As I mentioned in a past blog, there is a bookstore about 30 miles from the campground with a good military section. I was trying to figure a way to get there without being too obvious. Luckily, my wife suggested going to a zoo which would take me close to the bookstore. I asked Donna if she would mind me making a quick stop there, which she said she didn't mind. Now on the way to this bookstore, there is another bookstore that I went to about 10 years ago that only specializes in military and history books. After that first time, any time I am in the area I drive by it to see if it is open. Alas, it never is and I had come to the conclusion that something had happened to the owner. So imagine my surprise when I noticed an "open" flag hanging in from of it. It was too late for me to slam on the brakes to turn in. So I proceeded to the other bookstore, ran in and did a quick look in the history section. After buying a couple of books, I came out and my wife was surprised at how quick I was. You would have thought after 27 years of putting up with me she would have known what was coming next. Once again I requested to stop at the other bookstore. As I sped down the road to the next stop, I almost past by it again and almost put my long suffering wife through the windshield!
I entered the bookstore and was, as my mother use to say "in hog heaven". There were so many books that I was climbing over piles on the floor. I was looking through the stacks on the floor besides the shelves and the owner said something about the piles on the floor. I don't know if I was just so into the books I didn't hear a word he said. A couple of minutes later I saw a book that really caught my eye in a stack. As I dug it out he mentioned that the books on the floor were either sold or there was other copies on the shelves. As I was browsing I could hear the owner talking to himself. What's more, when one of his cats started sounding like he was having hairball issues, the owner started grooming the cat. As he combed the cat, he started carrying on a lively conversation with the cat. Hearing this, another cat seemed to magically appear to join the fun. As I was finishing up I asked about the book in the pile that caught my eye. He checked the shelf, there was no copy there so then went to the book in the pile. He thumbed through it and then pronounced that it was sold. I got the impression that he really didn't want to sell it, but add it to his collection!
It was well worth the stop. Below are the books I bought. The prices were reasonable, made more so by the fact that he gave me 20% off my purchase, which was very nice of him to do. And while I thought he was a little on the nutty side, he is from Massachusetts like me and was more than helpful with telling me how to get to the zoo. And he is a bookseller; they all tend to be eccentrics. I forgot to get the name of the store; luckily he had slipped a business card into one of the books.
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| I have the first part of this series so finding this was the highlight of of the stop. I especially like the prints of the volunteer infantry in this book. |
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| This book looked like it was for young readers, but had great color uniform prints. |
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| I like the fact that this volume has a great deal on the Zulus, showing how the shields are made and the layout of Zulu villages. |
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| Another great find. I am kicking myself because he also had 4 of the original Osprey Regimental history books including the Black Watch, the Buffs and the Connaught Rangers. I might just have to call him back. |
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| This book I think was underpriced, at $10.00 and then with the 20% discount. |
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| Another great find. Lots of picture of the period I've never seen before. Oh, yes, I did get Donna to the zoo and I do believe she had a good time. |
