I Need More Plastic Cover

I have finished reading House Rules by Jodi Picoult and was supposed to post the book review today, but I had to run some errands. Before going home, I went to the mall and looked at some books. Sadly, the book selection in our local bookstore is totally useless. I can still remember a time when the books on display are pretty readable, but now, everywhere, all I can see are vampire books. Now, I'm not against vampire literature, actually I've been quite obsessed with Anne Rice's Lestat character; it's just that I'm not digging the current vampire phenomena where vampires are not anymore the feared and mystical creatures that they used to be.

But enough about vampires.

So as I was going through all the books, my mood getting bleaker and bleaker at the moment, I found copies of Jane Eyre and other classic literature for Php 99 (that's about USD 2.25). Suddenly, an idea struck me. I remembered that there was a shop for secondhand and surplus books in the mall so I went to check it out. I remember I got my Thomas Harris and John Grisham books from there when I was still in college and money was very limited but I needed a good read. The first thing that caught my eye? A hardback copy of The Brethren by John Grisham! I spent about half an hour digging through piles and piles of old and used books, while imagining myself lounging around the house reading for a whole week or so.

The good thing about secondhand shops, sometimes their book selection might surprise you. I found a good copy of Kiss The Girls by James Patterson and added it to my heap. In the end, I got six books. When I paid for it, my total purchase amounted to Php 360 - about USD 8.20! If I went the brand-new route, I'd only get one book for that price, or 3 copies of the classics, which I've already read anyway. To break down:

The Brethren by John Grisham (hardback) - Php 125 or USD 2.86
Kiss The Girls by James Patterson - Php 95 or USD 2.17
Kira-Kira by Cynthia Kadohata (hardback) - Php 40 or USD 0.92
The Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood by Rebecca Wells - Php 20(!) or USD 0.46
Love Lessons by Sandra Lee - Php 40 or USD 0.92
Return To Sender by Rebecca Winters - Php 40 or USD 0.92

The last three books I bought with my mom in mind. She has been railing on me to get a copy of the movie, but either I'm going blind or I just can't really find the DVD so I thought to just get the book, since I inherited the bibliophile gene from her anyway. She loves romance novels too, hence the last two books.

Ah... Book retail therapy at its best.

*UPDATE: I just discovered I did not put in the name of the store, it's Booksale, and most malls in Manila have one.