Expanding

Yesterday I bought a 5-shelf bookcase and four books.  I am of the opinion that you should always buy at least one new book when you buy a bookcase (similar to the penny for a new wallet?).  But as I said to my friend yesterday, just because I have one new book does not mean I have enough.  If I had had more money, I would have bought a few more.  Damn those monthly expenses for getting in the way of my book buying!  In case you're interested, these are the books I bought:
*All in One: Fabulously Simple and Convenient One-Pot Recipes (no author)
*100 Cupboards - N.D. Wilson (100 Cupboards #1)
*Phoenix Rising - Pip Ballantine & Tee Morris (Books & Braun #1)
*Hold On To Your Kids - Gabor Mate; my new-dad brother recommended this and I borrowed it from my library...unfortunately I keep getting distracted by gripping fiction books and decided just to buy my own copy after illegally renewing it three times (oh the staff perks!).

I learned yesterday that size matters when it comes to bookstores.  I bought three of the books at the little Coles store in the mall.  Despite having my 548-title to-read list handy, I found it difficult to locate them because (a) the store didn't carry them, (b) some titles were shelved in the teen area instead of the genre area, and (c) some aren't new enough to be carried in the bookstore.  Although I did eventually browse each area, I found myself feeling frustrated and irritable because I was constantly going back and forth between various areas to check for titles.  Why they can't have the catalogue computers like Chapters does, I don't know.  At least one would be incredibly helpful.  Even if I found that they carried none of the titles on my list (doubtful!), that would not deter me from browsing anyway.  I'm always open to finding new titles I wasn't aware of.  And if you are not open to expanding your to-read list, don't follow me into the bookstore.  You have been warned.

So I built my new bookcase last night, disregarding the instructions by using a power screwdriver.  I'm very happy with it.  I've moved all of my fiction onto it, leaving my other two bookcases for my non-fiction and scrapbook albums.  There is plenty of room for expansion now, which will hopefully last a little while.  But my love of Better World Books will probably ruin that.  The shipping may be slow (2-4 weeks for me) but I'm okay with that.  The price of shipping (free!) is great and every time a box arrives, it will have been so long I won't remember what I ordered and it'll be like getting a gift in the mail.  How wonderful is that?!  Besides, I'm already finding that BWB has titles in stock for shipping that I can't find via traditional (aka mainstream) venues.  Sold!

I'm also expanding my book-related resources and reading material.  The lovely thing about blogs is the blogroll, leading you to more blogs.  Yesterday I found bookgirl's nightstand.  I like her writing style and even if I am not always interested in the same books she is, I still find her descriptions worth reading.  From reading her blog and others that I like, I've realized that, although my blog is book-related, I don't always divulge the titles I have read, bought, or added to my to-read list.  The Goodreads widget is not enough.  I currently own 175 books.  Aside from the four I mentioned above, how many do you know about?  Not that I'm about to give you a list or anything but perhaps you might like to know more about my interests.  Books about books are at the top of the list, just so you know.  Those are the ones at the top of my Better World Books shopping list.  Perhaps I'll expand on that in a future post.

Read on,
Paula