Our around-the-corner used bookstore is moving this weekend, so Tommy and I paid our farewell visit yesterday. For bookworms like Derek and me, having a well-stocked, intelligently-arranged, affordable used bookstore two minutes away could be very dangerous. I’ve forced myself to limit visits, and Tommy is actually my greatest asset in saving money. He hates bookstores! (Is he really our child???) I can’t stay more than 10 minutes before he starts squirming around (and, now that he can walk, waddling around the corner from children’s books and pulling the entire humor section off the shelves). Anyone who shops used bookstores knows that you need more than 10 minutes to find the really great finds. Yesterday he really did a number on himself, though…I was browsing the LM Montgomery paperback titles with him in his stroller beside me (so I thought) when suddenly he flipped completely out of the stroller, bonked his head on a shelf on the way down, and started screaming bloody murder. The owner is used to Tommy’s shrieks, but a concerned customer rounded the corner to ask if we were okay. After ascertaining that Tommy had no broken bones and only a big goose-egg forming, I assured him that my son just hates shopping for books and was trying to get me to leave. We grabbed the entire Montgomery section and a Series of Unfortunate Events book on CD and quickly paid and left. Tommy was still squirming, so I didn’t even have a chance to tell the owner that we’ll miss him and his store but we understand that our family is basically the only foot traffic he has in his present location.
I’m sad for me, though. Next time I get a hankering to read a great children’s book that our (tiny) library doesn’t carry and we don’t already own, what will I do?
Good luck in Kirkwood, Patten Books! You’re leaving two sad booklovers (and a snarkily satisfied infant) behind!
Penny and I loved that bookstore too. And Laine seemed to hate it just as much as Tommy did. Oh well, maybe when they get older! Do you know of any other good used bookstores in the area?