The joys of used books

I own a Nook, and I use it fairly regularly. In fact, for the past three years I've done the bulk of my daily Bible reading on it. It's convenient, and takes up less space than a paper Bible in my briefcase. I also like the ability to carry a small library with me in its memory. I do a lot of my studying on the computer, and I just finished doing some Sunday school preparation using Bible study software. I leave a couple of my Bibles at the church because I don't use them during the week for study.

That said, I'm still more partial to "real" books in general. I"m still a little leery about the permanence of my e-book files. I do have backups and all that, but I guess I'm just a little paranoid. It is true that paper books aren't permanent either (I've lost a number of volumes in basement floods), but there is a sense of ownership you just don't get with an e-book. I like the aesthetics of books-the way they look on the shelf, the feel of a book, the ability to flip easily back and forth. (I know e-books have search features, and in some ways that can be quicker, but there are times when finding a specific location isn't as easy as the PR makes it sound.)

I went to a church  music conference today at my son's school, Cairn University. One of the side pleasures of attending events at the school is visiting the bookstore, which maintains a decent selection of used books. I love to search through the shelves for book on specific subjects,  and occasionally find one on a subject I hadn't thought about but sounds interesting. All of those were true today. I picked up several books on the patristic period, a couple of commentaries, and a book on a subject I hadn't really thought about lately. At the prices I paid, it was a bargain!

Now I have lots of material to read. Not that I didn't before- the number of books on my shelves crying out for reading is pretty staggering. It's just that the trip to the bookstore stocked me up and gave me some incentive to pursue some lines of reading I wasn't engaged in at present.

I like book stores in general, but books do tend to be fairly expensive in general. (I find a lot of e-book bargains, but my biggest disappointment with my Nook is that many more recent books aren't much cheaper than their paper counterparts, and I have nothing but pixels to show for that price.) Used books enable me, and bibliophiles like me, the enhance our collections and our horizons for much less. That's why I enjoy my visits to the used book section, or, when I can find one, a used book store.

I hope you don't mind this little excursus off of Biblical and theological topics. I hope you also can find pleasure in diving in to a good used book, gaining knowledge and enjoyment for a bargain price.