Bookshopping

I haven't really mooched or paperbackswapped much lately. Nothing from my wishlist is turning up. I have things I would add to my inventory to give away except I'd rather not add them since both sites are providing to be fruitless, if I've worded that correctly. A Great and Terrible Beauty is from BookMooch, however.

I bought the book and kit on writing the weekend before this last. My weekend plans had been ruined and I went out of the house several hours before work on a spur of the moment. I took a bus to an area near the closest bookstore just as I used to do regularly where I spent a lot of time simply walking around. Neighbors always get upset at me for not accepting a car drive from them, but I greatly enjoy walking and it clears my mind. I spent a good deal of time exploring the changes made in the bookstore before making a book selection for something to help me with WritoNano when I found the kit. I want to try it out before I write about it. After the bookstore, I walked some more before taking another bus near where I work, where I read stuck my nose in a book while sitting on a quiet bench for a few hours.

I last went to a bookstore yesterday intending to only purchase one book, The Dragon Heir. I'm getting angrier and angrier at my nearest bookstore, a Borders. They removed a book I put on hold a mere half a day after I had placed it on hold. Did I want to wait while they searched their stock room for a copy? Certainly not! I was on my way to work.

For yet another book, I thought I requested one two weeks ago. A bookseller helped me and printed out a paper for me, telling me it would probably be in within the week and to expect their call. I thought it funny since their other location near me considers it a requirement to have a requested book in within the week or the book is free. However, I thanked him and left. Not a word from them. I have wondered if the book was merely reserved. Either way, I found the book in the Barnes and Noble bookstore across the street only minutes after I'd 'requested' it at the first bookstore, so I was fast impatient. I gave up on them and purchased the book somewhere else yesterday. I'm rather unhappy since the bookstore I have so much trouble with is the one I planned to apply to where I could hopefully work over the holidays.

The book I purchased alongside The Dragon Heir was the tenth anniversary edition of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. I hadn't expected to see it in stores. It was both supposedly not yet released as well as sold out in nearly every location near me according to Borders' website. It was a bit pricey but I put my coupon toward it. I'd thought nothing would be special about it save for the cover, but when I opened it I discovered the secret amazing wonder that was kept secret: Mary GrandePre had also made a full page illustration on one of the first pages inside the book of Hagrid taking the first years across the lake to Hogwarts. There's also an illustration by Rowling of Snape with a quote opposite. She says she drew it in 1992 or '93 and that it is how she always envisioned Snape to look like, though he looks a bit like Count Dracula because of his cloak. I would like to post photos of these illustrations, but the recent events surrounding Stephenie Meyer's unpublished and early internet-exposed book makes me feel more cautious about doing so.

These are the bookplates I pruchased yesterday. If for some odd reason you are unfamiliar with the title of painting from van Gogh's work on this bookplate, it is called Starry Night. This is one of the paintings I studied in the last art class I took two years ago.