Friday. The Friends of the Library Book Fair.It's quite the event in this town. It's the library's biggest fundraiser of the year in a town that enthusiastically supports three library branches. Even in the drizzle, neighbors were lined up around the block to pay $5 to be among the first to check out the second-hand books. The book fair is held in the high school auditorium, and it's an awesome coming together of books and book lovers.
I came away with two pristine paperback mysteries -- Murder on the Orient Express and something by Evanovich -- for my Operation Shoebox Christmas package for the soldiers. Then I picked up some fluff (Scottoline and a Cat Who book) along with a JFK biography that looks very interesting (Kennedys at War) to add to my TBR stack. All five books came to $7.
My favorite moment came when I overheard a mom as she went through the biographies with her little girl, who appeared to be about 10. "The Story of My Life by Helen Keller! You are going to love this book!" It was great to see a mother pass a book she loved on to the next generation.
Then there's a personal little tradition I observe. Every year there's a book that you'll see time and time and time again. The book that many locals enthusiastically bought and then decided (almost in unison) that they were done with it and would never read it again. In 2006 it was The Corrections. In 2007, The Nanny Diaries. Last year, The Da Vinci Code. And this year ... drumroll, please ... it is My Life by Bill Clinton. (Sorry, Mr. President.)
