Literary Haul

I don't have a "to-read pile".

I don't even have a "to-read shelf".

I've got an entire fracking "to-read BOOKCASE".

(You can skip the Henry Bemis "Time Enough at Last" jokes - I've already named my reading log zine after that episode.)

I find it comforting to be surrounded by books, read and unread, new and used, organized or not. It calms me down. You know that expression "go to your happy place"? Here's mine: Neil Gaiman's library. It has a comfy chair and cat already!

While I do have a book-buying compulsion (addiction?), it's done very, very cheaply. I purchase few new (not-used) books, and when I do buy new, have certain criteria: small press, self-published, or directly from the author; discounted (either by the store, or with a coupon); on the cutout shelves; or damnit, I just want a fresh, new copy of that title to crack the spine open on, and I want it now. (And yes, I do use libraries, but live in PA, which has some of the most underfunded, understocked libraries in the country.)

Most of the books I buy for the to-read bookcase are used, either purchased from half.com, thrift stores, or from the la petite mort for readers, the library book sale.

I'm not alone in my appreciation for cheap books at library book sales. Coming back from one, I lamented to my roommate that I'd never seen so many violent, pushy, grabby people besides on "Black Friday" at Staples. What's more annoying than readers who shove in front of you to pluck a title from the shelf are the "entrepreneurs" with handheld scanners attached to smartphones who scan every single book, and load up bags of titles to sell on half.com or in their own used bookstores. This is completely unfair, and some of the sales do throw these people out. It's supposed to be equal footing for all shoppers.

Most of the library sales are three days long. The first day is full price (usually $2 for hardbacks and trade paperbacks; $1 for mass market paperbacks), the second is half-price, and the third is "bag day", where you can fill up a paper grocery sack for five bucks. I've banned myself from bag days. Usually I just go the first two days, score some finds, and mentally let go of anything else I may be missing. I've learned that library book sales are supposed to be a crapshoot, and not to get insanely envious of someone who snagged a title I'd been looking years for before I could get to it. No, NOT envious. NOT AT ALL.

And while I would like to be like Neil Gaiman, who has kept every single book he has ever read, I'll never have the room to do that. So, I recycle/reroute books through Paperback Swap and Bookmooch, re-donating to library book sales, passing on to friends and family, Bookcrossing, and the occasional half.com sale. These are books that I've read and don't want to keep, or books I've finally admitted that I have no interest in reading, but picked up "because they looked interesting" (see the reason why I avoid bag sale day, above).

In this new "Look at me, look at ME, LOOK AT ME" 2.0 society, there's a new trend of young women posting "haul videos" on YouTube, where they show off the clothes and shoes they just purchased. "Haul videos" don't disturb me like some of the commenters on that post - they are a logical extension of gadget pr0n "unboxing" videos, which I do watch if it's a gadget I'm considering buying. Maybe if I was more into clothes, fashion, and shoes, I'd watch "haul videos". But I'm not. I'd rather see what people bought at the bookstore, record store, or even thrift shopping.

I've posted before about books and comics I've purchased at MoCCA and SPX, and even library sales before. So, in the spirit of consumerism (or would it be anti-consumerism?) here's my haul from three recent library book sales. No videos, no slideshows, just a photo, annotated list in no particular order, and "haul total".

• The Naked Sun / Isaac Asimov
• The Currents of Space / Isaac Asimov
• The Stars Like Dust / Isaac Asimov
• Prelude to Foundation / Isaac Asimov
• Foundation and Earth / Isaac Asimov (2 copies; couldn't remember if I had bought a copy the previous week. However, they are two different editions - one is mass-market, one is oversized trade. Why so much Asimov? Earlier this year I read The Foundation Trilogy (Foundation, Foundation and Earth, Second Foundation) and was so astounded by it, I've decided to read the entire Foundation series. I've collected used copies all of the books so far except for Robots and Empire and Pebble in the Sky.)
• Snoopy's Guide to the Writing Life / Edited by Barnaby Conrad and Monte Schulz
• Ender in Exile / Orson Scott Card (For a friend; I gave up on OSC after struggling through Shadow of the Hedgemon and giving up.)
• The View From the Stars / Walter M. Miller (Author of one of my favorite novels of all time, A Canticle for Leibowitz, a beautiful SF book.)
• Oh The Glory of It All / Sean Wilsey
• Vegas: Memoir of a Dark Season / John Gregory Dunne
• The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul / Douglas Adams
• The Stand / Stephen King (Not pictured; actually a duplicate, forgot I have an unread used copy waiting. This will be re-donated.)
• Watermind / M. M. Buckner
• Best American Science Writing 2007 / Edited by Gina Kolata and Jesse Cohen (These are good for short train rides.)
• A Long Way Down / Nick Hornby
• The Feminine Mystique / Betty Friedan (Nope, never read it. But I needed something that was 50-cents to round up my purchase.)
• Drinking, Smoking & Screwing: Great Writers on Good Times / Edited by by Sara Nickles and Bob Shacochis
• The True and Outstanding Adventures of the Hunt Sisters / Elisabeth Robinso
• Loose Girl: A Memoir of Promiscuity / Kerry Cohen
• Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers / Mary Roach
• Cyberpunk: Outlaws and Hackers on the Computer Frontier / Katie Hafner
• How to be Good / Nick Hornby
• When Will Jesus Bring the Pork Chops? / George Carlin
• Have you Seen Me? / Laura Denham
• Seven Sunny Days / Chris Manby (With so much heavy stuff on the TRB, I decided to toss in something fluffy.)
• X Saves the World: How Generation X Got the Shaft but Can Still Keep Everything from Sucking / Jeff Gordinier
• Fat Girl: A True Story / Judith Moore
• The Prize Winner of Defiance Ohio / Terry Ryan (Bought this for mom; she liked the movie so much that she'd probably enjoy the source material.)
• Noogie's Time to Shine / Jim Knipfel
• Indexed / Jessica Hagy
• In the Beginning was the Command Line / Neal Stephenson (Yes, you can read this for free, but I wanted a copy. Actually, I may have a copy already packed away somewhere.)
• My Sister's Keeper / Jodi Picoult

Total Haul Cost: $36.00 for 33 books and 1 DVD, benefiting three different libraries.