Ode to Book Love - A Thrifty Tale

I am working on my ever popular and wildly anticipated "To Be Read in 2012" list.
And when I finish it, I'll share and explain.

In the meantime, may I tell you a little story about book love?

I was sitting there the other day, minding my own business.

In fact, everyone was.

Mr. Thornton was working,

The kids were quietly playing

and I was working on the computer.

Peace and calm.

Out of nowhere, I found myself thinking, "I need to get out for a minute." So I put aside the computer, got the car keys and told Mr. Thornton I'd be back in time for dinner. By the time I got to the car I was saying, "Where are you going? Why are you leaving? Everything's quiet! It's been a comparatively normal day! You don't need a break. You're not stressed. Just where are you going?"

By the time I left the neighborhood I had decided I would just go walk the aisles of the thrift shop and come back home.
Yet, it was late in the afternoon.
The shelves would already be picked over from the day.
Que sera! I went anyway.

And - I found nothing. Wandered up,down and around. Why was I wasting time like this?
Then, I just happened to notice – on the carts waiting to be shelved - beautiful, hardback, 1953 (most with original dust jackets!) books from Laura Ingalls Wilder's Little House set. Full picture colored hardboards with beautiful Garth Williams artwork. $2 a piece. I picked them up and quickly counted…1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6…

Dang. 6! Where were "Little House in the Book Woods" and "Little House on the Prairie"? My search became much more earnest and diligent. I scoured the shelves looking for the missing titles.

Aha! There was Big Woods.
Except it was an '80s reprint.
It wasn't "technically" part of the set, even though it looked like the rest.

My mind began to wonder: was the donated set complete? Was I looking for something that wasn't even there? How badly did I want a partial set? Did I really need another set to work on filling in?
My search was futile.

It would be helpful to explain at this point that I have tried, by thrift, to build complete sets of Narnia, Little House, Tolkien's Ring, Anne of Green Gables, Betsy Tacy and Redwall for each of my children that want their own sets. This is an important part of the story because, I now confess…I didn't need another set of Wilder's.

And it's not like we have a lot of spare space hanging around.
(Note: nook and cranny illustration :)



Okay…back to the shop.

As I stood holding the books, I began to talk myself out of them. I tried to convince myself that there was probably someone who would love having them more than me. (Yeah, whatever!)
I chastised and scolded and bargained and reasoned.
I decided to put them on the shelf, away from the children's section –
rather, in the hardback section, where only the truest seeker would be rewarded.
(or if by some chance I talked myself into them,
they might well be there when I returned.)

After tucking them safely on the shelf, I turned to leave and there, sitting one section over, misshelved, was "Little House on the Prairie", hb 1953.

It was a sign and my heart filled with justification.
I returned home, packing them in and putting them under all my clothes in the closet.
Maybe I would gift them so I should keep them hidden.

(What rationalization?!)

That night I plopped down in front of ebay and Alibiris and Addall to determine how I was going to complete this set. Turns out it was going to be neither easy nor impossible. Ebay looked to be my safest bet but most the hb's were of the '80's set. I contacted 4 or 5 sellers asking them to please confirm to be that their copy was indeed the 1953.
No go.
In all the ones for sale, one was 1953 and it was pretty worn. The seller wanted about $15 + shipping.
I decided to sleep on it. I mean, sets don't need to come together in 24 hours!

The next day I got up and went about my business, only to find myself saying to the kids, "I'm heading out. I'll be back in an hour."
Huh? "I am not going back to the shop!", I argued with myself.
There hadn't been enough time to even put new stuff on the shelves.
Waste of time!

Yet, I did it. I was confident I had picked the books clean so I didn't even go there. I went down all the regular aisles and wondered what in the world I was looking for today! Eventually, I ended up in the corner of books.
I browsed the same titles I had seen the day before.
Broken spines, missing pages, colored boards, chew marks.
Yep, same books.

I decided to leave –
and again –
for the 2nd time in 24 hours,
there on the shelf,
actually leaning out on it's edges from the rest of the titles –
completely sticking out (it may have even called to me)
was "Little House in the Big Woods", 1953! $1.

AND!
There was a 2nd title right next to it, sticking out just the same – "The First Four Years"! $1.
I hadn't even considered that "The First Four Years" would be part of the set.
I thought 1953 was too early.
I opened the cover and found this was printed in the '70s.
My set was complete.

I was one happy camper. Astounded at how they came to be mine, but happy all the same.

When I got home, I cleaned them up and upon closer examination decided to break all collector rules and have the surviving dust jackets laminated. They were brittle and chipping and I would rather have a laminated dust jacket than NO dust jacket. I simple had to preserve the beautiful illustrations.

As you may have guessed, the set is no longer in my closet.
It's sitting on my shelf –
double-stacked of course, but front and center all the same.
I have no idea why this set was meant to be mine
but I'm not one to question density destiny.

Book love. There's nothing like it.