Round Trip to Greece and St. Louis for $43

Okay, this is going to be a short one. It's already Wednesday *sigh*

LKH's new book came out today and I mentioned to Stacy G. that I was stopping to pick it up on the way home. She asked me if I'd have it read by tomorrow. I said no, but that I'd have to be careful because once I started it...it would be a slippery slope. I'd still be awake at 4:00 a.m. trying to finish. It's like 1,000 pages -- no kidding. But I'm going to end up putting off for a little while anyway. Because it occurred to me today as I was watching the girl ring up the books that unread books are like the promise of an adventure, a round trip between covers. And even better than a real vacation, you don't have to worry about getting stuck with a lousy seatmate (like that woman who kept touching my leg for the 8 hour flight to Hawaii last year), losing your luggage or even missing your flight. And even better, on book vacations, you get to be someone else. You get to live their problems for awhile instead of your own.

Books have always been an escape for me. Other people drink or workout or shop when they have bad days, I read a book. It's like this marvelous escape hatch that you can open up at any time and disappear into. My husband still makes fun of me for the time in college when I inadvertently brought a book to the grocery store. I was wearing a big coat with big pockets -- hey it was Indiana in the middle of winter...and earmuffs (and books) need to go somewhere. At the time I did it because I had a million books to read for class and seriously not enough hours in the year to accomplish all of it. So, I learned to read anywhere, anytime to squeeze more in. Now, I still do it, but for different reasons. It's rare to catch me someplace without a book, even a back up one, one that I've read before or one that I'm only sort of interested in reading. Because, hey, a trip to someplace sort of boring is better than reality that definitely is boring (i.e. waiting for an oil change or something). The few times that I do go somewhere without a book, I feel naked, exposed. Like I'll be pinned in the corner and forced to socialize. Writers? Sometimes not so good with the chatty part of life : )

So, those unread books still sitting, oh-so-pristine, in the plastic bag hold unknown secrets and adventures for me to discover. Can't help but feeling a little thrill, just imagining all they could hold. *satisified sigh* Is there anything better than the anticipation of a book by a favored author?

As I was imagining what I would tell my husband when I came home from the book store with two (I also bought Maeve Binchy's latest in hardcover *hanging head* I've been so good trying to wait for paperbacks...but today I caved) new hardcover books, I thought, well, really, it's a vacation without having to worry about packing or traveling or finding a dog sitter or losing vacation days or getting sunburned. Round trip to Greece (Maeve Binchy's book) with a looooong layover in St. Louis (LKH's new book) for $43.31...that's not bad at all : )

(And yes, I actually got up from my chair to check the receipt and that was exactly how much it cost! I'm such a geek!!!)

Talk to you tomorrow!