Saturday, January 10, 2009

Hit the jackpot!!!

Today I was a brave soul. I ventured out in the vast white tundra that Chicago has become. My poor little Beetle barely made it out of it's parking spot, but she was a trooper and slowly slipped and slid her way down the side streets. After a brief stop at the bank to order checks (because I am dumb and never remember to reorder until I have used up the last one), I took a little stroll.
Chicago in winter can be in interesting place. One day we are buried under a blizzard. The next day it is 60 degrees. The snow was lightly, yet steadily falling, coating the city in a glittering veil of white. It was quite beautiful, really. I stopped at the Bourgeois Pig for a steaming cup of Mexican hot chocolate. Yum! Deciding that I may as well indulge to the hilt, I headed down the block to Swirlz, the only cupcake place in Chicago that offers gluten free cupcakes. Chocolate cake with a thin layer of chocolate ganache. Top that with raspberry puree and a think swirl of cream cheese frosting. Oh yes. It was good.

As I headed back to my car I was forced to stop at the intersection to wait for the light to change. On a whim I decided to pop into the second hand store on the corner. What makes this store special is that all profits go towards Children's Memorial Hospital. You can find furniture or clothes and help terribly sick children to get the care they need. I was wandering through looking over some rather unattractive couches when I saw a room further back. At first I thought it was a storage area. Not so. I headed back to take a closer look and that is when I saw it... books. Lots of books. Oh, the raptures I experienced! At first I figured I might find one or two decent titles. Oh baby was I wrong. I hit the mother load!

I am not sure how long I spent in there browsing through the shelves of books, but after all that time and a scant $8.27 later I walked out with:

Into the Fire by Suzanne Brockmann
The Outlaws of Sherwood by Robin McKinley
P.S., I Love You by Cecelia Ahern (because I adored the movie!)
A Walk to Remember by Nicholas Sparks (another movie I adored)
The Horsemaster's Daughter by Susan Wiggs (sequel to Charm School)
Killer Secrets by Lora Leigh
Some Like it Wicked by Teresa Medieros
The Stolen Bride by Brenda Joyce
A Rake's Guide to Seduction by Caroline Linden
Hero Under Cover by Suzanne Brockmann (OMG, one I had never heard of!!!)
No Rest for the Wicked by Kresley Cole (I really hope I already own the first one)

Yup, you counted that correctly, my dears. Eleven books for $8.27. That comes out to approx 75 cents per book, including the hard cover.

Jackpot, baby!

7 comments:

Kristie (J) said...

When you get that kind of a deal, don't you just feel like holding them - and fondling them - and just plain old loving them? And the fact that the money goes to a good cause just makes it even better!!!

JenB said...

WOW, what a haul! And what an amazing deal. I really need to check out some thrift stores. I hear about people finding all kinds of great book bargains.

Oh, and I almost started drooling when I read "Mexican hot chocolate". Yummmmm. :)

Bridget Locke said...

Man, I love it when stuff like that happens? Many, many moons ago there was this used bookstore here in Portland that was nothing and I do mean nothing, but romance. *sigh* I'd spend hours walking up and down the aisles looking for books. And she was so awesome at having current stuff too. But she went out of business. *sniffle* I don't think I ever fully recovered.

Nicola O. said...

SCORE!

Happy Reading!

Carolyn Crane said...

I love those cheapie stores. What a haul! What a discovery! Something to do while you're buried under all that snow.

Stacy~ said...

Wow, WTG Shannon :) It's so depressing here right now. I'm looking out the window at nothing but white, and more is falling from the sky. I need to move to Aruba.

I just read that Brockmann and it was good, but not her usual style. I need to read Cecelia Ahern's book too cuz I adored the movie.

Sarai said...

I hate to say this but damn I miss the snow. and wow you were brave to get out and bare it LOL...
What a fantastic deal CONGRATS on the haul!