I Love the Smell of Old Books!

I had a fun little adventure on my vacation that had to do with an on going search for some copies of Elizabeth Goudge (1900-1984) books, that my friend Sara had introduced me too. I have read the only 3 books that they still have at my local library. I was sad to realize that the library had gotten rid of the many, many titles that this author had penned.

So when I was visiting the quaint seaside town of Canon Beach, I was seeing signs all over town for a library book sale, which made me think of E.G. books. So I quickly checked out the two used book stores in town to no avail. Both books stores had not even heard of this author. When I went to preview the library sale, I was told by a woman there that they had no E.G. books. That in fact her daughter had already asked about them.

Well the day of the sale was the 4th of July, and we were already in town for the 11:00 am parade. The sale was beginning at 9:00 am and it was going to close during the parade. Since we had showed up early to get parking and a spot on the parade route, I left my family and decided to take a look for myself around the sale. When I got there I could not believe all the folks crowed into this little library. People had cardboard boxes and plastic crates with them. I was shocked seeing the books fly off the shelf. Well I squeezed my way in and did some searching for my E.G. books...nothing there. So I thought while I am here I will take a peek around. Pretty soon, I was wishing I had one of those crates :] I ended up buying two armfuls of books myself. It seemed the children’s section had not been raided yet, and I found to my delight some lovely old copies of some of my childhood favorites for Puddin Toes. Oh she probably won't even like smelly old books somebody said...but I didn't care...some child along the way might love these. And just maybe I can share this love of old classic books someday with her.

Louisa May Alcott for Puddin Toes!
C.S. Lewis, and Frances Hodgson Burnett

I took a peek at the garden section and one lady was scooping up a lot of the newer books, but I was after the oldies anyway. I was delighted with what I found here too. One book I am reading now called Woman Gardeners...all the ladies of note who have been involved and had a voice in gardening are represented in this book....Vita Sackville-West, Penelope Hobhouse, Rosemary Verey, (whose garden I should show you all this week) Louise Beebe Wilder, Gertrude Jekyll, and many more, I have not heard of. The book is broken into different sections of these woman giving their advice on anything from a single plant, to color schemes, gardening practices, designing and so on and so on. I love this kind of reading :)

I am looking forward to this read...The "Fragrant Path "by Louise Beebe Wilder , I already have "Color in My Garden"

I also found a book of short novels, by Colette. I have only read Gigi, so these might be interesting too.

The best thing about my finds was that the total cost of my shopping spree came to $19.00 ! Most of the books were a dollar a piece. It was a fun adventure and one I will be enjoying the benefits of for a while. I can’t help but smell these old books and be reminded of my childhood, spending a rainy Saturday afternoon with my Dad, as he and I perused the old town Stoughton Library together finding many, many treasures to take home and read. My dad’s love of reading certainly impacted me for a lifetime, I can only hope to pass on this love of reading to the next generation by example as my dad did !

Oh and one more wonderful thing came out of my adventure, I was sharing this story with Sara, and she is sending me an extra copy of one of her Elizabeth Goudge books, Island Magic! How special is that?

Thanks you so much Sara for your kindness!