The Wellesley Booksmith has a USED BOOKSTORE in the basement. Yes. A used bookstore. In it's basement. And I never realized until now. I immediately indulged, and purchased books for my kids and myself. My kids are earning their "new" books with chores, and I am just...reading. And the book that my ten-year-old son is drooling over? Rules, by Cynthia Lord. Yup, he's a cool kid. I'm engrossed in The Giver. And seriously looking forward to An Abundance of Katherines. I've read Linda Urban's A Crooked Kind of Perfect, but just had to own a copy, and think my son will love that as well. Plus, I met Linda at a conference, and she is just the nicest person ever.What are you reading? Have you checked the basement of your Indie bookstore? No, really. Go take a look.
*Jon, I know you weren't thrilled with The Name of This Book is Secret, but we're giving it a go.
**Robert--notice the green box the books are on? I'm converting my file system to boxes, inspired by your office photo.
***Tracy, Anna, Casey, Tina, I'm finally reading The Giver. Woo-hoo!
1. Our bookstore is closing, :(
ReplyDelete2. I am uber jeal of your finds!
3. AN ABUNDANCe... is amazing, is this your first JG?
4. I am glad you're trying Bosch, let me know your thoughts!
5. You're lucky I restrained myself for a month since I found out you hadn't read THE GIVER! I specifically mention it (the book, not your negligence) in my March is Classic kickoff, so I'll allow you to count that as one of the classics too. I am not sure who's counting... Me. I am.
The Giver lost me at the end, but I thought the rest was great.
ReplyDeleteI love used book stores!!!! Maybe more than new book stores. Maybe. My money does buy more reading at a used one.
I had no idea the Wellesley Booksmith had a used book section! I know the one in Brookline does, but it never occurred to me that they might be twins. I'm excited you're finally reading The Giver! I really hope you don't hate it, otherwise all our hyping will be a bit of a disappointment. :-)
ReplyDeleteGood book finds!
ReplyDeleteI'm reading Shiver! I am liking it so far.
Jealous! I've got a couple of good indies in the nearest town.
ReplyDeleteNot reading anything new at the moment. Rereading The Hunger Games.
Just finished The Lovely Bones though. I loved it. I think maybe it affected me differently than most on account of my dad being a funeral director. Death and the ways people cope with it fascinate me. I've grown up around it and I'm hard to please with that subject matter, but The Lovely Bones nailed it.
J--1. So sad.
ReplyDelete2. I know great finds--and you have to know, I had others in my hand as well--I put back some L'Engle. *gasp* I know! I'll go back.
3. Yes, my first. I've heard wonderful things, and I know you're a big fan.
4. I'll let you know.
5. I'm glad you'll give it to me, even though it's not yet March. Thanks. I have to go back and get Island of the Blue Dolphins, too. It was another I picked up and replaced.
Sarah--I spend so much money when I walk into a book store, I was happy to find a way to even the balance, and still support an Indie!
ReplyDeleteAnita--the story is so compelling from the first page, I'm already enthralled.
ReplyDeleteAnd, it's awesome about the Wellesley Booksmith.
Kelly--I enjoyed Shiver. I wasn't in love with it, but I did enjoy it.
ReplyDeleteA. Grey--Hunger Games deserves a few readings, I think. I haven't picked up the second one yet, but I can't wait. I'm scared to pick up the Lovely Bones. You know, I'm not sure I want it living in my head. But, I've heard great things about it.
ReplyDeleteWe have a Great Indie bookstore, Gullivers, w/a big used section. Barnes and Nobel came to town a few years ago but Gullivers is holding their own so far. You can bring your used books in and get credit and then use the credit toward purchasing used books. The credit counts for 90% of the price and you pay the 10%.
ReplyDeleteI'm reading Muchacho by LouAnne Johnson, and just finished We were Here by Matt De La Pena, both are on the edgy side of YA. Before that I read The Book Thief, finally, and loved it.
I have Betsy Lerner's Memoir sitting in my TBR pile.
Enjoy your awesome stack of books! And hunting around in the used section of your store. It's kind of like treasure hunting, I think.
Wellesley Booksmith has a used bookstore in the basement? Since when? I so don't get it. Been going there for years. Is it like Diagon Alley & you found the correct bricks? Don't think I could stand it if you said there's a cafe down there, too, & that I'd missed that. Wow.
ReplyDeleteTaking a little breather from YA fiction, I recently finished "Old School," by Tobias Wolfe, fantastically written, mostly about boarding school, though from an adult perspective. Takes place decades before I was in boarding school, but, still, it was great to read a realistic version of the experience. 99% of the characters are male, except for one female who comes in for only a few pages but is the most important person in the book. Oh, and it's about boarding school kids writing.
Right now reading "The Good Rain" non-fiction about the Pacific Northwest in order to help me connect w/my new environs.
Yay for boxes!
I wish our Indie had a basement full of used books. I'd be in heaven. And my kids would be too. That's a really good idea - other than people giving away their used books on blog contests. :)
ReplyDeleteWow, you're stacked... With books. I'm talking about the books.
ReplyDeleteThere is a used bookstore here, but the owners are so insufferable. I brought in THE BOOK THIEF and she was like, "I've never heard of it. two dollars?"
ReplyDeleteSo, I sold my copy of THE BOOK THIEF for two dollars. The worst part is that I fully intended to read the book, but because I didn't understand it, I sent it away...only I forgot about the part where it doesn't come back until I fork over more than two bucks,
What's really funny is that the library has become my fave place to buy books. I have found ten great titles in their discard section.
Love Love Love the Giver, enjoy!!! Yay for bookstores!
ReplyDeleteAnna--the above comment is for you. Somehow, I just typed in Anita, when replying. I apologize. I blame multitasking and a house full of kids! Thanks for commenting!
ReplyDeleteYAY The Giver. LOVE An Abundance of Katherines. Want A Crooked Kind of Perfect. Great finds!
ReplyDeleteI think Abundance might be John Green's best (despite being the one that didn't want the Printz or Edgar). But it's so, so hard to say (which is your fav, Jon?). Anyway, wait 'til you see see how great his characters are though. Drives me crazy.
Happy Reading!
The Giver is terrific. It's one of my favorite YA books.
ReplyDeleteI didn't realize that the Wellesley Booksmith has a used section, but like Anna, knew about the Brookline one. And Wellesley is much easier to get to. Hm...
Casey - AN ABUNDANCE... is my least favorite, but I still looove it. PAPER TOWNS entertained me the most and ALASKA took my breath away and changed the way I look at books.
ReplyDeleteAh, it's so hard to choose! Alaska, and a few other books I read around the same time, really changed the way I look and reading and writing as well. While I adore Paper Towns, I didn't like the ending. That's why I tend to adore Katherines. It's not as heavy as Alaska but made me happier as a reader than Paper Towns.
ReplyDeleteAll in all, it doesn't really matter because they are ALL brilliant. 'Nough said.
Hey, hope you enjoy The Giver. And like Anna, I worry that all this hyping doesn't let you down. And like Kelly, I am in the middle of Shiver. I'm enjoying it and trying to rush through, because it is due tomorrow and there is a waiting list. Unless I can think of something creative quick, as due dates are for the uncreative!
ReplyDeleteOur indie bookstore is filled with animals. Chickens, cats, ferrets, birds, lizards, rats all living together peacefully like it is Noah's ark or something.
I'm going to go now to admire Robert's boxes. How come you have time to redo your filing system?!!!
We have no indie. Also no chain. No bookstore at all, used or otherwise.
ReplyDeleteI need to move.
THE GIVER rocks.
Paul--I love that 90% system for books. All the used bookstores that I used to visit around the Cambridge area went out of business (I think)(I still had a credit at one of them--:(--), so I was doubly excited that I found a used bookstore right in my own neck of the woods.
ReplyDeleteRobert--It's totally like Diagon Alley. Except for the HUGE 6 foot sign, with the big arrow proclaiming the used bookstore down the stairs. It's quite amazing how I've missed it in the 9 years that I've lived here and shopped at that bookstore.
ReplyDeleteIt sounds like you have some interesting and applicable reads going on!
Laura--it's awesome. I'm already thinking about what I'm going to buy when I go back, and it's been less then a week!
ReplyDeletePMM-Yeah, I'm really not stacked in any other way. It's very sad. But the books make up for it.
ReplyDeleteJon--that's too bad about the Book Thief, but awesome about the library. I do find some books to buy there from time to time, but mostly books in series that my kids like.
ReplyDeleteJen--I have to say, the Giver was excellent!
ReplyDeleteCasey--I'm already loving AA of Katherines--I love how he weaves in funny stuff and references. It's smart and entertaining. I love the anagrams and Colin's quirks. Good stuff.
ReplyDeleteJon--Can't wait to read some more John Green!
ReplyDeleteCasey--Maybe I'll look for Alaska next.
ReplyDeleteTina--That is awesomely weird about your Indie. I want to come see the animals. And, when I lost my working copy of Fallen Star (remember that when I said I had one paragraph that I knew I had already rewritten?) I decided I needed a better system. It wasn't hard to switch over. I tend to put things in containers, and then forget which container I put things in. So, I need dedicated containers. (I found that book that I was looking for you in a bin somewhere.) And I love the boxes!
Sarah--I'm so sorry. Amazon is kind-of a used bookstore, right? The Giver is amazing!
Alicia--I skipped your comment, so sorry. Let me know if you are coming out the Wellesley Booksmith--we can have coffee and fight over the used L'Engle books! :)
ReplyDeleteI def think you should do PAPER TOWNS next and then WILL GRAYSON, WILL GRAYSON and then Alaska. It's like saving the pie for last. Casey's right about the book being heavy, but so is the peanut butter cream pie I so wish I was eating right now.
ReplyDeleteJohn's footnotes made me laugh so hard...okay, we can talk about this when you're done and how AN ABUNDANCE... has the best supporting character ever.
I liked the Giver. A Crooked Kind of Perfect is one of the books at my kids' school book fair that's on my list. I think my wish list is even longer than theirs! Used book stores are GREAT!
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