Letting a bookworm loose in a bookshop is asking for trouble.
I recently went nuts in a bookshop in Aachen and then even worse so, shortly after in a bookshop in Zwolle. This was a particularly nice bookshop, inside an old church. They had an amazing English language section and I ended up with seven, seven!, books. The seven books came about after a strict selection process* and I took pictures of the books I had to leave behind, as reference for a future spending spree and/or library visit, and to stare longingly at until then.
I’d never bought this many books at once before, and I gulped as I opened my wallet to pay. Then the lady at the checkout asked which ones were presents and I almost let her wrap up a couple, to make myself look less greedy. But that seemed wasteful in use of paper so I just owned up to my lack of self-control and admitted they were all for me, and of course, she wasn’t judgy and just happy that I helped her shop survive. Fighting the online giants is what I’m all about!
To prevent any more dents in my bank card, I’ve promised not to spend any more money on books for the rest of the year. The witnesses to this declaration (made on my way out of the shop), called BS on that claim. They know me too well.
And because the internet is the place where strangers judge you, I’m putting it out here as well to help keep myself on the straight and narrow. And don’t worry: I’m grown-up enough to fess up the moment I slip. After all, according to the countdown timer it’s only 138 more days of the year. I think I will be able to do that.
*such as: “The reading challenge requires a western”, “This is a pretty cover”, “I didn’t buy this one last time”, “It’s under fifteen euros”.
Bookworm in the City 