Books as far as the eye can see

Money Spent: $10
What: Books

I'll start this blog with a particularly favorite purchase of mine: books. Not only am I an English major with a penchant for traditional and modern classics, but my genes have predisposed me to be a collector. With my father's under-the-stairs LP collection and my brothers' battle towards DVD-ownership supremacy, it was only natural for me to chose the literary pursuit of reading as many books as humanly possible. Although I adore libraries on an intellectual and philosophic level, I have never been one for budget-friendly lending. It may be fiscally irresponsible, but I need to own my books. I need to see them on my shelves, lining every imaginable flat surface of my room. My books are a part of me, and they're the one frivolous expense that I allow myself. They are my weakness--bookstores, you might say, are my Achilles heel.

However, I try to remain cost-conscious in my pursuit of literary bliss. Never have I been one for aesthetic scruples--a book is a book, and it does not matter if it was printed last year or 50 years ago, the content (and what is most important) remains the same. I have spent my life combing the various nooks and crannies of my own house, scavenging for treasure buried on forgotten shelves. I have pilfered many of my parents' volumes over the years, eventually adopting them as mine, without them ever being the wiser. I also frequent stores such as Half-Price Books at least once a month, nearly always leaving with something in hand. I usually spend most of my time in the clearance section in the back, searching for the practically brand new "Anna Karenina" for only $3 (and I've found it...with the purple Oprah sleeve from Barnes and Noble) I have even been known to meticulously go through boxes of free books at hippie arts festivals, rescuing two water-damaged but still useable "Ship of Fools" and "Gone With the Wind" (both of which I loved).

Today's purchase wasn't free, but it was close. It was the Cincinnati Public Library's Friends of the Library Book Sale, an annual event that draws surprisingly large and diverse crowds of intellectual bargain hunters to the streets of downtown Cincinnati. It was my first year and as long as I'm in the Queen City, it won't be my last. For a grand total of $10, I found nine books: eight novels from authors such as George Orwell and Eliot and one collection of poetry from Pablo Neruda. I managed to score three Pulitzer Prize-winners for fiction as well. Three of them ranged in price from $2 to $3, while most of the others (all paperbacks by the way--immeasurably cheaper if you're looking to buy in bulk) were a mere 50 cents each. Not a bad deal. Although I'm trying to limit myself to a $50 spending budget every two weeks, I think this was an accceptable trip.