Needless to say, I’m not going to make that mistake again. I’m looking for places where I can sell used books for cash, and I’m going to go out there and grab the best deals. I figure with the Internet being what it is these days, I can always just look something up online if I need to instead of thumbing through old texts. Can’t wait to get some of my money back, because these textbooks were mind-bogglingly expensive!!

Apparently, the book, called Facts I Ought to Know About the Government of My Country, was checked out by Stanley Dudek’s mother and was due back at the New Bedford (MA) library on May 2, 2010. Dudek finally returned it in Dec. 2009 after finding it 10 years ago in his mother’s home after she died. The library waived the fee (a penny a day for 99 years would have been about $360).

Wow — 99 years!! The longest I’ve ever kept an overdue book was probably about three weeks….

Come on, they make music stands for sheet music, plasma mountsfor televisions, and regular book stands for paperbacks and hardcovers. Is there anything that will work with a Kindle? I’m telling you, if I ever come across something like that, I would buy it immediately.

But at the same time, reference books and so forth still command an incredibly high price, which is rather puzzling. After all, a lot of great information can simply be found on the Internet these days. For instance, I was browsing through Amazon today and came across a book called The Office Interior Design Guide by Julie K. Rayfield. This book retails for a whopping $58.96 — and that’s in paperback!! Why would someone pay nearly $60 to learn where to put their office furniture and computers? Seriously, I just don’t get it.

Well, stuff like this makes me glad I moved on to electronic texts a long time ago. Fair prices, no clutter, and a very low environmental impact. What’s not to love about ebooks?

If you watch the video on that link I posted above, you can see Sarah’s record-setting runs. It looks to me like she has some Ferrari parts in her or something! It’s just so incredible how blazing fast she is. Her legs are just a blur and barely even touch the ground as she scampers after whatever she’s chasing. Very cool!

I haven’t done Booking Through Thursday in a couple of weeks, so this is a good time to start getting caught up. This question comes from May 28, but I felt like answering it over today’s question.

Is there a book that you wish you could “unread”? One that you disliked so thoroughly you wish you could just forget that you ever read it?

There are a few books I wish I could “unread”. For instance, The Trial is something that immediately comes to mind. I know a lot of people eat up that Kafka stuff with great relish, but I thought the work was just terrible. I can’t believe I wasted my time with that rubbish!

Another book I couldn’t stand was Walden by Henry David Thoreau. Walden made me want to rip my hair out from sheer boredom and frustration. Seriously, I’ve never encountered another work where the author was so thoroughly full of himself as to firmly believe that he was doing everything the right way, while everyone else was just wasting their precious lives. Ugh!

And finally, my list wouldn’t be complete without putting The House of the Seven Gables on it. This book was filled with a whole lot of nothing, and could easily have been condensed to a quarter of its size. But no, Hawthorne had to ramble on and on with long, drawn-out descriptions of everything he could think of. The only solace I can take here is that I won’t have to worry about seeing Hepzibah’s wrinkled, haggard face in HDTV. I mean, no one could possibly turn this into a movie, could they? Oh, wait. Of course they did!

I haven’t done a Booking Through Thursday meme in a while, so here goes:

Book Gluttony! Are your eyes bigger than your book belly? Do you have a habit of buying up books far quicker than you could possibly read them? Have you had to curb your book buying habits until you can catch up with yourself? Or are you a controlled buyer, only purchasing books when you have run out of things to read?

I definitely suffer from book gluttony! I always buy lots of books or ebooks at one time, and borrow three or four audiobooks from the library during a single trip. My “To Read” queue never has fewer than 10 titles on it.

On one hand, I like knowing that all these potentially wonderful books are waiting for me. On the other, I have a tendency to suffer from “grass is always greener” syndrome and wonder if the next book on my list is any better than the bore I’m reading!

Oh, well, I don’t think I could do this any other way. I enjoy the comfort of knowing that I always have something to read next!

Oh, and the fact that I now read mostly e-books probably has a lot to do with not marking stuff up!

How about you? Do you identify your books in any way?

Personally, I’d say about 90 percent of my reading is done in bed. This is how I put myself to sleep every night, and how I unwind before taking my afternoon nap. I have one of those big bed wedges that prop me up to a good reading level, so I’m quite cozy and comfortable as I settle in with my Kindle and Mighty Bright book light.

I also have a nice leather recliner that I read in, but as that’s in the living room, it’s usually too noisy from television and video games to read in there when others are home.

So, how do you read?