Books for Books

I finished Little Green this morning, and it ended up being really good.  Some of it was hard to read because it was about domestic violence and 1970's drug culture, but it was based on the experiences of the author and felt very real.  It made it clearer to understand why women stay with the man that puts them in the hospital.  Very scary.

But now I needed a new book!  I have a nasty book habit (meaning I buy them instead of getting them free from the library).  I know it is going against every frugal bone in my body, but I never know when a book is going to grab me and force me to highlight the daylights out of it.  Some fine examples of books I can't let go of are Atlas Shrugged and The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand, and The Feminine Mistique by Betty Friedan.

Despite the urge to splurge on books, I do have a way of saving some money when it comes to books.  Portland is home to the largest new and used bookstore in the world, Powell's City of books.

Lucky for me,  Powell's purchases my old books so I get store credit for new books.

I traded in these...

And got three new ones!

I know it's not the same as free, but I have new books that are all recommended by friends and I can't wait to dive in.

Feeling like a Fraggle

I've been feeling like I live on Fraggle Rock lately because this is the view from my kitchen window.  They're tearing down the outdated Hawthorne Safeway to build an updated version.  I felt like it deserved the spotlight today because my apartment was shaking so much from the machines, you'd think there was an earthquake.  I like it when they cement though because that's real quiet and you hardly notice they're out there.  The machines kick up a lot of dirt (from the mound of dirt they stockpiled right next to the apartment), and the dirt gets into my windows, into the bathtub and on the kitchen floor.  I just keep telling myself how good it will be when I can just walk around the corner to grocery shop again.

I have finished The Help (such a sweet book!) and I have started reading a new novel.  I ran into it at Powell's Books today and I got so excited because the author, Loretta Stinson, was my advisor when I was thinking about majoring in English at Portland State!  I am excited to see what her novel will be like.  It is called Little Green and it is set here in the Northwest.