“When I get a little money I buy books; and if any is left I buy food and clothes.”
Desiderius Erasmus
I love to buy books. When my house finally sinks into the North Texas clay, it will be from the weight of books. Were I win the lottery, a large portion of it would go toward building a library room and filling it... Even when I finally get a Kindle, I will never completely divest myself of good old paper books.
In the original Star Trek series, I would be the curmudgeonly lawyer who defends James Kirk in "Court Martial". The one who lovingly keeps books around even though the entire literary compilation of humankind is contained on one of those cheesy plastic "clipboards" the buxom blonde ensigns are always carrying :)
But what I don't like is to pay full price for a book. Books have gotten outrageously expensive, unless they are basic trade paperbacks. And if you need any kind of specialty book, you are going to pay out the nose....
Which means that one of my absolute favorite places in the entire universe is Half-Price Books. I can spend hours there. I especially like the clearance sections, where I might pick up 5 or 6 good books for 5 bucks. The problem with Half-Price, though, is that you never know what you might find when you go there. It is not a store conducive to the search for a particular book.
And, therefore, when it happens that way, it really is a joy for a bibliophile!
I recently posted that I have begun to have a renewed interest in writing poetry, but that I wanted to write old-fashioned metrical forms rather than the free verse that I learned growing up. I have struggled, however, to gain some traction in this endeavor. There is a great book that I wanted that would help me with the various forms, but it is more money than I wanted to spend.
And then I found, at Half-Price, not that book, but an even better book that provides very detailed instructions and guidance on writing poetic forms, helping with the complicated matter of meter, which is what I struggle with the most. And so I ended up getting an even better book for about 1/4 of the price of the book I was originally seeking!
For someone who loves to find book bargains, it doesn't get much better than that!
Desiderius Erasmus
I love to buy books. When my house finally sinks into the North Texas clay, it will be from the weight of books. Were I win the lottery, a large portion of it would go toward building a library room and filling it... Even when I finally get a Kindle, I will never completely divest myself of good old paper books.
In the original Star Trek series, I would be the curmudgeonly lawyer who defends James Kirk in "Court Martial". The one who lovingly keeps books around even though the entire literary compilation of humankind is contained on one of those cheesy plastic "clipboards" the buxom blonde ensigns are always carrying :)
But what I don't like is to pay full price for a book. Books have gotten outrageously expensive, unless they are basic trade paperbacks. And if you need any kind of specialty book, you are going to pay out the nose....
Which means that one of my absolute favorite places in the entire universe is Half-Price Books. I can spend hours there. I especially like the clearance sections, where I might pick up 5 or 6 good books for 5 bucks. The problem with Half-Price, though, is that you never know what you might find when you go there. It is not a store conducive to the search for a particular book.
And, therefore, when it happens that way, it really is a joy for a bibliophile!
I recently posted that I have begun to have a renewed interest in writing poetry, but that I wanted to write old-fashioned metrical forms rather than the free verse that I learned growing up. I have struggled, however, to gain some traction in this endeavor. There is a great book that I wanted that would help me with the various forms, but it is more money than I wanted to spend.
And then I found, at Half-Price, not that book, but an even better book that provides very detailed instructions and guidance on writing poetic forms, helping with the complicated matter of meter, which is what I struggle with the most. And so I ended up getting an even better book for about 1/4 of the price of the book I was originally seeking!
For someone who loves to find book bargains, it doesn't get much better than that!
My favorite book about poetry was "A poet and the poem" by Judson Jerome.read it back in the early 80's ..i believe the library said it was a tex book from Ohio state Universaty. don't know if you can even buy it??
ReplyDeleteI recently read "the Artist's Way" and enjoyed it...very good for writers block..the other day i saw a book i want to read called "who turned off my brain"..sounds good to me.
I love reading about writing and sculpting. i think each new books helps us to grow as poets.