A Book Problem? NEVER!

This morning my daughter wanted to head to the store to see the post Easter clearance items. Since I had to do some grocery shopping I didn’t mind making a detour over to the Easter aisle, however my pocketbook did mind. In one of the aisles tucked near tabletop decorations were several stacks of children’s books. All these books were 50% off! I selected a few and placed them in the cart while my daughter went in search of stuffed animals and chocolate. We shopped for some every day household items that we needed then on our way to the grocery side of the store we had to walk by the Easter Clearance again. I skimmed through the books a little more thoroughly this time and came away with another 6 books! How could I resist when they were half off sticker price? The answer was I couldn’t.

That’s when I realized some may think I have a book buying problem. This past weekend my middle child needed to run to the Cities to purchase something at a store we do not have here. We ended up at the mall where he found what he needed. I made certain that I parked by the book store so we would have to walk through it. There I bought 5 books for my kids. Two science books for my youngest who is planning to go to a STEM camp this summer, a picture book (because you’re never too old to enjoy a picture book), a Stephen King book for my daughter (I’ll never read it, that’s too scary for me!), and an anime book for my middle child. I was very pleased that I didn’t purchase a book for myself.

However, the week before we had appointments at the children’s hospital, labwork that needed to be done, then a trip to the Cities so my youngest could drop something off to his uncle for school. To reward ourselves after an exhausting week we stopped at a bookstore. That day I walked out with several books for the kids and myself. The leather-bound classics were buy one get one half off. I couldn’t resist. They were all books I wanted to add to my library since the copies I once had were destroyed in a house fire years ago.

There is something in me that finds it difficult to resist purchasing a book. I love reading, I love the escape it allows, the adventures that you get to go on, the love that you get to feel, being able to save the day. When I’m in the middle of a flare up, when I’m feeling like I can’t do anything, even when I can’t bring myself to write I can always turn to a book and feel myself heal a little bit. Reading is good for the soul, so maybe my purchases are like therapy. I hear women all the time saying that retail therapy is one of their favorite things, they go home with new clothes or shoes and it makes them feel better. I just happen to buy books. I don’t even have to be buying them for myself. I love giving them as gifts.

Can you spend hours in a book store? Does it lift you up when you’re feeling a little down?