books | Bead Happily Ever After

Books Bargains Bliss

Posted on April 5, 2012 by crystal

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,

Friday Favorites – Bookmarks

Posted on April 24, 2009 by crystal

This week’s “Friday Favorites” features my favorite way to mark my place in a book – and that’s with a little piece of art. 🙂

No scraps of paper or turned down pages for me!

Sometimes I use a miniature print of a favorite painting from our art museum’s gift shop. Other times I might use a handmade gift tag that I’ve received on a present.

But some of my most treasured bookmarks were made by origami artist, Kayo.

Wouldn’t it be fun to see one of these lovely ladies as you curl up with that book you’re currently reading? You’ll find them available in many colors in Kayo’s etsy shop.

Take a little time for yourself this weekend, OK? 🙂

See you Monday for the new weekly giveaway with new questions and a very special prize!

Never met a bookstore I didn’t love…

Posted on March 31, 2009 by crystal

Our oldest daughter is a journalist and while we can’t keep up with everything she has published, we try to read as much of her work as possible. She recently wrote an article for a Canadian travel magazine and although we live in the U.S., we had heard that it might be available at one of our local bookstores. Finding the magazine was the goal for our Saturday morning.

We began by going out for breakfast! 🙂

OK, I hear you saying: “Huh? What does going out for breakfast have to do with it?”

Well nothing really 😉 except we enjoy a leisurely meal at a restaurant and we’ve discovered that breakfast is not only an economical choice (usually less expensive than lunch or dinner) but it’s also fun to have a great big menu of choices for breakfast now and then!

Besides that, we know that making a plan to go out for breakfast on a Saturday helps us to jump out of bed with a little more enthusiasm. Otherwise, we’re tempted to sleep late just because it’s the weekend.

So after breakfast, we visited a few bookstores and a magazine shop. There was only one copy of the magazine to be found anywhere, and that was in the magazine shop. The owner told us that he only gets a single copy in an assortment of foreign magazines, so we felt pretty lucky it was still there!

With our goal accomplished, you’d probably figure that we’d be heading home next. . .

Well, not exactly. I must confess that bookstores and magazine shops are to me what chocolate or shoes or lottery tickets might be to others – I can’t just look briefly and then leave.

Exhibit A:

I found this really cool bead magazine that’s published in England. It has some great projects and helpful tips and I know I’ll find it valuable!

Exhibit B:

Then, in one of the bookstores, I just had to peruse the “bargain books”. I came across this for $5.95! I’ve always loved to read anything and everything that takes place during the time of the Tudor Dynasty in England, including fiction and nonfiction about Henry VIII, any of his wives, his daughter Elizabeth I, her cousin Mary Queen of Scots – well you get the idea. Although I haven’t started it yet, this book looks quite good! I’ll let you know for sure once I’ve read it.

Do you have a weakness for books, too? 😉

If not, what is it that you can’t seem to resist?