This was our third visit to this going out of business sale. The discounts have gotten deeper and deeper and they're really desperate to get rid of everything, including the fixtures and various office and cleaning supplies that they have on hand. There were even attempts made over the loudspeaker to entice book buyers to take home a few of their bargain-priced bookshelves. We left shelfless. But we got a lot of books.
A lot.
Seriously? We saved a shade over $450. I thought it was a misprint.
Jamison's stack. He did get a few that I would've gotten had I seen them first, namely the Raymond Carver and the Salinger biography. Some of his stack, though, I wouldn't have given a second thought. Namely the economics-related ones.
My stack. I tend to prefer fiction. There are two books missing from this thrilling picture. A book of Mary Oliver's poems and a Geraldine Brooks book that I can't remember the title of. (Geraldine Brooks also wrote March, which I finished a month or so ago. It was good so I have high hopes for the new book.)
Will somehow snuck this book into the stroller/shopping cart. He also got a book on the oil spill in the Gulf, which is all kinds of uplifting, as you might imagine, and a book that's about something called "bristlebots" that are little robots made out of toothbrush heads and some sort of robotic something or other that were not included with the book. So it looks like we'll be shelling out the $12 on Amazon to get the complete book and supplies to assemble the bots (which will calls "whistlebots") since Will was more than a little disappointed.
This stack was mine from Trip #2 (Jamison abstained from buying anything this time, for one reason or another). (Is this boring, seeing stacks of books that I/we picked out and bought? I like seeing what other people read, personally, but that's just me.) My one surprise item here is Committed, by the same woman who wrote Eat, Pray, Love which was one of those books that I thought was just mediocre but that other people raved about. I do have some company in my assessment, though, as I can name at least four or five other people I know who didn't love it, either. I just thought I'd give her another chance. We'll see how it goes.
So now we're stocked up on things to read as cooler weather and shorter days approach. Amazon was also having a $3.99 sale on Kindle books a week or so ago and I bought a few there, too, so I should be good to go for quite some time reading-wise.
The pace of my reading and finishing books has been considerably faster here in the last few weeks, namely because I seem to have gotten better (or just luckier, more likely) at finding books that I actually enjoy and want to read in their entirety. I just finished State of Wonder and as much as I hesitate in recommending books to others, I think it's one that's worth reading. When I read the last page, my very first thought was, "Holy sh*t. Did all of that really just happen?" And then my next thought was, "Crap. I really liked the characters and could've stood to read a few (hundred) more pages." (Never fear, though, because Run was in the midst of the loot we got from RIP Borders/ We Are Vultures Trip the First, so I have me some more Ann Patchett to look forward to at my leisure.)
I've also stayed up way too late (by my standards, anyway) reading The Uncoupling, which I just finished this morning. It's also good and there are some really funny parts that I'm still chuckling to myself about. It's pretty easy to read, which is nice because my brain is mostly full by the time I can read in the evenings before bed.
But enough about Borders and reading.
I walked into the living room earlier this week after finishing up with cleaning the bathroom. Will had decided that we'd have a picnic in the living room floor and had taken it upon himself to find and dump out every available food that comes along with excessive crumbs and mess. (He's not wearing pants, either. I think he's wearing underwear, but I'm not making any promises.)
Cleaning with these two around is no small feat. It's actually a comedy of errors, especially when we're all three in our tiny bathroom and Laura's trying to climb into the tub and Will's spraying every available surface, including the floor, with cleaning spray and then we're all slipping around everywhere and stepping on each other's toes and losing our patience until I think about how funny this would be if I were watching someone else do the exact same thing. Needless to say, it takes forever and a day to get this small house cleaned. But I do have some pretty cute help, I guess.
Happy Saturday!
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