Naturally, I was all over that shit.
After battling my way through the crowds swarming the Romance tables, I managed to reach the Science Fiction and Fantasy books. Several minutes later I emerged with several well-loved books, among them two short story collections: The Best of Isaac Asimov and Tomorrow's Children, edited by Asimov.
Beautiful, aren't they? I especially love the artwork on Tomorrow's Children. Naturally, the stories are even better than I hoped. Tomorrow's Children has stories from many of the greats of SF, including Ray Bradbury, Robert A. Heinlein and Asimov himself. I had to tear myself away from these classics to write this post.
Inspired by Asimov's Three Laws of Robotics, I have created the Three Laws of Second-Hand Book Shopping to aid any intrepid travellers who want to put down their Kindles and Nooks to fight the frenzied masses and inhale the scent of mothballs and paper books.
C. R. Hindmarsh's Three Laws of Second-Hand Book Shopping
- A shopper may not leave with more books than he can carry or, through inaction, allow another shopper to become crushed by the sheer weight of his books.
- A shopper must obey any impulses to buy classic or awesome-looking books, except where such impulses would conflict with the First Law.
- A shopper must protect the books he has claimed against all comers as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.
So there you have it. You are now prepared to brave the madness of a book sale and come out with both your health and some sweet finds.
Go forth, my children!
Haha! What a wonderful post! I'm a bibliophile who considers second hand book shopping a banquet of delight. It is sometimes so very difficult to adhere to book shopping law number one....though I honestly try.
ReplyDeleteBy the way..I've just picked up "The Converted"..can't wait to read it!!! Wishing you great success always..Susanne