BOOKING THE LONG WEEKEND

I go into this long weekend without too many grand plans. I have a few commitments to keep, several places that I need to be, but no big trips, no hotel stays, no rushing to find a spot on the beach -- just a desperately needed respite from work and possibly attacking some general housekeeping stuff. Those are my loose plans, anyway. 

Until I receive the email. Yes, THE EMAIL. The email that announces an incredible weekend sale at the local Used Books Superstore that is six miles from my home.

Let me preface this by saying that I do not need any more books. No, I do not. I have a constant turnover here (and I donate almost every book after I read it), plus I have a packed Kindle along with the Barnes & Noble app. If that's not bad enough, I have about 700 YA novels in my classroom library (which I've also started going through to donate). Even worse, one of my internet book suppliers (aka pushers because I am a book addict) is having a weekend sale, as well, so I order seven books from that site to light the weekend on fire.

I stay up late reading on Friday after I get home from work (and after I order those seven books), finishing a novel I started reading the day before then starting another one to carry me into the weekend. I wake up early on  Saturday, a little after 5:00, and try to convince myself that I should just get up and get ready for work -- then realize that it's Saturday and promptly fall back to sleep. Something important is today, though, so I do know I must get up and get moving at some point.

That's when I remember: BOOK SALE! 

I arrive less than ten minutes after the store opens, and the lot is already filling up. It takes all of us a few minutes to get acclimated because the super-sale books have been moved. We gather around the carts and shelves, trying to make it look like we aren't desperate book hoarders, but I recognize another book addict when I see one. Methodically we peruse the stacks, circling, redirecting, and doing the basic hunting-gathering thing. We all seem very polite on the surface, but if someone reaches for a book that looks interesting to me, I will start throwing some serious punches, and I fully expect the same from my fellow shoppers.

In the end I only buy twelve books, spending a mere sixteen dollars. I come home with a western, historical fiction, murder mystery, memoir, and several summer beach novels. This is a conservative day at the register for me. The guy at the register beside me is shopping with his son, and they have, quite easily, fifty books between them. 

I have already finished two books this weekend and just started from today's pile, so I could reasonably have three books read this weekend by the time this posts on Sunday. I will have to hide the beach novels lest I start on those, as well. Yup, I have a problem, a deep and disturbing problem, but as long as authors keep writing, I should be good for a few more weeks.

I'll let you know if you need to send reinforcements in the form of published novels.