I was lucky yesterday at the second-hand bookstore. I held off going for a couple of months in hopes the store’s fiction section would have new books. Oh, make that old books. 

As I’ve written before, I hunt for first editions of authors I love. Or books I know are valuable that I might like. But being a bargain hunter, I don’t want to pay a lot. So, I don’t.

I just don’t collect them. I read them.

Sometimes I will pick up a book of an author someone recommends. If I like it, I keep it. It also means I will likely buy everything else that person has written. If I don’t, I will bring it to work and leave it at a table in the break room — free for a colleague to take. I’ve acquired a few books that way as well.

Taos has two second-hand bookstores (one also sells new ones). But there are other book-buying opportunities like consignment stores. (One of the largest is, sigh, rebuilding its selection. Bought an old Jim Harrison book for four bucks last week.) The lit society here sells books and so does the Friends of the Library once a month. My next goal is to hit yard sales. The secret, I found, is to buy books where they are no longer valued.

I do enjoy buying a book for a buck or two and finding out later, it’s worth a whole lot more.

So what did I score yesterday? Two books by Rick Bass in such pristine condition I doubt the previous owner read them; two from the Harry Potter series; and Roots by Alex Haley. All first editions,  all in fine shape. They made this reader happy.