So yesterday I went to the library just for a few minutes and all. I have to tell you that the Rockwall Library is a deeeelight! Seriously. It's new and sparkly and has, of course, lots of books. Although for the record, I think Newark's collection is probably larger, and I did love that it was in a lovely old building with a marble interior and dusty old stacks with mysterious dark corners and a musty smell. It felt very lived in, comfortable and, oh, I don't know, library-ish.
Do you like how when I cannot come up with a way of describing something, I get uber lazy and just end with an -ish or a -ness?
And then today, I went to Barnes and Noble. I fear I've become a strange new person because I no longer have this craving to buy the place out. Ever since I got turned onto this idea of the library, Borders and Barnes and Noble have become pretty places to peruse sparkly new books. But I browse. That is not to say that I do not enjoy the browsing and the looking. I most certainly do. But buying...well, that is another thing all together.
You see, besides wandering around stacks, I also enjoy the free-ness (there I go again...I'm going to call it my lawyer training because that is what real attorneys do: make up words by indiscriminately adding endings as they please) of the public library. That and I'm poor. But mostly I just like that the lib's free policy and all.
That and I've realized I don't want to spend seven to twenty-some-odd dollars on a risky investment. Hear me out. So my Goodreads friends might have made me risk averse. Take, for example, the following anecdote. I was looking at those shiny new books in mah fave section - YA Lit. I saw City of Bones and Clockwork Angel, both by Cassandra Clare. They have thousands of very good ratings on Goodreads...both over four stars. So pretty good average and all, so I'm thinking purchasable. But then I looked at what my friends had to say. One bad review, and I immediately thought, "LIBRARY!" That way I don't have to pay for a book that I'm going to think was only so-so and wish I hadn't spent good money on it.
And if I hate it? Even better. No loss, I just take it back to the library. If I purchase it, I'll feel obligated to finish it. And then double whammy. I'm mad because I spent good money and wasted good time when there are soooooooo many good books out there, all for the enjoying and what not. Who wants to waste cash and time on a product that is no good? No one, that's who. And well, hmmm...that gets me to thinking...maybe B&N should have a return policy for books that just aren't satisfying. Do they have that sort of thing? Maybe they do already. I don't know. I'm just saying. You walk up to the counter and tell them it's super dumb and how much you really hated it and how angry you are that you wasted so much time on it...right?
Thusly? More and more, I'm thinking I need to save my cash for the Jane Eyres and Harry Potters of the world, you know? Books that I'll read more than once.
So my pocket book thanks you, public lib, it thanks you very very much!
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