can't.... stop... must... buy... books...

along with role playing games, another of my vices is book buying. although i am a vehement supporter of public libraries, i just love owning my copies of books. as most of you probably know, large book collection = pain in the ass when moving, so i told myself to be frugal when it came to buying books in new york. unfortunately, i just cannot resist the allure of browsing small used-book stores.

last thursday morning, i stumbled across a tiny little used bookstore on my way to tour the cardozo law school campus. having time to spare, i was just going to take a quick look before moving on. of course, twenty minutes later i walked out with two books that had been on my "to read" list - fortress of solitude and haroun and the sea of stories, both at under $6 apiece!

on the topic of books, i had just finished reading everything is illuminated (also bought used for under $5), which was the story of a young man's quest to dig into his family's past, with great use of the written language to switch between jonathan, the main character, and alex, his translator. this light-heartedness was offset by haunting descriptions of pre-war ukraine, with stories both realistic and imaginary. i actually learned that morning jonathan safran foer was doing a reading in brooklyn at 12pm that day, but was bummed because i couldn't make it.

right now, i am thoroughly enjoying the final solution, by michael chabon, the author of one of my favorite pieces of literary fiction, the amazing adventures of kavalier and clay. it's the story of an old sherlock holmes in retirement, and definitely made more enjoyable after reading many of the original sherlock holmes in europe a few years ago.

if you're out here in new york, please let me know if you'd like to borrow any of my books, i'm always happy to put them to good use!