Oh, I've been there, Robin! I went with a friend of mine who works out near there--I took her to mine (which is the Book Alcove, someone else mentioned it) and she took me to hers, and then we went for bubble tea. It was an awesome day.
Yes, it's terribly simple. The good guys are always stalwart and true, the bad guys are easily distinguished by their pointy horns or black hats, and, uh, we always defeat them and save the day. No one ever dies, and everybody lives happily ever after.
Giles ,'Conversations with Dead People'
We're Literary 2: To Read Makes Our Speaking English Good
There's more to life than watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer! No. Really, there is! Honestly! Here's a place for Buffistas to come and discuss what it is they're reading, their favorite authors and poets. "Geez. Crack a book sometime."
meara - May 06, 2004 5:51:33 pm PDT #2734 of 10002
Scrappy - May 06, 2004 6:22:20 pm PDT #2735 of 10002
Life moves pretty fast. You don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.
Cool, Meara!
Vortex - May 07, 2004 4:36:53 am PDT #2736 of 10002
"Cry havoc and let slip the boobs of war!" -- Miracleman
We neither buy nor trade textbooks, encyclopedias, Harlequin Romances, very specialized books, computer books, books in poor condition, and most book club novels
Robin, Just out of curiosity, what does the store have against Harlequin romance? Dreck, surely, but who are we to judge? :)
Nutty - May 07, 2004 4:42:56 am PDT #2737 of 10002
"Mister Spock is on his fanny, sir. Reports heavy damage."
My guess -- totally out of the blue -- is that Harlequins, along with all the rest of that list of categories, fall out of date or out of print quickly and have no collector value. (Encyclopedias are only valuable if they're really really old, book club books aren't as valuable as non-book-club editions, and "very specialized books" sounds like a catchall category for "won't fetch a nice price considering the amount of space it will take up".)
my one trip into a used book store in DC
FWIW, I used to visit this one place outside Dupont Circle that had all manner of books, including the dusty tiny-print elderly stuff, but also sold vintage movie posters in frames. They had a French 3-sheet poster for Mad Max premiering at Cannes, and a 1-sheet size of The Empire Strikes Back, with a little banner in the corner with "Coming soon! Revenge of the Jedi!" (It was like $300, or I might have bought it.)
For the life of me I can't remember whether I ever bought any books there, but I sure remember the posters.
sumi - May 07, 2004 6:15:16 am PDT #2738 of 10002
Art Crawl!!!
Deena was the Stephanie Laurens book that disappointed the one about the brother of the wife of the eldest Cynster (Devil?) -- because I had already taken it out of the library before reading your comment -- and now I've started it. It doesn't seem so bad.
Deena - May 07, 2004 6:20:54 am PDT #2739 of 10002
How are you me? You need to stop that. Only I can be me. ~Kara
Yes, sumi. It doesn't start out too bad. But it gets much worse. I think what bothered me the most is that she doesn't let a chapter go by without reminding you that he's a brilliant young politician. The story itself isn't bad, I don't think. It's the execution that leaves a lot to be desired.
sumi - May 07, 2004 7:01:23 am PDT #2740 of 10002
Art Crawl!!!
Maybe she needs to take a break from writing for a bit!
Scrappy - May 07, 2004 8:16:36 am PDT #2741 of 10002
Life moves pretty fast. You don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.
They sell Harlequins, but they don't buy them or take them in trade. That's because they don't sell as many as there are used copies out there and they would end up overrun.(Psst! They DO buy them if they run low, but it's not a general policy).
Vortex - May 07, 2004 9:22:35 am PDT #2742 of 10002
"Cry havoc and let slip the boobs of war!" -- Miracleman
I just found it funny because they are so specific. Hell, Harlequins are how I learned about sex (the horrible, neverending sex talk where my mother had a legal pad with an outline where she checked the subjects off as she went over them notwithstanding)
Pix - May 07, 2004 9:37:46 am PDT #2743 of 10002
We're all getting played with, babe. -Weird Barbie
(the horrible, neverending sex talk where my mother had a legal pad with an outline where she checked the subjects off as she went over them notwithstanding)
Really?
'Cause, wow.