M. Suzanne Terry

This weekend went by way too quickly, because I spent it living how I imagine myself living when I retire.  I had breakfast with friends on Saturday, bought books, and had friends over for supper.  I even worked in a little cleaning, a lot of reading, and a bit of writing.  It was the perfect weekend.

Saturday, I went to breakfast with Margat, Tommy, Jeff, Micah, and Raven.  It was the first time I’d been to Le Peep in quite some time.  We got my favorite waitress, who didn’t recognize me at first, but brightened up when she took my order.  “I knew you looked familiar!  Where have you been?”

“I’m still here, but the person who usually came with me moved to Houston, so I don’t go out for breakfast as much anymore.”

“Well, tell her I said hello.”  So Maggie, our waitress says, “Hello.”

Then we went to the Denton Library’s book sale.  Did I let the fact that I have a tiny apartment and had not unpacked my box of books from the Fort Worth Library’s sale a few weeks ago stifle my purchasing decisions?  Heck, no.  I can always find room for more books.

Especially books with title like this one:

Don’t even pretend that you’re not aching with curiosity.  I know I am.

Whenever there are large sales where I can acquire a large number of books for a small price, I have a system.  I look for six things:

1.  Books by my favorite authors that I don’t already own.

2.  Books that I do own that everyone needs to read, because that shelf at Traditions is not going to stock itself.

3.  Books on my to-find and to-read list (particularly those I’ve started from the library that I know I’ll want so that I can return the library’s copy).

4. Books that I know are on friends’ to-find lists.

5.  DVDs of my favorite shows or movies that I don’t already have.

6.  Books with amazing titles.

The finds from #6 are my favorite finds.

It’s how I came to own such gems as Good Lord, You’re Upside Down, P.S. Your Cat is Dead, and my first good-title buy, If This is Love, I’ll Take Spaghetti.

Just look at that cover.  I feel her struggle, just like I felt it at my fifth grade Scholastic sale where I bought the book.

Of course, when I took on the immense task of finding a spot for all my new friends books on Sunday, I had to completely re-order my bookshelves.  It’s not pretty – I now either have to buy another bookshelf or only buy books written by people whose names begin with “E” or “F” – but they all fit.

I could get used to weekends like that.