Out of town with "a day off" in between jobs I went to the local used bookstore. I left with the following books: Big Mac: The Unauthorized Story of McDonald's by Max Boas and Steve Chain, Imperial Earth by Arthur C Clarke, The Plague by Albert Camus, Short Friday by Isaac Bashevis Singer (which I was thrilled at finding since Singer is my favorite author and this is one that I haven't read!), Fast Food Nation: Do You Want Lies With That? by Eric Schlosser, Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut, Transcendental Meditation by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. and The Late Great Planet Earth by Hal Lindsey. For whatever reason I was allowed two free books among a group stuffed into a milk crate and a larger wooden(?) container. I chose Stuart Little by E.B. White since I loved Charlotte's Web as a kid (and still do as an adult actually) and apparently A Thousand Country Roads by Robert James Walker (this is a sequal to The Bridges of Madison County). I say apparently because I don't recall choosing it and having never read read Bridges it doesn't hold any interest for me. Included in the jumble of free books was a real pearl - A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter M Miller. It is set in a post-apocalyptic world in which the Catholic Church has kept tradition and rememberance of what the hell happened alive, kind of, in a typically bizarre Catholic manner. Anyway, it is a fantastic novel and should any of you happen to visit this particular bookstore and see it there, still among the freebies, assuming you haven't already read it, I highly recommend your selecting this as one of the two.

It's nice walking through bookstores.

It is the greatest walking through bookstores and just spending time. This is one of the things that I am enjoying, being retired.

There is an independent bookstore in Seattle that used to be in a historic district, Pioneer Square. They were great there as they fit in wonderfully and were a great addition to the neighborhood. You could find almost anything there. But the rent was too high so they moved.

I have to admit I have not gotten to their new site as much as I visited them downtown. But they struggle because they are in constant competition with other big stores and they have a huge inventory. It is so hard to find independent bookstores that are still open. They are unusal for a big store though; they are friendly and they always want to offer any help you need.

It is so much fun to find these stores in towns that I travel to. It is very true that you can find used books and unusual and hard-to-find books, and just those that are great finds that you may not have even thought about reading before. And they often have coffee that is just as good as that served in the big stores (if you like coffee that is.) The owners usually have time to chat about books and authors, their favorite topic as well.

If anyone is in Long Beach, Washington at any time a visit to Bananas in Long Beach is worth it. They are small and a bit disorganized, but the owner is a kick. (I am not related to anyone associated with this store, nor do I own any part of it, so I feel comfortable mentioning it as a way of offering my support to small bookstore owners.)

It is up to people like us on this forum to do whatever we can to help these small businesses survive. A lot of my friends say the bigger stores are just easier as they are more organized. But I find them impersonal, and the lines are horrible. Plus they are being plowed under by big box stores like so many other small businesses.

I loved A Canticle for Leibowitz when I read it many, many years ago. Maybe I should try to find a copy of it to read again.