Bibliophilia

Last night, when I got home from work, I headed down to The Square to McKintyre & Moore Booksellers. This place is a gem - a great shop carrying a wide variety of used & rare books. If you're never been & you like old books, you have to check it out. Since I am physically incapable of leaving a bookstore without purchasing anything (it's true - I've tried it & felt dizzy), I bought 5 books:

1. Ghost Ship of Diamond Shoals, by Bland Simpson. Note that the B&N price is $17.95. I think I paid $8.00.
2. The Perfect Storm, by Sebastian Junger. My edition is hardcover, which leads me to believe it's a first edition. I'll check the publication date when I get home. B&N price is $23.95, I paid $12.50.
3. The Small Room, a short novel by May Sarton. B&N = $13.95, M&M = $4.00. I discovered Sarton with her The House by the Sea. She was a lovely old lady, with connections to Carolyn Heilbrun and the Huxleys (Julian & Aldous).
   
4. Hat Off, Baby!, a "lift-the-flap" book for the little nephew.
5. My last-minute purchase (in the Travel section near the register) was: Winged Sandals. This is a lovely, hardcover travel narrative, published by Little Brown in 1928. I opened the cover & the flyleaf had this inscription: "Have a jolly good journey, Tommy, and a safe return home. -John, July 1929." I was hooked. :)

In the end, I had a lovely wander around the store & spent a grand total of $33.05 after tax. I have nothing against B&N, but the same books at one of their stores would have set me back closer to $68.00. Plus, I doubt I would have discovered the old travel narrative in a huge, new B&N. God bless old bookstores!