On Collecting Books - Volume #5

Being of fairly modest means, I am rarely able to purchase books of a quality high enough to truly excite the collector in me. Instead, I generally scrounge about, hoping to locate a "diamond in the rough".

That's okay - I've got kids to put through college yet, and occaisionally I do still manage to acquire some pretty darn interesting stuff.

Such as my most recent acquisition, an absolutely gorgeous book called "Dreaming of Africa" by the artist and naturalist Denis Clavreul. Not only is the oversized book, contained in an impressive clamshell case, positively brimming with wonderful large color reproductions of his many watercolor paintings of the African Savanna, there are also included 10 framable prints of the artist's watercolors.

This book normally retails for $150 in the US and I confirmed that price by completing a search of ABE and Powells books (Prices ranged from $150 to $267 USD!). But there, at my local Chapters, just happened to be a nice littlepile of five copies on sale at $39.99 each.

Really wished I could have afforded all five of them, but bought two copies - one for my own enjoyment and one to sell someday, once I get my online bookstore up and running!

Now, all I have to do is find some nice frames...

Read This #12 - The Alchemist

Reading Paulo Coelho's phenomenal best-selling novel reminded me of another two wildly popular new age philosophy fables: "The Celesteine Prophecy" and "The Five People You Meet in Heaven", in that the stories themselves were almost stupefyingly simple. Yet, the underlying messages relating to our interconnectivity and the importance of pursuing our own personal destinies bear repeating.

Life is, if nothing else, a myriad of white noise, as we are inundated on all sides by all manner of stimuli. Time moves very fast, and its entirely too easy to loose track of where we are and, more importantly, of where we're headed.

In the Alchemist, a simple shepard boy sets out to find his life's true purpose and despite numerous obstacles, the gods smile on him because of his bravery. He learns the importance of looking for and listening to the signs that propel us forward in our life-quest and eventually understands the rewards inherent in the journey are almost as rich as the actual treasure at it's end.

Now, a cynical person might look down on the preachy quality of these little stories, but I'm not one of them. Life is short and at times, very difficult, and people who are willing to take risks deserve our respect and certainly can use a little boost now and then. Also, the idea of all of us having a higher, or "true" purpose somehow feels very right to me.

The fact that this short book has sold something like 60 million copies and has been translated into more than 50 languages confirms that there's a gap there, that many of us feel an ache that must be filled. Its simplicity is it's strength - the messages contained within are very clear.

Go for it - you'll be glad you did!

On Collecting Books - Volume 4

Part of the allure of book collecting is the possiblility that within every pile of worthless remainder copies there may be a hidden a real gem - a first edition that is destined to sky-rocket in price or, for whatever reason, one that will be highly sought after by collectors in the future.

I think this way everytime I sift through a sales table at a bookstore or the stock of a charity or garage sale. Most times, I come away empty handed. But even the smallest find can make one feel pretty good.

For instance, the other day I happened to drop by a book sale held by the city library. Now generally, library books sales are very rich in quantity, with scores of tables brimming with books. However, since most of these books are heavily used ex-library copies, stamped and taped up enough to make even the most desirable 1st edition completely worthless, the quality is usually so low that it's barely worth attending.

However, sometimes private citizens donate their own books and these often are just saved in storage by the library, before being put directly into their semi-annual sales to raise funds. So, when I go to these sales, I'm only scanning the tables for these. At a $1 or $2 per copy, it's a very good way to get some good reading copies, at least.

At this particular sale, I got especially lucky. There, in the middle of a large table of library copies, was a clean Canadian 1st edition of Anne Tyler's "The Accidental Tourist"! Now, this is only a $15 book, but its been one on my "list" for a while and I let out a small "whoop" as I discovered it and felt pretty smart once I purchased it for only a loonie.

The internet, for all its convenience and selection, generally doesn't produce a lot of these kind of moments.