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<DIV>For those of you who don't visit the Coffee Bean Goddess at <A
href="http://www.mugajava.com">www.mugajava.com</A> , an explanation is in
order. I own a bookshop called The Crime Scene...Books & Other Needful
Things. We're talking used books, here. Not having the space or inclination to
deal with "everything," I decided up front to specialize in mystery, thrillers,
chillers, scifi/fantasy and avoid the rest.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Just last week, however, I got a chance to buy up the stock of another
little used book shop. The price was very much right. Unfortunately, to get what
I wanted I had to take the whole thing. 2500 books, a significant portion of
which was, for one reason or the other, simply crap. Another significant portion
is just fine but doesn't fall into my preferred categories and is taking up
needed space in the shop. Hey...when you have so many boxes of books piled
around that the customers can't get through...well, you gotta do
something!</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>The "something" I've been doing is a daily book sale...paperbacks for 10
cents, hard covers a mere quarter. Each morning I pack box after box of books
outside and place them in seductive rows on the cement pad in front of the
shop...my own private Sidewalk Sale. Each evening, I wearily pack what remains
back inside and stack them on every available floor space I can find.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>That's the back story. What follows is a rumination on why I love used
books...</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>***********</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV><!--mail_content-->It isn't just the difference in cost that
makes me care for a used book over its brand-new, pricey sibling. A used book is
like an old house in that it takes on a certain charisma, a patina reflecting
the people who have lovingly enjoyed it and passed it on. There's an extra
<I>dimension</I> to a used book, one the author and publisher had nothing to do
with.
<P>You get quick snapshots of previous readers when you handle a used book.
There is no end, for example, to the variety of bookmarks left between pages.
I've found countless cash register receipts, postcards, grocery lists, class
pictures, business cards (one from a taxi service in San Francisco), and, of
course, bookmarks from other book shops. I like to keep those. At this point, I
seem to have a respectable collection going.
<P>There are more permanent indications of previous readers. Some paste in
bookplates with their name and address. Some just scribble a name on the inside
cover or an early page. One book had, on the blank pages, three different
recipes using chicken. Another had a To Do list on the inside cover...in ink.
Then there are the readers who are compelled to underline phrases or sentences
that touch them in a meaningful way...and you find yourself wondering what has
been happening in their lives to make those particular words so touching.
<P>My favorite, so far, is the inscription I found yesterday in a copy of
<I>Fisherman's Wharf Cookbook.</I> The content of that short paragraph made it
clear a daughter was presenting the book to "the most wonderful mother in the
world" on her 76th birthday. At the end of the note, in a different color of
ink, the year '91 was carefully added and circled. I'm thinking the well-loved
mother is no longer with us or that particular gift would never have found its
way into that box of books. But what a beautiful "extra" story is added, just
because of a few words and their connotations.
<P>My favorite customers today were a couple with one of their daughters. The
three of them were going avidly through the several boxes of kidlet books.
Stephen, the father, explained to me, "We have seven children and all but the
baby are readers."
<P>Not just readers, judging by the remarks exchanged as they hunted and
discovered. Book <I>lovers.</I> When Stephen picked up the cardboard box full of
purchases, he took a long, deep breath. "Ah," he said. "Books smell so good!"
<P>So...tomorrow we do it all over again. I'll go in early and drag something
like 36 boxes of books out onto the cement pad in front of the shop. And I'll
look at them woefully and think, "Oh Lord, come closing time, I have to drag 'em
all back again." But each day I do that, I'll be chipping away at the excess,
making room for the books I want on the shelves. Got rid of something like a
hundred today. Only 2400 more to go. More or less.
<P>Heck, if I keep this up, I might be able to walk across my loft
again!</P></BODY></HTML>