Indulgence

If I have a little money I buy books; and if any is left, I buy food and clothes.
-Erasmus

My spending habits have changed drastically in the last year. Of course, that's to be expected -- after all, I lost my job and went from having disposable income out of proportion to my age to having a lack of disposable income out of proportion to my age. I abruptly stopped buying things and my "social money" was carefully budgeted for an occasional dinner or birthday outing.

Those habits haven't yet changed, even though I've been allowed to relax a little. However, all along, I've managed to find money if there's a book I really want.

I've written from time to time about my ongoing love affair with the written word. While I don't really do book reviews here because, well, I just don't, there is another aspect of this love that is easy for me to convey. This booklust has led to me finding bookstores in most cities I've visited, regardless of country, state, or city. There are few things more comforting to me than wandering the stacks of a store, remembering books I've read and finding the next one that will capture me.

1. My first bookstore: Cover to Cover in the Empire Mall, Sioux Falls, SD.

It no longer occupies its corner spot in the shopping behemoth, but when I was just learning to read, Cover to Cover was where my parents took me. [Tell me, was Cover to Cover once a chain? As far as I can tell, it isn't now -- it's just the single most popular name for an independent bookstore.] When I was four or five, I made my first book purchase there with my carefully saved allowance: Eric Carle's The Very Hungry Caterpillar, after almost an hour of examining picture books. And so the love affair with bookstores began.

2. The coolest chain store I've seen: Chateau Theatre Barnes & Noble, Rochester, MN.

As a rule, the B is a reliable bookstore. They're laid out similarly and the ubiquitous green signs mark every section, whether you're in the Mall of America or a crowded, narrow three-story Manhattan slot. (Or Sioux Falls, which has a surprisingly large B&N that saved my sanity during my sophomore year speech class.)

The B&N found in Rochester is just a little bit different.  I first saw this gem by accident while in Rochester for one of Mia Sorella's soccer tournaments. In some of the between-game downtime, I was hanging out with another player's mom and brother and we were intending to go to a movie. When we found that the show was sold out, we wandered to the store next door, only to stumble across a B&N that looked like a big brightly-colored castle. An old vaudeville theater, it still has the old brick and much of the decor; in fact, if it wasn't for those little green signs, you could very easily forget that you are in a Barnes & Noble.

3. The neatest single-subject store I've visited: The Jane Austen Center, Bath, England.

Okay, okay. This is a mildly gratuitous inclusion. I'm a Jane Austen fan and this was one of the highlights of my trip to England. And I found something there that I've never seen elsewhere: Being Elizabeth Bennet, a choose-your-own-adventure that takes you through all six of Ms. Austen's novels. Yes. Choose-your-own-adventure. Jane Austen. Awesome.

4. The independent store where I'm most likely to find the book I'm searching for: Last Stop CD Shop, Sioux Falls, SD.

As you may have guessed from the store's name, they haven't always sold books. Last Stop started as a -- you guessed it -- music store that bought and sold used CDs and vinyl. They expanded over the years to include video games, VHS, DVDs, and books, and are now (I think) the largest place in Sioux Falls for such things.

As it happens, they're also one of the best-organized used bookstores I've ever visited. The east side store has two rather massive levels and the deals are ... well, fantastic, especially for books. As someone who refuses to ever pay cover price (it's one of those things), this has become one of my favorite places to browse.

5. The strangest used bookstore I've visited: Happy Tales, Markesan, WI.

I tripped over the description for this store about a year before I visited, and it stuck with me: "Down County Road K in Markesan, Wis., Lloyd and Leonore Dickmann -- a farmer and retired college professor -- have a used bookstore they estimate has a million books. There are no billboards to lead you there, no signs directing you down the driveway. Yet people come."

That blue castle you see in front of you is the former-silo-turned-bookstore. This is the original store; it has since stretched into multiple buildings and it is entirely possible to spend an entire day wandering. Organization here is ... well, it's mostly-done, but there's enough traffic that it can't be maintained 100% by the small group that runs the place. In my time there, I managed to find a Soviet-era Russian history book, a copy of Pride & Prejudice from the 1930s, and several "fluff" books for about a quarter each. And I couldn't leave without any of them.

6. My college sanctuary: Borders, Rapid City, SD.

Borders stores across the country have been closing thanks to the company's bankruptcy, including the one in Rapid just a few short weeks ago. In its heyday, it was my favorite spot to study and the site of many an important conversation. The going-out-of-business sale was both great (hey, a book sale!) and utterly heartbreaking. RIP, Borders.

7. My ultimate goal: Powell's City of Books, Portland, OR.

In addition to its many other draws, this three-story, city-block-sized new-and-used bookstore is one of the very things that made me consider Portland for graduate school. I've been told days can be spent inside its walls. Somehow, I believe it.

8. The best alternative to a bookstore, especially on a budget: Your Local Public Library.

Let's face it: most of us don't need huge book collections of our own. Libraries are portals into strange worlds, whether you're lucky enough to call the New York Public Library home (yes, that one) or it's a neighborhood joint attached to the high school. Even better, most libraries are networked in such a way that they can find something for you if they don't have it on their own shelves. Libraries have the added bonus of being full-service: all are welcome, and you can study, write, join a book club, or surf the internet without anyone chasing you out the doors because you haven't bought anything yet.

Some of them even serve coffee now. What a weird thought.

Now, if you'll excuse me, there's this little hole-in-the-wall place I need to go visit...