Books, Money
I love hunting for used books, in free little libraries, in boxes on the side of the road, at the library’s biannual book sale, and most especially, at thrift stores.
It’s a treasure hunt. There are a few books I have in the back of my mind that I’m always looking for and when I find one, it’s like winning the lottery. Out of hundreds of millions of books in the world Spinning Silver just happened to be at this Good Will? It’s incredible finding a book you’ve been searching for. When getting into fitness last year, I really wanted a copy of Becoming A Supple Leopard but it’s an extremely expensive book. Or it was at the time. I just looked it up and you can get a copy for about $15 used, but maybe all this thrift shopping has altered my sense of reality. I digress. I found The Supple Leopard for $2 at another Good Will and it was an absolute high for me. Just wait long enough and the world will give you what you’re looking for. It’s a pity I spend all my karma on books though, I could really use some in other areas.
I love going into normal bookstores, especially when they have staff picks, but most of my physical books come from thrifting. Wouldn’t you rather hunt in the wild for your meals than at a supermarket? It makes me feel more engaged with the act of reading and curating the information and stories that come into my mind.
I love to hunt for books especially while I’m out traveling. Each thrift store tells the story of who lives there, what kind of clothes they like, what kind of books they read. When I was in New York, I found so many plays, something I’d never seen even one of, a mean aside from a Greek tragedy now and again. There were lots of poetry journals which I snapped up. Tons of classics, a couple I had been specifically looking for. I found it interesting to learn about that neighborhood of New York, and very pleased to have gone home with a bag full of poetry books for just $5.
This is definitely one of my favorite hobbies.