Make Plans and Prime Fail

Last Wednesday was Prime Day to celebrate Amazon's 20th birthday. I've been a Prime member for a long time but I didn't buy anything. I checked a few time throughout the day and couldn't find any deals that appealed to me.  Buzzfeed collected some of the best, most sarcastic tweets about the disappointing day. I heard Amazon made a lot of money but they disappointed a lot of customers.

I've made some plans to be part of a big author event in October. The first annual York Book Expo
will take place on October 17th. It sounds exciting with more than 100 authors participating. I promise pictures and a report though you never know how those things will go especially in its first year.

You've heard me complaining about the rain but one of the good things to come out of that is the thriving foliage in my flowerbeds. I haven't watered anything since early May but you can see in these pictures how they're growing. The tomato plant looks like some kind of genetically enhanced food source. I don't even like tomatoes.

my pool

At least I have the pool to cool off in after I spend hours trying to keep up with the weeds and grass. Later today, I'm taking three large bags of books to the used store where I hope they find new homes. The store, 2nd and Charles, is part of the BAM empire and they give only pennies for books. I usually pick up a stack of new-to-me books when I visit, but I've been making an effort to clear off some of my shelves. Will I ever read those books I've collected again? Some I thought I would but have now decided I wouldn't. If we do downsize next year or the year after, I won't have the room I have now. I regret letting them go but hoarding is not my style.

This evening is all about working on that WIP that has already taken me an entire month longer than I expected. Bad me but I've been reading some good books this summer when I should be writing. I'm currently reading Anatomy of Evil by Will Thomas. It's a mystery/suspense series that takes place in Victorian London.

Did you buy anything on Prime Day? Are there any book events going on in your area you're attending or participating in during the next few months? How are your flowerbeds looking this year? I know those of you in the western part of the country have been short of rain. What do you do with books you no longer have room for? Are you reading something good right now?

Mixed Feelings

Yesterday my daughter and I loaded up some books we'd decided to put up for adoption and went on an investigative trip to the newest bookstore in town. 2nd and Charles is a part of BAM, I believe, but they deal mostly in used books and other media merchandise.

You bring in your used stuff, fill up one of their bins and then browse while they decide how many pennies to give you for the things you've spent nearly an entire paycheck to purchase. It only took them about half an hour to add up my offerings and give me a little store credit. They kindly will give you cash or twice the cash amount in store credit.

Browsing through their shelved books is kind of like being in BAM. Very difficult to find anything. They have a separate scifi and fantasy section but you'll find lots of those books misfiled in with all the other books. There's a separate romance section but you'll find lots of romance books shelved with all those other books. There's a few shelves of what I think are mystery or suspense but you find some books from certain authors there and in with all those other books. All those other books are just about every genre of fiction you can imagine.

The prices are pretty good but it's best if you have a certain author in mind while you look around. Their used movie section is pretty good and I found two season of Stargate Atlantis pretty cheap. I remember now why I loved the early seasons of that show. My daughter found a few nonfiction books but nothing that she wanted. So we walked out with some store credit in our pockets and a few items of interest.

But I also felt a little guilty. I love bookstores but 2nd and Charles is a case of the 'big guys' moving into a role that has kept some smaller book dealers open, the used book market. Some of those little stores have so much character and the people running them are true book lovers. Going into that big impersonal store felt like a betrayal of them.

The best thing about 2nd and Charles is that it is in a big mall and there's an Auntie Anne's Pretzels right next to it.

What do you think about BAM moving into the used book market? Have you been to a 2nd and Charles yet? Love Auntie Anne's very fattening and delicious pretzels?