Chronicles of a Girl Starting Over

I love books.  Even better, I love used books. Books that have been read. Sure, I could wander around Barnes & Noble forever, and yes, my Nook is a second limb, but oh I do love used books.

There was a used book store around the corner from my old office, and if I had time to kill I would go get a coffee and walk around the book store.  I worked around the corner for three years and the only thing I ever bought was an old edition of Breakfast of Champions for five dollars. It was the 1973 hardcover edition (no idea when it was printed), but without a dust jacket.  It was the first “grown up” book I remember reading.  And I was really very excited about my new edition of Breakfast of Champions, trying to imagine who had read it before me.  I mean, it looked pretty beat up, and everyone who is anyone has read at least one Vonnegut book, right?

I read the entire book that weekend cover to cover. That Monday, I spilt a soda all over it. It was ruined, so I tossed it, ending my stint with used books.

Today I got a belated birthday present from my mom, and I could tell immediately it was a book, which I found odd since she was the one who bought me the Nook.  She found for me the original edition of my favorite book, Mrs. Mike.  Not only is it the first edition, it’s the fifth impression. Why is this all pretty cool? Because, I now own all three: 1947, 1968, and 2002 (bottom to top).

I’m going to take a break from Delivering Happiness (almost done), and read my new/old copy of Mrs. Mike tonight.  I’ll make sure the other editions are on my nightstand; wouldn’t want them to feel left out.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, April 7th, 2010 at 8:03 pm and is filed under Ramblings. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.