I am in love
Not with a man or a woman, though either of those would be very welcome in my life right now, but with a little used bookstore that I must have passed by a million times in the last few years of living in this town. Today I finally went inside and cursed myself for all those years of failing to appreciate its glory.
It's one of those little bookstores that only looks little from the front, because the tall shelves crammed with paperbacks are hiding the rows and rooms behind them. I wound through the piles of books on the floor and the carts full of more books marked, "New Arrivals," and soon found myself in a series of backrooms each with a sign above the door or taped to the wall. Science. Classics. Fiction. SciFi/Fantasy - oh Hell yes.
I spent some time just basking in the titles and authors that beamed down at me from all angles in the cramped little room. A giant copy of Wizard's First Rule was on the floor because there was no more room on the shelf, oversized books with cloth bindings were stacked on top of the shelf right up to the ceiling, and in a cardboard box big enough for me to curl up in was someone's collection of Star Wars Expanded Universe novels. I was home.
Unfortunately, they didn't seem to have any Neil Gaiman books at all. After buying The Princess Bride (which I have been meaning to read for years), I asked the woman at the till if they had Good Omens in stock. But before I could worry that it was a stupid question, because no one could possibly keep track of one title in the beautiful mess of books behind me, I had another concern. I wasn't completely sure how to pronounce Neil Gaiman's name. Gayman? Guyman? This was ridiculous! I love Neil Gaiman! How had I never wondered how his name is pronounced? I think this is a concern unique to people like me, who read too much but very rarely get the chance to talk about it aloud. That may be why I could spell the word "antique" at the age of seven but was convinced up to the age of twelve that it was pronounced "ant-eye-queue."
Luckily the bookstore lady was able to decipher my mumbling. They didn't have it, so she went to call their other location to see if they could send it for me. And then, because I am a giant pedant, when her back was turned I pulled out my smartphone and Googled how to pronounce "Gaiman." (The man himself phoneticizes it "Gaym'n" in case anyone else is as hopeless as I am.)
The next town over has the book. It'll be here in a few days.
In short: found new bookstore, have new book, will soon have other new book, am dork, good day.
It's one of those little bookstores that only looks little from the front, because the tall shelves crammed with paperbacks are hiding the rows and rooms behind them. I wound through the piles of books on the floor and the carts full of more books marked, "New Arrivals," and soon found myself in a series of backrooms each with a sign above the door or taped to the wall. Science. Classics. Fiction. SciFi/Fantasy - oh Hell yes.
I spent some time just basking in the titles and authors that beamed down at me from all angles in the cramped little room. A giant copy of Wizard's First Rule was on the floor because there was no more room on the shelf, oversized books with cloth bindings were stacked on top of the shelf right up to the ceiling, and in a cardboard box big enough for me to curl up in was someone's collection of Star Wars Expanded Universe novels. I was home.
Unfortunately, they didn't seem to have any Neil Gaiman books at all. After buying The Princess Bride (which I have been meaning to read for years), I asked the woman at the till if they had Good Omens in stock. But before I could worry that it was a stupid question, because no one could possibly keep track of one title in the beautiful mess of books behind me, I had another concern. I wasn't completely sure how to pronounce Neil Gaiman's name. Gayman? Guyman? This was ridiculous! I love Neil Gaiman! How had I never wondered how his name is pronounced? I think this is a concern unique to people like me, who read too much but very rarely get the chance to talk about it aloud. That may be why I could spell the word "antique" at the age of seven but was convinced up to the age of twelve that it was pronounced "ant-eye-queue."
Luckily the bookstore lady was able to decipher my mumbling. They didn't have it, so she went to call their other location to see if they could send it for me. And then, because I am a giant pedant, when her back was turned I pulled out my smartphone and Googled how to pronounce "Gaiman." (The man himself phoneticizes it "Gaym'n" in case anyone else is as hopeless as I am.)
The next town over has the book. It'll be here in a few days.
In short: found new bookstore, have new book, will soon have other new book, am dork, good day.