I have enough books here at home to keep me busy for months, probably years. Couple that with the six hundred or so novels I have in my classroom library, and I have more books than an entire team of readers can get through in a reasonable amount of time.
In other words, I have no business buying more books. However, I stop in at Barnes and Noble, and this is exactly what I decide is my mission. BUY. MORE. BOOKS.
Once inside the store, I make a beeline to my favorite author. I don't think I am missing any books from her multiple series, but I've written down all the titles, just in case. SCORE! I am indeed missing the second book from one mystery series, and B&N has it in stock. I grab it, and it becomes Book #1.
I like to hit the tables of remainder books. These are the books that are marked down and, unfortunately, are not money-makers for their authors. These books "remain" after their initial selling push, and they are renamed "remainders." A bargain for readers; a bust for writers . However, there's a sale: 2 for $10! I pick up a hardcover about several women on Nantucket who bond after their mutual husband (not married at the same time -- one after the other) winds up dead. I pick up another remainder book, a paperback, that's an intrigue novel about a CIA operative gone rogue. (Books # 3 & #4)
I get to the register and discover that the sale is ONLY for hardcover remainders. I really, really want the novel about the CIA operative, too. I can either pay the full remainder price for both, which is $3.96 over the sale prices, or I can pay another $1.04 for one more hardcover remainder book.
Luckily, the remainders display is right near the register. I see another book by an author I used to read all the time in the late 70's until I discovered that all of her novels, every single one, followed the same exact format. This novel sounds better, though. It's about a group of disparate individuals who end up connected by a hurricane that hits New York. Perfect. More light reading. I grab the book, which makes this Book #5.
It takes two bags to bundle up the order. I leave the store quite happy with my purchases, but I am also apprehensive. Truly, I have no business bringing stray books into my organized book life at home. I am surprised that I am not arrested crossing the border from New Hampshire back into Massachusetts. I am well over the legal limit for unread books, and there's probably a law somewhere that I'm breaking by hoarding books like this.
Yes, for a fraction of a moment, I am embarrassed and uncomfortably guilty. However, like all inexplicable pains and aches, the feeling passes. I get home, take my books out of their bags, and I am blissfully happy once again.
