conversation Piece by Bret Nicholaus and Paul Lowrie

*Skipping Christmas by John Grisham

*Bathroom Book of Christmas Trivia by Lisa Wojna

*Chicken Soup for the Soul Christmas Treasury

*Off The Beaten Path Northern California by Mark Williams (Not the actor who plays Arthur Weasley :-D)

*Hobbits, Elves, and Wizards by Michael N. Stanton

*Ghosts: The Story of a Reunion by Adrian Plass

*This Book Will Change Your Life by Benrik Limited

*Hollywood Station by Joseph Wambaugh

*The Jane Austen Book Club by Karen Joy Fowler

*Stephen King's Everything's Eventual: 14 Dark Tales

This entire haul of books was $16.25. The Stephen King book alone is $28 retail. Fabulous deal! If there are any books I don't like, I will donate them back to the library, and they can make more money from the same books. Good for everyone! Now I must sign off as I have a lot of new reading material.

Geeking Out

What is my capacity for all things books?

I volunteer in a community library three days a week. I managed their book fair all week last week. Today I assembled a book display for home and moved a few books around. And I've spent the past couple of hours browsing online photos of personal libraries looking for inspiration. I do have a large collection of books, numbering in the low thousands, so I can't complain about my volumes of volumes. But I couldn't help but feel library envy from looking at the photos. I realized that what I really want is floor-to-ceiling shelving. I have shelves on all four walls in my "library" which is actually a dining room, but the best place in my house to keep the majority of my books. I'm thinking now is the time to make a trip to Ikea, even though going there sucks my will to live.

I'm going to a used book store tomorrow to spend some time browsing through the treasures. So for now I must sign off and get in bed to read, while planning a reading vacation. Really, will I ever get tired of the wonderful world of reading?