Tales of a Travelling Doctor - Book Paradise

Having found the post office here in Claremont, New Hampshire, I spied a bookstore. A writer and a book addict, I had to investigate. I walked into book paradise. When I get word of another bookstore crumbling to the economy, seeing Violet's Book Exchange right before my eyes restored my belief that print can coexist with e-books, at least in this small town. Not so many e-readers here.

Marveling at the quaint exterior, I ventured inside. Shelves of books everywhere brimming with paperbacks and hardcovers. Although Violet's is indeed more of a book exchange, custromers such as I benefit from the wide selection of gently pre-owned books.

Browsing the books, I appreciated the historic building(circa 1800's I was told), with its sculpted ceilings, antique light fixtures, and stained glass windows.

I weaved through every genre, of course stopping at Romance and Mystery. So much to see. So much to touch. I wanted to grab everything.

My arms full of books, I descended the stairs to, yes you got it, another level! More books. Hardbacks. Buy one, get the second free special! Which ones? Which ones? I walked here. I 'd have to carry these back to the Common Man Inn. I made my decision(s). Of course I kept changing my mind. I plunked my treasures onto the register counter. I purchased a hardback collection of three Mary Higgins Clark novels (I'll Be Seeing You, Remember Me, and Let Me Call You Sweetheart), Tess Gerritsen's The Sinner,  Bones - A Forensic Detective Casebook by Dr. Douglas Ubelaker and Henry Scammell, What the Corpse Revealed by Hugh Miller, and  Kate White's "Til Death Do Us Part. Yeah baby! I'm feeling literary good now! I walk with a bounce in my stride back to the inn where I must touch the books again, flip through the pages, smell the print.

I thought I was pretty well done quelling my addiction until breakfast at the Common Man Restaurant where I perused through the local newspaper. Book sale. Where? Where? I dart my eyes around the page. Ah! Book sale today at Holy Trinity Orthodox Church in Springfield, VT (a twenty minute drive). I'd make Christ happy. The Church makes a proceed and I'd  walk away with , you guessed it, more books. Plus I get to visit another Orthodox Church. Good deal! Off I went.

I pull behind a string of cars on the roadside and follow the signs pointing to my next paradise. Oh. my! Tables upon tables of books. Hardbacks. Paperbacks. Mystery. Romance. Self-help. Cookbooks. You name it. Thank you, Jesus!

I shopped around and was introduced to the priest, Father Peter Carmichel, who gave me a lovely tour of the church and its history (more on that in another post). Interestingly we knew the same people as my late father, Rt. Reverend Boris Pavel (Paul) Vlasenko, a Russian Orthodox priest, and he graduated from the same seminary (albeit different decades). Wow! Kismet and Books. How lucky was I today!

Book wise 5 bucks bought me a parish cookbook, Essential French Cookery, three Linda Howard books (Kiss Me While I Sleep, Killing Time, and Dying to Please), Mary Higgins Clark's Jinxed, Always Time to Die by Elizabeth Lowell, Cold Heat by Linda Fairstein, and The Bride and The Beast by Teresa Medeiros. Five dollars didn't seem right! Not for all these. I gave them extra cash. Win. Win.

Now I must transport these books, read them, and place them on my bookshelf, until donating them so that another book addict such as I can score!