Showing posts with label bookstores. Show all posts
Showing posts with label bookstores. Show all posts

Wednesday, March 20, 2013

The joy of browsing a used book store...


Have you ever spent time browsing through a used bookstore?  There's something truly wonderful about it, especially if you're a bookaholic like I am.

Last week, my daughter and I were able to spend a little time in Babbit's Bookstore in Normal, IL.  Not enough time, of course.  We had some time constraints, or we would have lingered.  But it was so enjoyable.



I knew I wanted to get a book about Ireland, and I found quite a few to choose from.  Although not garage-sale cheap, the prices were very reasonable.


I had to take a picture of these Beverly Gray books for my sister Beverly.  Her name isn't all that common, and I was pretty sure she didn't know there was a series of books based on a girl named Beverly.  I may see if I can find some of these at the library.


My daughter was enchanted with this book.  Books were once so lovely, weren't they?


Elizabeth was looking for Madeleine L'Engle's A Wrinkle in Time, but she was unsuccessful in that quest.  She did, however, find a book that had been on her to-read list:  Peggy Noonan's biography of Ronald Reagan, When Character was King, at a very good price.


The book about Ireland that I ended up getting turned out to be fascinating.  Although this appears to be a much more recent edition, it was written in 1925! It was interesting to find Ireland captured at that moment in time.

There are tons of photographs, but of course all of them are in black and white.  Travel literature has come a long way since then!

Before we left, my daughter commented that visiting that bookstore made her realize that although she gets many books online, she'll never abandon reading the printed word.  Neither will I.

Below is another used bookstore where I spent some time a few years ago...the Book Pride store in Georgetown, Texas.  Compared to Babbit's, it was wonderfully spacious and included several reading nooks.  I loved it!


Are you like me...do you love used bookstores?  Do you have a favorite one...or even just a favorite bookstore?  I'd love to hear about it!

I'm linking up today with Thursday Favorite Things, hosted by Katherine's Corner!

katherines corner

Monday, October 25, 2010

So, I'm addicted to pretty books...

Everyone knows I love to read books...but it doesn't stop there. I love the feel of a book in my hand. I love the smell of books. I love bookstores, bookshops, and libraries...pretty much any gathering of books.


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And I love pretty books. I love old books that were made when books looked pretty just because that's how books were made.

I have a few very old books, and some really pretty books, and if my camera was working, I would show them to you. :(

I have a total of seven book-cases in my house. Oh, I forgot to tell you. I love book-cases!



I honestly think books look pretty just lying around a house...on an end table, on a coffee-table, even on a chair or sofa, turned over because someone's in the process of reading it.



I've never forgotten Louisa May Alcott's description of the March family's home in Little Women:

It was a comfortable old room, though the carpet was faded and the furniture very plain; for a good picture or two hung on the walls, books filled the recesses, chrysanthemums and Christmas roses bloomed in the windows, and a pleasant atmosphere of home-peace pervaded it.


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Me in a book! I did this with a very fun site called PhotoFunia...you can create all kinds of fun images there.

Despite the well-deserved popularity and convenience of things like Kindles, I don't think real, tangible books will ever vanish. I have a feeling there are a lot of people like me, who love books to much to let that happen. What do you think?

Today I'm participating in Monday Life Made Lovely. Click on the icon to participate or find out more!
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