Samhain Season

 

While walking home today, I admired the gold and scarlets of autumn and thanked my ancestors for giving me the chance to have a human experience. Unbelievably positive experiences have electrified me. I've run into utterly repugnant spirits that made me think That's a helluva prison that person has built for himself.

                    

For some, this is the spooky season, but for me, this has been Book-tober.  I made it to an indie book shop during Banned Book Week (Oct 1 - Oct 7). I saw only one book that I wanted, though. Most books on the table were YA. Two used book sales hosted by the university and the downtown library respectively slipped past me. I volunteered at one of the downtown venues for the annual book festival which is pretty much a 4-day event created to get you to buy books from mostly local authors. Think of it as a book store that spans three to four venues minus the hard-to-resist merch like mugs, totes, or stickers. From what I saw there were no books on the harvest/cooking or witchcraft, nothing to tie-in with the season.  The single presentation I had considered attending was canceled, Phooey! When you're around book lovers, though, you're bound to have fun due to the positive energy. 

The downtown library has its own book kiosk, which I gave a quick look-over once my shift ended. Wanting a closer inspection, I returned two weeks later. Imagine my dismay when I found three hardcovers for which I paid full price -- roughly 28 bucks each -- were going for two bucks per book. These books showed little to no wear. The volunteer cashier grinned at me. "About an hour before you walked in, a woman came in and bought that book by Prince Harry for two bucks. That was a new book." "Goddamnit! That was one of the books I was going to get today!" I snapped my fingers. I was pretty happy with my choice of three hardcovers, however -- happy enough to consider an annual 5-dollar membership fee, which would give me first crack at the annual "preview" used book sale held at the library. 

Also, I attended my first book club meeting held at the workplace.  In Aries fashion, I put forth the idea that since there were four in our group, everyone should have a chance to choose a book. No one would hog up the book selection, and the host wouldn't be forced to come up with a book selection. From a second host, I learned that the club was created when covid hit, and people risked going stir-crazy while working at home.  Now that people were back at work, schedules would make a get-together difficult. More than 1 group composed the club, which increased the difficulty of getting everyone in one place at the same time. I understood but was not deterred. My end game is having a book swap in which everyone would bring a gently used book or two that he or she no longer wanted.  Imaging your enjoying a mug of coffee or hot chocolate while unloading your unwanted book on someone! 

After my dentist's appointment tomorrow, my Book-tober palooza will end with a trip to Barnes & Noble. In guilty pleasure, I plan to pick up a book within the "Of Course Your Ancestors Love You. You can't See Them, But I Can" category and a book on Israel-imposed apartheid. That will top off my TBR file which has grown into quite a hill!