When the pandemic first started, I found websites of a lot of independent bookstores that offered surprise books and/or book subscriptions. I was temped by every single one. But I wasn’t ready to commit, especially because some of them were a mite pricey, even given my pandemic spending madness, even knowing how expensive books are at real (read: not Amazon) bookstores.
A couple of weeks ago, I stumbled across yet another, Honest Dog Books of Bayfield, WI. I liked the store name and the story behind how the owner bought the place (you can read about it here). For $9 the owner offers to pick out a used book for you based on the last three books you loved. I felt like a surprise book might be just the thing to perk me up, so I ordered one plus a book of poetry.
Today my books arrived. Here you can see my surprise book in its packaging.
And here is a picture of my two new books, unwrapped.
Overture sounds interesting, and it’s something I probably wouldn’t have found on my own, so I’m thinking it was a good choice. And Fifty Poems for Our Time, which I chose for myself but which I had only heard of through Honest Dog Books, seems like a solid choice. That is, I trust Tracy K. Smith not to steer me wrong, or at least not to steer me wrong 50 times 😉 . I am looking forward to reading both books, though it may be a while before I get to them, because I currently have my nose sandwiched between the pages of a Barbara Michaels novel.
