Book Sales

I'm a sucker for a book sale. Even places like Half Price Books make me lose all self control and go mad. I often bring in books to sell and end up spending far more than I get back. So I am incredibly excited for this weekend. The annual Planned Parenthood Book Sale is going on at the state fairgrounds. Imagine hundreds of tables stretching across rooms, stacked four to five books deep. Now imagine that all those books sell for $2.00 or less. Cheap paperbacks upstairs will sell for $.25 each. 

Here is an image stolen from the Planned Parenthood site of this year's tables. 

Last year I bought so many books that they had to find boxes for me to take them home in. I tend to leave $40 short with a stiff neck from looking over hundreds of tables. All the money goes to a great cause, Planned Parenthood so I tend to spend liberally. I've even volunteered in years past to help unbox books for the sale. So I know exactly where I will be this weekend. For anyone in Des Moines who reads regularly, make sure you get out there. Hundreds of thousands of books for prices so small it's almost stealing. 

There is another book sale going on this weekend but this one I'm not so excited about. My sister has long been with Borders/Waldenbooks. She is currently the store manager at the Waldenbooks at one of our malls. Last night I got a text message from her letting me know that the store will be closing. My sister will be unemployed by the end of the month. She called me today to let me know that everything in the store is 40-50% off. Somehow I'm having trouble getting excited about this particular sale. I'm sad to think that the faster the books go, the shorter time she has. I have traditionally ordered all my books through her. She just ordered me the new Adam Rex picture book. 

My sister has done well with the company and the hope is that they will transfer her to a different store. But who knows where that store will be. I know that she'll find something, she's very smart, but I worry how long it will take. Two of my neighbors have been unemployed, one for quite a while, the other for over two months now. So I'm learning not to complain about my job. It pays me well and right now I have more job security than I know what to do with.