The Salvation Army Bookstore

For reading enthusiasts, bookstores possess obvious allure--used bookstores, especially.

(DIGRESSION: Should that be "used book stores" or "used-book stores"? Otherwise, would we not give the impression that the bookstores themselves are of the second-hand variety? Just wondering. EOD)

We admit to a certain weakness for the used-book sections of thrift stores. Indeed, we find these somewhat preferable to the full-size used-book emporium. Those stores, particularly the classic ones (e.g., The Strand in New York, Powell's in Portland, Oregon), can confound as much as enthrall: One scarcely knows where to start. On the other hand, those raggedy racks stashed behind racks of ugly clothes and semi-functional toys at your local Goodwill or its like provide a manageable browsing experience while occasionally providing worthwhile (and cheap) reading material.

We were about to write that you never know what you'll find in these booknooks, but then we realized that would be inaccurate. For in addition to the aforementioned pleasant finds (a first-printing Gutenrberg Bible with only a few crayon markings for $0.99!), you can count on seeing some or all of the following in ANY thrift-shop bookcase, regardless of size:

--The Da Vinci Code

--SEVERAL Michael Connolly titles (We've never read anything by the man, but he seems to be the thrift-shop equvalent of James Patterson.)

--Oh, yeah, several James Patterson books, too. Of course, noting that you'll find James Patterson titles in a book store is akin to saying you'll find atoms in the universe.

--As in any bookstore, you will of course find titles by Stephen King, but not as many as his prominence in the bookselling world might lead you to expect. Specifically, you will find one or all of the following titles: Dreamcatcher, Everything's Eventual (short stories), Bag of Bones, The Green Mile. You will NOT find The Shining, The Stand, or certain others (i.e., the good ones).

--The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova (Awful book, by the way. We'll tell you about it sometime.)

--The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen (We suspect that Oprah saw to it that a copy will turn up in every bargain bin across the country--show HIM who's boss.)

--One or more of the following: The Poisonwood Bible, The Secret Life of Bees, Wide Sargasso Sea, The Handmaid's Tale (You probably won't find ALL of them, though. . . . We suspect that one or more of these books may be the SAME book. Has anyone ever seen all four of them in the same room at the same time drinking coffee? Not us.)

--As mentioned in an earlier post, a plethora of books with "Wife" in the title.

Happy browsing!