Bargain Books and Medicine Chests

I’ve been meaning to start this blog for over a year and kept never quite getting to it because I’m a shocking procrastinator. But a friend has just started a cooking blog to reflect on these strange times we are in, and it’s finally given me the kick up the backside I need to start putting my thoughts down on metaphorical paper instead of just thinking about it. So, on with the motley…

I love books. I love buying books. I love the smell of a new book and the feeling of the cover under my fingers. I love rereading books and revisiting old friends. This blog is called Bargain Books and Medicine Chests, and these are the reasons why…

Bargain books

The ‘bargain books’ part is because one of my closest book shops for years was Munros in downtown Victoria, B.C. Apart from all the enticing shelves where you can spend far too much money, and believe me, I have, because really, why wouldn’t you… it also has three bargain book tables in the middle of the store that are a never-ending source of excitement and discovery. It is so easy to get locked into reading the same authors or the same genres and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that – we all need comfort zones to fall back on. But the joy of the bargain book table is that it removes a lot of the risk when you move out of that comfort zone and try something new. If the book isn’t your cup of tea, you aren’t grinding your teeth because you’ve spent far to much money on it. 

But the excitement of trying something new and it being wonderful is almost beyond words – which is ironic given that we’re talking about books. Fiction, non-fiction, self-help, autobiography, diaries, they are all grist to the bargain books mill, and I have to say, I’ve won a lot more times that I’ve lost. In fact, if I go into Munros, I fully accept that I am going to walk out with a minimum of 4-6 books – it’s just a fact of life and I budget accordingly.

And before anyone raises the question of libraries, I think libraries are wonderful places and my formative reading years were enabled by our town library. I believe they are an essential social resource. The trouble is that you have to return the books and I hate giving books back.

Medicine Chests

The second part of this title was originally going to be called ‘treasure chests’ because books are constant sources of discovery. This applies not only to my bargain books, but to all the books already on my shelves. They are friends of all types – best friends who are always there when I need them, or fair-weather friends who are there for certain moods or inclinations. Whatever the circumstances, you can defriend a book, but a book won’t defriend you, and I’m far to wordy a person to be happy with an emoticon. Because really, I’d rather have a haiku than a smiley face.

So, having written so much about ‘treasure chests’, why did I change my mind and decide on ‘medicine chests’ instead? I was reading Penelope Lively’s lovely memoir Dancing Fish and Ammonities (which will have an entry in this blog at some point).  In it she talks eloquently about aging and memory and books and writing. In one single paragraph she talks about the “medicine chest of works to which you return time and again.” Even thought it was a passing reference, it was like a bell in my brain and wouldn’t go away. I realised that the reason I go back to certain books is because they sustain something vital – my thoughts, emotions, moods and well-being – words as a stimulating drug, words as palliative care, words as medicine. In this time of uncertainty, books are a way of self-medicating in the most positive way.

Every book is an adventure. Some send me down rabbit holes, blind alleys or roads not taken, while others are a favourite Sunday walk or an exhilarating view from a mountain that I climbed once, a long time ago.  This blog is about my personal adventures in reading. My thoughts and feelings about the books I’m reading for the first time or for the hundredth time.

I know there are thousands if not millions of book blogs out there. All I can say is, this is mine and these are my own adventures.

If anyone fancies taking this little adventure with me, feel free to click on the handy dandy Subscribe prompt on the top right of the screen and you'll get an email whenever I do an update.

Happy reading
Sharon