Ok, I think I have a problem. That’s the first step, right?
Now that I’ve admitted it, I’ll tell you a little about it.
I have a new obsession with yarn and books. I’ve always had an obsession with books, but it’s gotten better in the past couple of years. I did have the habit at one time of buying several books at a time and always having a huge back log of books that needed to be read. Since I got caught up with my reading, I’ve been buying books one at a time. This seemed to be working well since I don’t have a lot of time to read these days.
Well, I’ve blown it.
I’ve discovered used book sales. Not used book stores, but book sales. The kind that they have in the basement of the public library, particularly in Ann Arbor. That got the addiction started and it’s continued on to Borders and other regular priced places too.
It started a couple weeks ago when Jason, Austin, Jacob and I went to the used book sale at the library in Clinton. I wasn’t expecting much since it was in Clinton, but was pleasantly surprised. I picked up a copy of Angela’s Ashes in perfect condition for a dollar. While we were there, Jason overheard someone talking about the book sale in Ann Arbor, so we decided to go there and check it out. While we were there, Jason picked up 2 books, I got a couple for Ryan, Austin got about 50 (mostly Hardy Boy Mysteries, hardcover and paperback), and I got "Shadow Play" by Charles Baxter, "The Great Fire" by Shirley Hazzard, and "Snow Falling on Cedars" by David Guterson. We spent a total of $27 at the Ann Arbor sale.
Fast forward to last weekend.
We went to Border’s on Friday night where Jason picked up 2 books and I got “The Complete Adventures of Tom Sawyer” by Mark Twain and (I think) “Call of the Wild” and “White Fang” by Jack London. They had the hard cover classics for 50% off, how could I resist? Plus, they are books that I want Austin to read one day anyways.
Saturday, we decided to go back to the book sale at the Ann Arbor library and I picked up 5 more books. I got “O Pioneers” by Willa Cather, “The Adventures of Huckelberry Finn” by Mark Twain, “Sportswriter” by Richard Ford (for Jason), and “Sugarland” by Michael Chabon, and “Microserfs” by Douglas Coupland.
So, in the past 2 weeks, I’ve bought 12 books for myself. That’s in addition to “Little Women” that I bought the week before and still haven’t read. Plus, I have 4 books on my shelf that I’ve had for a while but have been stuck in boxes in the basement so I forgot about them. So I have 17 books in my back log. The thing is, I have probably only paid about $35 for all of those books.
I’m already trying to think about when I can make it back to the book sale again. Yikes.
The thing with the yarn isn’t so bad. I’ve been on a scarf making kick lately and I’ve been buying lots of yarn. I made 4 scarves yesterday for the scarf drive. Total collected to date: 113 scarves and 5 hats! After the pic below was taken, I made my 4 and someone dropped off 13 more.
Now that I’ve admitted it, I’ll tell you a little about it.
I have a new obsession with yarn and books. I’ve always had an obsession with books, but it’s gotten better in the past couple of years. I did have the habit at one time of buying several books at a time and always having a huge back log of books that needed to be read. Since I got caught up with my reading, I’ve been buying books one at a time. This seemed to be working well since I don’t have a lot of time to read these days.
Well, I’ve blown it.
I’ve discovered used book sales. Not used book stores, but book sales. The kind that they have in the basement of the public library, particularly in Ann Arbor. That got the addiction started and it’s continued on to Borders and other regular priced places too.
It started a couple weeks ago when Jason, Austin, Jacob and I went to the used book sale at the library in Clinton. I wasn’t expecting much since it was in Clinton, but was pleasantly surprised. I picked up a copy of Angela’s Ashes in perfect condition for a dollar. While we were there, Jason overheard someone talking about the book sale in Ann Arbor, so we decided to go there and check it out. While we were there, Jason picked up 2 books, I got a couple for Ryan, Austin got about 50 (mostly Hardy Boy Mysteries, hardcover and paperback), and I got "Shadow Play" by Charles Baxter, "The Great Fire" by Shirley Hazzard, and "Snow Falling on Cedars" by David Guterson. We spent a total of $27 at the Ann Arbor sale.
Fast forward to last weekend.
We went to Border’s on Friday night where Jason picked up 2 books and I got “The Complete Adventures of Tom Sawyer” by Mark Twain and (I think) “Call of the Wild” and “White Fang” by Jack London. They had the hard cover classics for 50% off, how could I resist? Plus, they are books that I want Austin to read one day anyways.
Saturday, we decided to go back to the book sale at the Ann Arbor library and I picked up 5 more books. I got “O Pioneers” by Willa Cather, “The Adventures of Huckelberry Finn” by Mark Twain, “Sportswriter” by Richard Ford (for Jason), and “Sugarland” by Michael Chabon, and “Microserfs” by Douglas Coupland.
So, in the past 2 weeks, I’ve bought 12 books for myself. That’s in addition to “Little Women” that I bought the week before and still haven’t read. Plus, I have 4 books on my shelf that I’ve had for a while but have been stuck in boxes in the basement so I forgot about them. So I have 17 books in my back log. The thing is, I have probably only paid about $35 for all of those books.
I’m already trying to think about when I can make it back to the book sale again. Yikes.
The thing with the yarn isn’t so bad. I’ve been on a scarf making kick lately and I’ve been buying lots of yarn. I made 4 scarves yesterday for the scarf drive. Total collected to date: 113 scarves and 5 hats! After the pic below was taken, I made my 4 and someone dropped off 13 more.
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