so many books, so little time

Powell's Books is my Mecca. Every year I make my pilgrimage to this wonderful city of books. New and used books line shelves that go on forever. The store is just messy enough and just confusing enough to feel personal like your grandmother's basement. Each book is given its rightful place on the shelf in it's rightful room (color coded: gold for fiction, orange for children's, etc.). Each book is respected; the used right along with the new. It's a book lovers paradise. I could literally wander around all day stroaking the spines of the books, seeking out my favorite authors, and breathing in the musty paper smell of the books. I'm not exagerating...we actually had to go back for a second trip after feeling a bit rushed through the first time since Addie was with us.

The result of this pilgrimage was a huge stack of books we had to get back to the east coast. We couldn't wait to start reading all our purchases.

I was so pleased with my finds for Addie. I found a reproduction of A Child's Garden of Verses, the full collection with the original vintage illustrations. I also got an old edition of Mother Goose Rhymes, and a used Runaway Bunny board book.

I brought home Sushi for Beginners, Lucy Sullivan is Getting Married, and The Other Side of the Story, all by Marian Keyes- easy British chick lit. I also picked up a used copy of Songs of an Ordinary Time by Mary McGarry Morris and Mansfield Park by Jane Austin.

Justin brought home No Country for Old Men by Cormac McCarthy (he's almost finished it already!), A Wrinkle in Time by Madeline L'Engle, The Blind Side by Michael Lewis, Enders Game by Orson Scott Card, and Smoke and Mirrors by Neil Gaiman.

Plus I got a Powell's Nalgene bottle! It was bliss! My friend Heather drove down from Olympia to hang out and go to Powell's she brought Addie a peacock for Christmas. Addie was in love with it.