This past Saturday was deliciously relaxing and bookish. Jack and I got up early to visit The Monkey’s Paw, it was my first time there, I had to see the book vending machine! It was actually shut off, but, at least it looks pretty. I also enjoyed this table of books in front of it, especially because there was a guide to catching minks next to Charles Darwin’s evolution writings. We went because the store was having a garage sale — they jammed so many bibliophiles into a tiny garage, slowly shuffling in a U-shape around tables covered in dusty books. “Are you in line, or are you looking at books?” “Both?” It was both fun and claustrophobic. “I’m not leaving here without buying books!” I mumbled to Jack as I accidentally knocked a book over on someone crouched on the floor, perusing a lower shelf.
By the time I finally was projected from the small space, I had acquired five cute old books. I found a First Aid Manual I want to use for pen palling and zines, a cute little pick-me-up book all about springtime, a 1947 CP Style guide, a Penguin and a collection of comics from The New Yorker.
One of Jack’s finds was a massive atlas that he had to carry around for the rest of the day. “I realized I didn’t have an atlas on my shelf!” he exclaimed. We brought our wares over to Trinity Bellwoods, but we ended up reading to each other from our current reads — he from A Young Doctor’s Notebook, me from The Rise & Fall of Great Powers.
Our bookish day continued when we made our way over to the Beaches, where we spent an hour or so reading on three different benches, each one closer to warmth by the water. I’m so pleased to be with someone who loves reading as much as I do! And I’m so happy that the weather is finally nice enough so that I can spend a whole day outside indulging in books.
