My book haul—and 'Columbine' autographs

It made me smile to see Columbine on a new history display table for summer reading at B&N's flagship store at Union Square. I always thought it should be shelved in history.

I just signed a stack for the early bird high school students who will be getting their summer reading lists soon, and hitting them early. Order info.

(It amuses me that my second-biggest sales spike every year comes in May, with the early-birds hitting their lists. The slightly bigger spike comes in August, right before school resumes. Ah, I know those kids. I've been that kid. Haha.)

Meanwhile, I wasn't planning to buy any books, but man did I. (I thought it would be a nice night to catch up on signing, get some cardio on the bike ride, and soak in a bit of New York City at night. But . . .

(Maybe I should start with the video, of the reaction shot. It's just 15 seconds):

I always like to peruse what's new in bookworld when I'm in a store. I saw this Classics display table (below), and my eye caught Wuthering Heights. I love that book, and wanted it. I looked up and the entire table was on sale for $5. Five dollars! (These are all B&N Classics editions, all in the public domain, so they can price them cheaply.)

I lost my copy in the move to NYC, so I thought that would be a bargain to take it's rightful place on my shelf.

Then I noticed Great Expectations. Hmmmmm. Dickens never appealed to me, so much so that I write for a living and never read one of the most influential writers ever. And don't even have an opinion on him. I've been meaning to correct that. Maybe.

I browsed more. There was A Tale Of Two Cities. Should I start there?

Then I spotted a few really classical classics, which keep coming up in the English history I've been reading, Dante's The Inferno, and Milton's Paradise Lost. Hmmmmmm.

And over there: The Essential Tales and Poems of Edgar Allan Poe. I have an Edgar award on my shelf, and not a single Edgar page to put beside him. And I've never read him as an adult. I found myself trying to explain who he was to a friend recently, and could only think of a handful of titles. I flipped through and quickly remembered how much he had done.

Voltaire's Candide — I think I've lost that, too. No one should be without that! Dostoevsky's The Brother's Karamazov — I've been meaning to dive into that for years, too. So . . .

I got them all. hehehe. Why not? (I still think that thought in Arabic: Leshla.) With my membership, they were $4.50. So I got all nine. (There were a few more. One, I got as a Christmas book for a nephew.)

Great stuff. Now when will I find the time to read them? Haha. It will take me years, but I feel like I made off with a robbery. When I'm ready, I'll have each one.