Do you love a bookstore?

I do.

I’ve been known to forget where I am and lose all sense of time in a bookstore. If my family should ever worry that I’ve disappeared off the face of the earth . . . a search party will probably find me contentedly perusing the shelves of a bookstore.

Sadly, several in our area have recently closed and it breaks my heart. Sure, there’s amazon and all the other online venues, but to me that’s not enough. I love the experience of browsing – in person.

Just before the holidays, when the Borders Bookstores around here were in their final weeks, there were “clearance” sales. At first, they were nothing to get excited about – 10% off, some at 25% off. Frankly, those are everyday prices on amazon so I wasn’t too tempted to go on a wild shopping spree. The clerks did say that the prices would drop further as time went by, so I made a point of visiting the store a few weeks later but there seemed to be very little left. I was, however, happy to scoop (at 60% off) a couple of sentimental favorites from my youth.

(These were among the books I borrowed from the library on the very day my mother first allowed me to travel there by bus – solo!)

Anyway, I figured I was lucky to get such a good deal on the “Little House” books, and then promptly put the Borders Bookstore and its closing sale out of my mind for good, or so I thought. As fate would have it, a couple of weeks later, we needed something at the mall. When we strolled past the Borders, we saw huge signs that read: “Last Day!”

I was actually surprised to see the store still open – but obviously it would only be for a few more hours. We went inside. The shelves were incredibly sparse. In fact, most were totally empty. The employees had consolidated all of the stock to the front of the store. The titles, subjects, and categories were in no particular order, but everything was 95% off!!!

Would there be anything in that pile of remainders that was worth taking – even for pennies? Well, you just know I was determined to find out. 😉 It was sort of a treasure hunt with a lot of clunkers in the mix. I persevered and claimed 7 for my own – some of which were unfamiliar but seemed promising during a quick flip-through.

They’re certainly an eclectic mix! (One has been tucked away as a surprise gift for a friend so it’s not in the pile.) Currently, I’m in the middle of the top one, “Waiting” and it’s quite charming. I just love having this little stack waiting for me whenever I’m ready. And the price was so incredibly good! You may be wondering about the grand total spent once the discount was applied???

(click this photo for a slightly larger view)

Can you believe it? I left with an armful of books for $7.76!

I was smiling for the rest of the day. 😀

Don’t you just love a bargain?

Smiles,