Do you guys remember that movie? The Pagemaster?

Yeah, well neither do I much. For those of you who don’t let me fill you in on what I remember:

There was this movie that came out around 1994. It was about this young boy namd Richard Tyler. (Seriously? Two first names) played by none other than Macaulay Culkin(! Wait he made movies other than Home Alone?) who basically gets caught in a tremendous thunderstorm on his way to pick up some nails for his Dad. Lucky for Richy Rich, I mean um… Richard Tyler, our protagonist, he is able to take shelter in a library. And the movie continues…

Point of this story? Well a few days ago I made a short visit to UBC Bookstore to get as many of my textbooks as I could. This was on… Tuesday? If any of you are in Vancouver or just arrived you may be enjoying the lovely warm sunny day because on Tuesday there was a down pour. I was excited because I have yet to purchase some rain boots and got the chance to scope out the fashionable footwear on campus. But as I began looking for my books little did I know this would lead to an entire adventure. If only Fantasy, Adventure and Horror could have joined me.

I found some of my books in the bookstore, but as a future Arts One student there’s quite a few books on my list so I’m trying to save a buck or two. I knew that I wanted to check out the Discount Textbook store in the market. Located right above the McDonalds on 10th Ave. Walking distance off of campus. This place seems to be great for textbooks, but not so great for any miscellaneous literature and novels. I’d definitely look into selling my textbooks there and they seem to make a conscious effort to be cheaper than the UBC Bookstore, if you’re buying brand new. I’m going to try and sell my books near the end of the term.

Next, I was redirected to a second hand bookstore at 41st street & Dunbar St. This is where things got interesting my friends.

Lawrence Books. That’s the name. To set the scene again, let us remember two things: 1) It is raining, very hard. 2) My search for shelter at this point may be nearing the same level as my search for these books. Once I walked into this store though something else happened.

To be honest, I felt like Matilda, Belle and sure what’s his face Macaulay at the same time. It was like magic. The shelves were what I would call 12 feet tall. But then again my shorter stature really gives me no sense of vertical proportions or height. Everyone seems 6 feet to me. Stacks and stacks of books jam packed in rows and columns. Sure there was like dust everywhere, with a carpet that doesn’t look like it’s been vacuumed or cleaned since the 70’s. Actually that may be a lie, only because I wasn’t looking down at the floor. I was looking at the books.

I mentioned it before that I’m kind of nerdy like this, all into books and stuff (maybe just in my bio – And I totally understand if you didn’t make it that far…yet). I hope I meet somebody who likes discussing literature avec moi. But I most definitely think everyone or anyone who loves reading should check out this place and you’ll be amazed at what you find. There was books and books galore. Novels and non-fiction, all categorized. Plays and science fiction, mysteries and children stories. Ancient classics to geography. Even some National Geographic magazines as well. I felt as though it was the perfect quiet place to cuddle up on a rainy day. And the books are all second hand and around $5. Some are in fantastic state. Others are the same edition my Mom read in high school.

After having everyone in the book store help me (which basically included my two family members with me and the two other people who run the shop) I was lucky enough to find a few books. Now, as I hold the books in my hand I feel as though I am holding history. I know I have to go back and check out the first edition section. I’m pretty sure I saw the Holy Bible written on the spine of one of the books…

I know I’m a first year student and most first years don’t go into all this trouble of hunting down books but it’s fun. You get to see some new shops. And you save money. It’s a win-win. I know it might be a little late for most people buying textbooks now but I’m just saying there’s more than one option than textbook registration and I only know this because of my older sibs. Oh, there’s also Amazon.com if you have more time for shipping.

Random fact: My favourite public library I’ve been to is the Seattle Public Library downtown, if anybody is going across the line sometime soon, you should check it out. There’s lots of bright shiny neon lights if that attracts you too.

In other news, I think I have finally repacked all my [junk/crap/clothes] very very dearly beloved belongings. It’s funny because I swear I did all of this like two weeks ago when I was flying out here to BC. Hmmm… strange.

Final thoughts du jour:
Warm and gooey chocolate chip cookies with vanilla ice cream are amazing.
Question: does anyone know where to buy Tretorn boots?
One more sleep! Tomorrow I get to make a new category. Sounds exciting, doesn’t it?