I went on a wonderful expedition yesterday.  At about 2:00, I headed over to the used book store, the Book Trader, and bought three books.

1. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson – I’ve been wanting to read this for a while.  I’ve heard good things about it and see it everywhere, so I thought, why not? It was $6.95 for a copy that looks like it was never even read.
2. Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides – I have heard so many good things about this novel, so when I saw it on the shelf, I had to grab it.
3. The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon – I first saw this book earlier this year at my school bookstore.  The library was hosting a Jewish literature book club and this was one of the books they were reading.  I was tempted so many times to buy it, but I never did.  My friend Rachel also read it and said it was wonderful, so when I saw it at the store, I grabbed at my chance to finally own it.

Then I headed over to Barnes and Noble.  I received a $50 Barnes and Noble gift card from the family I babysit for, which thrilled me.  I went in with the express intention of buying two Joyce Carol Oates novels, but they didn’t have one of the ones I had wanted.  There I bought:

1. Little Bird of Heaven by Joyce Carol Oates
2. The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery, which I’ve actually read a majority of, but never finished.  And since I prefer owning books to renting them from the library, I decided to buy it.

Overall, a pretty wonderful day.  I adore used book stores so much, and I wish there were more around me.  I love holding a used book in my hands – you don’t know how many people have read it before you, and I often wonder who it was that owned this before me.  There is so much history in the pages.

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