"Perhaps there is some secret homing instinct in books that brings them to there perfect readers..."

So, I have discovered the ways of the used bookstore. It is now one of my favorite places... ever. I found this cute little store in Rocklin, CA called Anna's Books. It's my favorite. Organized, lots of variety, old-new, nice people who share the book passion. I feel like a kindred spirit there.
http://www.annasbooks.biz/
I don't really like a more popular one around here called Almost Perfect Books. It's about the largest bookstore I have EVER seen. But also the most chaotic! There is just too much and its not very cheap. It's alright though.
http://www.almostperfectbookstore.com/
Idaho Falls, ID is where I began used-bookstore-ing because of my Young Adult Literature class. I had to read 30 YA novels, so naturally by the end of the semester the box of my mother's book I had borrowed was filled to the brim with new adventures and friends! The IF store is called Book City. It is right across from the mall. It's a really good one too!
Deseret Industries is the best for prices! I have found the neatest books there and at Goodwill (basically the same thing). I bought 19 books for $30 from DI. Crazy! (yes, I do mean me for buying 19 books.. I know..) One of them was the Coolest dictionary in the world! It is over half a foot wide! The unabridged collegiate dictionary. Every word known to man, held in my hands at one time!.. well, almost. It looks just great up with all of my books! I found this collection of Shakespeares tragedies and comedies printed in 1944! It is a set of 4 books, I only found 3 of them. They are beautiful. Seriously. Green hardback covers, with gold and brown writing. On the inside of them all there is someone's old "ex-libris". I had been seeing that word a lot so started a research.
Ex Libris translated directly from latin means "from the books". It is used to mean, "from the library of". Ex Libris is often on a book plate. A sticker in the front of the book with the person's name printed below ex libris. These books say ex libris Lenore Bosworth. It just makes me wonder. Who was Lenore Bosworth? What did these books mean to her? A great deal? Nothing? How did they end up at DI for $2.00? That is what I love about these old books. They have been through so much. These survived WWII!
I also found a really cool old copy of The Book of Mormon from 1960. It is one of the blue copies from when David O. Mckay was prophet I believe. There is a name written in the front as well.
At Goodwill I found a Havard edition of Homer's Odyssey. When opened up, on the left page is the story in it's original language and the english translation on the right page! So cool! Unfortunately, it's not the whole odyssey. It doesn't have a print date though, but it looks and feels pretty old.
Today I purchased a copy of Ben Hur from 1908! Another beautiful book! It was given to a someone (I can't quite make out the name) for Christmas of 1914!
I also found some textbooks I needed for my upcoming semester.
These books make me realize just how small our world is. The book I am currently reading, The Guernsey Literary Potato Peel Pie Society, says, "I wonder how the book got to Guernsey? Perhaps there is some secret homing instinct in books that brings them to there perfect readers. How delightful if that were true."
The main character, Juliet, in this book is a woman after my own heart! She also says, "Because there is nothing I would rather do than rummage through bookstops... I have going to [Hasting's & Son's] for years, always finding the one book I wanted-and then three more I hadn't known I wanted." Exactly.
Speaking of stories reminds me of one last thing. This really cool video my teacher showed us in my Contemporary British and American Literature class last semester. It's about collecting stories- our own and others around us, past and present.



Everybody, and everything, has a story. An old ticket stub, a saved bottle cap, a torn picture, an ex libris in the front of a book.
There are unlimited ways to listen to a story.