Rain, rain go away..

because I have laundry to do! Herself and I got soaked yesterday on our walk - but it was worth it. 10K steps by 3:30!!

Those of you who've been here a bit know how I feel about books. Love 'em - the smell, the feel, the sound of the pages.....e-readers just aren't the same. I'll read on the iPad, but grudgingly - it's just not....the tactile experience I want.

Anyway, Saturday we ended up at the Half Price Books flagship store (long story. Suffice to say that SG was a bonehead - again - and we had to run into Dallas.). Now, I've been on the lookout for Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey and Maturin books for a bit ("Master and Commander" was adapted from the 10th book of the series). So, while there, I went hunting.

I found 19 of the 20 books...in the "full" price area (meaning half or less of the list price....but $5.99/$6.99 each for *20* books is more than my budget can bear, y'know?).....so, I sighed then moved to the Fiction Clearance area.

Where I found 4 of the books at either $1.00 (2) or $3.99 (2). Hmmmmm.....about that time an employee walked by, so I politely asked "Excuse me - can you tell me why these 4 books are in clearance while you have a TON of the same ones - as well as the rest of the series - in the regular fiction section?" She looked at the books and said "Hmmm...that's a good question. How many are in the series? What are they marked in the Fiction section? Are they the same edition/condition? Let me see......"

I told her there were 20 books, and I wanted all of them - I had them on the iPad, but hated reading ebooks if I had a choice - but at $6 +/each, I couldn't afford to buy them all. She looked at the books in my hand, had me take her to the Fiction section...then ran off a few minutes. She came back with a pricing gun (!!) and told me to grab a copy of each book. (!!!!!!) As she was putting new stickers on them, she told me that she wasn't sure why some were in Clearance as "Super Buys" - that was only for either entire serieses or multiple copies of a single book - neither of which applied to the books I found there.

30 minutes - and a nice conversation! - later, she handed me the 20 books and told me to enjoy my reading. That lovely, lovely woman had marked every one of them for $1. (And I had told her that I didn't mind paying $3.99 - or even the $6.99! - but that I couldn't get all 20 at once at those prices.)

I started the first book, "Master and Commander" in the car. Finished it last night. I'll start the 2nd, "Post Captain", today. The books are good - for those not familiar, they're about His Majesty's Navy during the Napoleonic era - and written at...I'd say 6th grade level, or so (IOW, easy to read.) O'Brian isn't overly detailed in the......interactions between the sexes, but he IS detailed on the Navy and all things related. It is filling my History-loving heart with glee; Lucky Jack is - so far! - a likable character. Not perfect, no - but human and "real". Dr. Maturin is also likable - he's a stand-in for the reader, asking the questions we'd ask if we were there.

I'm still humbled by this - and very, very grateful. God is indeed Good!

Gotta go knit the thumbs on the fingerless knits so I can put that project to bed, then gotta start school. And go buy feed. And *walk*! Laters!