I’ve been down with another nasty bout of vertigo, but since I was already horizontal, I finished a book that was close to overdue, and it reminded me how much I love the library.
Although my parents were not well-educated, they strongly encouraged us to read – anything and everything. Dad was a big reader, and he kept a little shelf of salacious material in the bathroom, where he spent much of his time. But that’s another story.
My sister and I were always in the summer book clubs and walked to the library on warm summer days. Sometimes we cheated and took a shortcut over the railroad tracks. I’m sorry, Mom.
Dad once told us we were related to the Raja of Tahumbaktu. We spent hours researching and even got the librarian to help. We came up with nothing. I believe we used a pay phone to call him and ask how to spell Tahumbaktu, and all I can remember is the sound of him laughing his ass off. He made it up as a way to get us out of the house.
In high school, I won awards for my speech on legalizing prostitution, and my mother had to come with me to the library so I could access books needed for my research. She was happy to do it, although she was not much of a reader, other than true crime magazines. We were never allowed to go to Tom Sawyer’s Island at Disneyland, because according to Mom, a girl got raped there.
In retirement, I’ve become more frugal, and the library is a great way to save money and avoid the stockpiling of books. It’s an easy walk to my local branch! I take a small backpack for my books, and I feel sort of like Tom Sawyer embarking on an adventure. Or maybe Becky Thatcher? Although I read the books, I’ve imagined a lot of it, because sadly, I couldn’t get to the island.
We live in El Dorado County, so I immediately signed up for a library card at the branch down the street. Later, I discovered Sacramento County has a bigger system and Folsom, the next town over, has a separate system completely. By signing up for a Folsom library card, I now have access to everything in my county of residence, as well as Folsom and most everything in Sacramento County.
Although I sometimes show up and get lucky, I usually do my browsing online. I keep several tabs open. One for Amazon and one for each library. I’ve also bookmarked a couple of sites that review books in my favorite genre, and that’s a great way to find lesser known writers. For ideas, I like Left Coast Crime and Edgar award winners. Usually I go to Amazon for the full write-up.
When I find something I’m interested in reading, I place a hold on it through one of my online library accounts. If one library doesn’t have it, the other one usually does. I’m currently #23 for the new Michael Connelly mystery featuring my all-time favorite detective, Harry Bosch.
I’ll read just about anything, including cereal boxes, but I favor hard-boiled mysteries and historical fiction about the Old West. Some of the authors I like are not widely read, so I will often have to jostle back and forth between the libraries to find it in the system. Occasionally I will break down a buy a book, usually for my Kindle, and usually for travel. Sometimes a hard copy cookbook.
Finally, I keep a little journal with books I want to read. Mine is messy and includes other lists, because I am a demonic list maker. If it’s a series, I list all the books of the series in order and try to read them in order. Not because I am crazy but because I like to see how the characters evolve over time.
Any other good frugal reading tips out there?