Carnage At The Bookstore
I have a weakness of the 12-step program level.
Typically on Sunday’s I run errands after mass. When the occasion arises, this also includes getting my car serviced. Today was a much over due car service day. The problem with that is I also can’t stand to sit still, thus I usually walk to the nearby stores (i.e. the mall stores). Unfortunately, the only store open at 9am on Sunday in walking distance (besides Target) was Barnes & Noble. Let me repeat myself here: I have a weakness.
I can window shop like a pro because I am tight like gnat booty when it comes to spending money; unless I’m in a bookstore. Rare is the occasion that I can go into a bookstore and not walk out at least $70 poorer on average. For a while, I used to mitigate this by avoiding the computer manual section since I can knock out that $70 average with just two books from that section alone. Sticking to philosophy and humor helped a great deal. Being semi-stranded in the bookstore for 2.5 hours after recently rediscovering one’s love of Literary Theory and Criticism? That, my friends, spells disaster to my pockets. I only put back the Post-Colonial Criticism text book AFTER the checkout lady told me it was $101. And even then I had to seriously think about it.
Disclaimer: My amazon wishlist tally, which does not include the private wishlists, currently stands just above $3K. All prices, including below, either used or after discount.
All of it brought me a measure of squee like kids with new toys on Christmas. So what did I finally score?
Thoreau’s Walden and Civil Disobedience for $5.35
- I haven’t read Walden in what feels like eons but is more realistically like 15-20 years. It was trade paperback format which I absolutely adore and tend to expect to be $12-14. Winner!
Frye’s Anatomy of Criticism at a reasonable $17.95
- This is actually the only book that is on the above mentioned wishlist, and it was recently added though I’ve been after it for months.
Hornby’s Polysyllabic Spree for $12.60
- I’m quite sure I could have waited on this one to drop in price, but I related to the author’s feelings of what it’s like to have a love of reading, and the reader’s relationship with the author, story, and characters. Plus it’s funny. Can’t knock teh funny.
Informal Logic: A Handbook $26.90
- I have been called a semantics queen, a closet lawyer, and many other things that equate more or less to argumentative. Funny thing is, my arguments are generally not that great. Scattered would be the best thing I could call them. At the same time, I can pick apart an argument fairly decently. This book is a fairly easy read that does a great deal in helping me figure out where my arguments go wrong. Not to mention, it also espouses many of my views on why I enjoy critical discourse to begin with. Winner!
Rulebook for Arguments, 3rd Edition $6.25
- Augments the above with short rule of thumb instruction. Good if you want to immediately put logic into action, but the former is better if you want to understand why it works. Both of these together beat any “How to win any argument” book in my opinion.
Finally, I am always listening to the ambient music in the shops I frequent. I always annoy the clerks by asking them what’s playing on the overhead. Depending on the store, they either have no idea, have no time to find out, or view it as an opportunity to sell me something. Obviously the latter was the case today, and I am quite thrilled with it.
Rodrigo Y Gabriela is a fantastic critical reading lullaby. It’s also just flat out good ass music. Billing themselves as an acoustic metal guitar duo (see rodgab.com), the Dublin based Rodrigo Sanchez and Gabriela Quintero bring a fabulously fresh multi-cultural influence to music via their thoroughly string based medium. All of their percussion is done on their own guitars. Anyone who can do a culturally influenced acoustic version of Metallica’s Orion gets a thumbs up in my book. I heartily encourage every one to give them a listen.
So, while I almost left $200+ of my American Dollars at the Barnes & Noble, I managed to come away having only hemorrhaged just over $100. The sad part? I only intended to bleed $20 to Firestone for an oil change and rotating my tires. I must be stopped. At least, my latest mitigating tactic is to limit it to when I get my oil changed which only happens once every couple months. There has to be a support group for this sort of thing.
Typically on Sunday’s I run errands after mass. When the occasion arises, this also includes getting my car serviced. Today was a much over due car service day. The problem with that is I also can’t stand to sit still, thus I usually walk to the nearby stores (i.e. the mall stores). Unfortunately, the only store open at 9am on Sunday in walking distance (besides Target) was Barnes & Noble. Let me repeat myself here: I have a weakness.
I can window shop like a pro because I am tight like gnat booty when it comes to spending money; unless I’m in a bookstore. Rare is the occasion that I can go into a bookstore and not walk out at least $70 poorer on average. For a while, I used to mitigate this by avoiding the computer manual section since I can knock out that $70 average with just two books from that section alone. Sticking to philosophy and humor helped a great deal. Being semi-stranded in the bookstore for 2.5 hours after recently rediscovering one’s love of Literary Theory and Criticism? That, my friends, spells disaster to my pockets. I only put back the Post-Colonial Criticism text book AFTER the checkout lady told me it was $101. And even then I had to seriously think about it.
Disclaimer: My amazon wishlist tally, which does not include the private wishlists, currently stands just above $3K. All prices, including below, either used or after discount.
All of it brought me a measure of squee like kids with new toys on Christmas. So what did I finally score?
Thoreau’s Walden and Civil Disobedience for $5.35
- I haven’t read Walden in what feels like eons but is more realistically like 15-20 years. It was trade paperback format which I absolutely adore and tend to expect to be $12-14. Winner!
Frye’s Anatomy of Criticism at a reasonable $17.95
- This is actually the only book that is on the above mentioned wishlist, and it was recently added though I’ve been after it for months.
Hornby’s Polysyllabic Spree for $12.60
- I’m quite sure I could have waited on this one to drop in price, but I related to the author’s feelings of what it’s like to have a love of reading, and the reader’s relationship with the author, story, and characters. Plus it’s funny. Can’t knock teh funny.
Informal Logic: A Handbook $26.90
- I have been called a semantics queen, a closet lawyer, and many other things that equate more or less to argumentative. Funny thing is, my arguments are generally not that great. Scattered would be the best thing I could call them. At the same time, I can pick apart an argument fairly decently. This book is a fairly easy read that does a great deal in helping me figure out where my arguments go wrong. Not to mention, it also espouses many of my views on why I enjoy critical discourse to begin with. Winner!
Rulebook for Arguments, 3rd Edition $6.25
- Augments the above with short rule of thumb instruction. Good if you want to immediately put logic into action, but the former is better if you want to understand why it works. Both of these together beat any “How to win any argument” book in my opinion.
Finally, I am always listening to the ambient music in the shops I frequent. I always annoy the clerks by asking them what’s playing on the overhead. Depending on the store, they either have no idea, have no time to find out, or view it as an opportunity to sell me something. Obviously the latter was the case today, and I am quite thrilled with it.
Rodrigo Y Gabriela is a fantastic critical reading lullaby. It’s also just flat out good ass music. Billing themselves as an acoustic metal guitar duo (see rodgab.com), the Dublin based Rodrigo Sanchez and Gabriela Quintero bring a fabulously fresh multi-cultural influence to music via their thoroughly string based medium. All of their percussion is done on their own guitars. Anyone who can do a culturally influenced acoustic version of Metallica’s Orion gets a thumbs up in my book. I heartily encourage every one to give them a listen.
So, while I almost left $200+ of my American Dollars at the Barnes & Noble, I managed to come away having only hemorrhaged just over $100. The sad part? I only intended to bleed $20 to Firestone for an oil change and rotating my tires. I must be stopped. At least, my latest mitigating tactic is to limit it to when I get my oil changed which only happens once every couple months. There has to be a support group for this sort of thing.