My Library: New Additions

I'm working this summer, and saving money for school, but I'm also allowing for a small trickling in of books.  When I'm feeling very thrifty, I use a stamp in lieu of a bookplate... a tree, or an owl, or a Japanese wave pattern with the words "This book belongs to [my name]."  But lately I've allowed a few new bookplates to trickle in as well.  I'm a fan of animals, especially of mammals.  And as someone who has studied the cost per unit of bookplates from a variety of sources, these wild animal illustration plates from The Lovely Desk, on Etsy, are well-priced.  But by far my favorite bookplate ever is the one above, of a solitary girl, dancing by starlight.  The illustrator is Dorothy Lathrop.

My use of the Amazon Wish List, watching used book prices, might be something akin to an investor watching stock prices.  There are better and worse times to buy books.  And I used to work for an online bookseller, so I can often read between the lines regarding a book's condition.  For instance, I don't buy anything in less than "Very Good" condition, unless the seller lists the condition as "Good" and explicitly states that the pages are clean.  Also "Ex Library" is pretty good indicator of clean pages.

My Amazon Wish List contains about 1800 books, subdivided into approximately 40 sub-wish lists, either by subject or by price.  Some of the subjects are Biography, Literature, Medicine, Philosophy, and Public Policy, all with subdivisions, and then I have, for instance, a $0.01 price list.  It's labor intensive, but since I don't have a large library budget, and since I enjoy watching the prices, I manually shift books around as the prices change, and then, as I'm gearing up to buy, I'll make a narrow down list, and look for opportunities to get the used titles I'm looking for from the same seller.  Amazon has an "Add to Wish List" button you can add to your browser's bookmarks bar, and use it to add items from any website on the internet.  It's a great way to keep track of gift ideas!

I am a Barnes and Noble member.  I am not sure that this was a prudent move for me.  They don't seem to have a wish list feature, although they did just send me coupons.  I was able to get a good deal on my Katie Daisy 2016 "Stay Wild At Heart" Planner, plus free shipping, as I am a member.  I bought her "Live Simply" Planner last year and loved it!  Not only are the calendar pages beautiful, but interspersed throughout is her artwork, with encouraging messages like "You Are So Loved" - a nice thing to turn the page and see after filling the previous page with stressful assignments.  A planner that destresses you?!  That's the kind of planner you want!  Here is a link to Katie Daisy's Etsy shop:  The Wheatfield

So far library building has proven a fun, and relatively inexpensive, hobby.  It gives me something to look forward to in the mail.  I have plenty of great books to read!  It serves as a sort of hope chest for moving in about a year.  I'm looking forward to giving my library a new home!

In the interest of further justifying my book purchases, and improving what may be my weakest area on the verbal portion of the GRE, reading comprehension, I'm going to start reviewing the blog-relevant elements of my library.  Stay tuned!  I like making introductions.  Perhaps you'll meet a book here that you like!