Some Light Reading

In these dire economic times, there are many truths that 8 years ago seemed impossible: People are buying less stuff, Walmart seems to be getting bigger and everything, including books, even by today's standards, are grossly overpriced. But there are loopholes to readers like you and me who have felt the pinch as well.

Just today, I was dropping off a whole box full of my books (stuff I've read as a kid mixed with some current stuff) to my nearest Goodwill Store. It felt good donating them.

While I was in there I figured on combing through the lost treasures to see what I could find. They had seven large bookshelves filled with donated books. I started tilting my head to the side, the way I usually do, reading the titles in my head. There were a lot of old books. Books I never knew existed. The lost pages.

Among them I found The Brethren (Hardcover) by John Grisham, which I was planning to read. It's about three judges who run a mail scam for money from prison. I also found The Poet (Paperback) by Michael Connelly. Another book I planned to read (and whose author I have met. Oh yeah. Feel jealous!) when time permitted. This book also stars Jack McEvoy, from The Scarecrow, who tracks a serial killer who leaves little quotes from the works of Edgar Allen Poe.

I check inside the book. Let's see. An Intro from Stephen King, he likes the book. Let's see the first few lines.

"Death is my beat. I make my living from it. I forge my professional relationship on it. I treat it with the passion and precision of an undertaker — somber and sympathetic about it when I'm with the bereaved, a skilled craftsman with it when I'm alone."

Oh yeah, I'm picking this one up.

There was one more lost treasure; a Hardcover book from an author named Paul Gallico. The book was called Too Many Ghosts.

I looked at the two books in my hand, then eyed the book on the shelf, appreciatively.

Well, you can never have too many ghosts, I thought to myself. Smiling, I brought the three books up to the cashier.


Now, here's where the light reading bit comes in. If I were to go to a bookstore and pay for these exact books the receipt would look a bit like this:


The Brethren (HC) $30.00
The Poet (PB) $14.95
Too Many Ghosts (HC) $ 2.99

You won't find Too Many Ghosts in stores. It's out of print but I was able to find it listed on amazon for that price above.

All totaled, I would've spent $46.99

And that's without the tax.

Even with amazon, you may find that the books have their price knocked off by 4 or 5 bucks if you want them new. But with the shipping, oh, big surprise, it's 4 or 5 bucks.

With the same books I purchased today, in pretty good condition, mind you, I got a fair deal I would say.

All totaled, I spent $1.58

Now that is what I call 'Light Reading'.