Perusing

 Lately, I’ve been gravitating to the kind of books I leaf through, consuming them differently than I read fiction or nonfiction. It started with a wonderful Kate Spade book that I treated myself to, one that I savored, reading only a few pages at a time so I could make it last. 

Shortly after I finished with that reading journey, I went to the library to return other books and look for a new novel, but nothing was really hitting the sweet spot. Not wanting to leave empty-handed (despite the fact that I have healthy to-be-read piles of the traditional, electronic, and magazine variety at home),  I wandered into the nonfiction section. I ended up choosing a home decor/design/improvement book and a book called My Bookstore, in which authors share their favorite book haunts. 

I was so enthralled by the introduction and first few stories in the book on bookstores that I bought the book. 

This isn’t my first book about bookstores. (In fact I needed to look on my shelves to make sure I didn’t already own the one I just bought). Last summer, I devoured Danny Caine's How to Protect Bookstores and Why. Prior to that, I'd purchased A Booklover's Guide to New York from the New York Public Library Shop, a volume I'm still savoring.

When I retire, I want to put together a bookstore tour, visiting some of these bookstores that I keep reading about. While I'm sure my daughter would agree to be a travel companion for that trip, I think my husband would prefer some different itineraries. 

That’s reasonable. No reason we can't do both.

But someday, I look forward to wandering into the places described in these books, whether as an author (doing an event) or a reader. My visits to those with cats will be brief (I'm allergic) and sadly, I'll be unlikely to make purchases there, but anyone who'd be interested in a tour like this knows that means only one thing.

More money to spend at the next stop.