Last couple days of the Booksale

I managed to make my way over to the booksale both yesterday and today - and I'm so glad I did! Yesterday, everything was half-off and today, everything was 50 cents! I've learned something new about myself - I have an odd taste for non-fiction that nobody else in Hawaii seems to have. -All the books that I put back earlier in the week were still there on 50 cent day! While I am happy I was able to pick these books up, I am somewhat disappointed that nobody else wants these books as I do! Oh well.

Yesterday's treasures included:
Prodigal Summer - Barbara Kingsolver (Lucky I found this!)
Simple Abundance - Sarah Ban Breathnach (The words of a friendly stranger standing next to me encouraged me to get this book - only a dollar!)
Cecilia Bartoli - Rossini Heroines (CD) - One of my favorite mezzo-sopranos, and definitely the best when it comes to early music...another lucky find for only a $1.50!
Banker to the Poor - Okay, yes, I have this book already, but here's the story: I find Banker to the Poor in hardback in the economics section. A co-worker/friend had recommended it to me but last I talked to her, she didn't have it yet. I thought I'd pick it up for her. Well guess what? She was at the booksale, too! And she didn't need the copy, but her friend (who she always talks to me about) was at the booksale and so she introduced me and I gave the book to her. It always works out. And besides, it's the kind of book you'd just pass on to another person, anyhow. They told me about a book group that's meeting to discuss it in a couple weeks. I'm looking forward to it. :)

Today's treasures:
Moyers on America (Bill Moyers) - I didn't even realize there was a separate section for journalism/media - how did I not find this before? My mother picked up a different Bill Moyers book earlier in the week from the politics section. Perhaps we'll do a switcheroo once she's done.
Development & Social Change a Global Perspective - So this is a text from 2004 so it is slightly out of date, but it was priced at $4! Anyhow, after this class I've become more interested in the digital divide from a global perspective, and I'm hoping there might be some of that in this book.
Can We Talk about Race? (Beverly Daniel Tatum) - I remember when she was "Dean Tatum" at MHC. You had to write an essay just to get into her classes in the psych department because the demand was so high!
Savage Inequalities: Children in America's Schools (Jonathan Kozol) - I was picking between this and Kozol's "Amazing Grace" earlier in the week. Now, I've got both of them!

The past two days bring my book total up to 16 books and one CD and the cost up to about $22. Not bad! I have to say, as I was picking up those 4 books today, I was feel guilty that I had too much. I already have so many books. I decided it was okay. The education books that are in good condition will be donated to my grad department and others will be given away to interested friends.

The booksale was great fun this year. I look forward to reading all my new books!

Thoughts on Information Literacy at the Booksale

It's Tuesday, and day 4 of the Friends of the Library of Hawaii booksale and I have gone 3 out of the 4 days. :) Books are organized in broad categories (literature, hobbies, art, philosophy, sci-fi, etc.) but aren't always necessarily under the category you'd figure they would be in. Furthermore, broad categories are as organized as it'll get...no Dewey decimal system there! As I wandered through the tables of books today I thought - you know, this is kind of like surfing the internet in a way. There's a ton of information there and you try your best to search where you think you'll find what you want - but really, you've just got to search and dig. You can pull out a book of interest because the title looks interesting, or maybe because the spine or cover appeals to you somehow, but really, until you pull it out and look closely, you really don't know. You need to use some critical thinking and information literacy skills to find what you want and decide whether the book you picked up is what you want.

I picked up some excellent books from the bookfair a few of which I was actively looking for, and some that...how shall I put this...I didn't know I wanted until I found them! I was judicious in my decisions, of course, I put back some books I was definitely interested in but thought that they wouldn't be high on my reading list and perhaps they would be higher up on someone else's list.

Here are the treasures I came away with:
1) Tuesday's With Morrie - Mitch Albom
2) Five People You Meet in Heaven - Mitch Albom
3) Amazing Grace - Jonathan Kozol
4) Research Design - John Creswell
5) This Book is not Required (revised edition) - Inge Bell & Bernard McGrane
6) Aristotle and an Aardvark Go to Washington - Thomas Cathcart & Daniel Klein
7) Tipping Point - Malcolm Gladwell (SCORE!!!)
8) The Accidental Asian - Eric Liu
9) Waiting for Snow in Havana - Carlos Eire
10) Zami A New Spelling of My Name - Audre Lorde

--All of these for about $16!!! :)

While completely engrossed in Banker to the Poor (while walking to the office) I ran into a woman who wanted to see what I was reading. I came away from that conversation with yet another book recommendation, "Three Cups of Tea" by Greg Mortenson - I will have to get it, it's totally up my alley. "Reading Lolita in Tehran" is also now on my list. Man, I'd kill for a "pause" button for my life so I could stop everything for a bit and just READ.

I've decided that someday I'll have a (small) library. I haven't figured out where I'd put it. It might be cool to have a library as a room all by itself - but if I ever have kids I doubt I'd have the space. Maybe I'll just have the library in the living room? I could definitely live in a library. The bathroom is (obviously) a logical choice but for sanitation reasons I think I'll pass on that one.......

Too many books, too little time

The problem with bookstores is that every time I go into one, I find more books that I want to read – and there’s no way I’ll ever be able to read everything. In my trip to the bookstore today I came across more books I’d like to read:

The Paradox of Choice: Why More is Less by Barry Schwartz – Isn’t it true? I think this would be a nice read to go along with some Malcolm Gladwell books and Kingsolver’s “Animal, Vegetable, Miracle.” Personally, I don’t feel that I have an added anxiety due to the amount of choice I have in my life – but maybe I do and I’m just not as aware. As I read the synopsis of “The Paradox of Choice” I thought back to the Pew Internet Report we read for class and their findings that some people find the vast amount of information on the internet to be burdensome or overwhelming. So my question now is does everyone feel an added stress due to the amount of choice available to them? Or is it possible that this is something that is generational? How does it relate to ones thoughts about their ability to control their life?

Savage Inequalities & The Shame of the Nation by Jonathan Kozol – Both books discuss educational disparities at schools across the nation (specifically, with regards to race and class). While much of my personal interest is in regards to higher education access, these books are incredibly relevant to me because post-secondary education does not exist in a bubble. The disparities of the K-12 educational system are inextricably linked to higher education access issues and I think that both of these books would be excellent reads.

Tastes Like Cuba: An Exile’s Hunger for Home by Eduardo Machado – I found this book while perusing the biographies and memoirs section of the bookstore. I love reading people’s stories and the language of the portion on the back cover was just beautiful. It was only perhaps a paragraph or two but in it, he compared the complexities of flavor to the inherent complexities of the idea of “home” and identity.

As the title of this blog says, there are just too many books and too little time.

PS. Don't forget, the Friends of the Library Booksale starts this weekend at McKinley High School!!! (Not like I need more books!)

How I've Been Feeling Lately