Indiana Annie and the Used Bookstore

I step into the used bookstore and I feel like Indiana Jones in some sort of exotic temple with foreign languages on the walls and strange tales waiting to be read. Of course, I'm actually at Book Sellers, in Charlotte, North Carolina, and the books are all arranged according to subject: science fiction, history, poetry, mystery...the list goes on.


The store has an interesting selection of book translations in other languages, including Korean, Chinese, Japanese, German, Spanish, Czech and Portuguese. I found German translations of the "Star Wars" saga and "King Kong", as well as a Portuguese translation of "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's (Sorcerer's, US) Stone." You can find the most unexpected treasures there. Once I picked up "Winnie Ille Puh" in Latin.


The Writing section is farther down the same aisle. There are plenty of how-to books, others full of publication advice (some several years out of date, unfortunately) and blank journal books. Some are spiral bound, others are hard-bound, with colorful covers and all sorts of designs. I've found unique journal books there and have built up my stock of blank books to jot down all sorts of ideas.


In the back are several shelves of the one dollar bargain books. Old college textbooks, humor collections, classic stories and recent novels, exercise and fitness, cross-stitch patterns, and non-fiction galore. It's a undiscovered treasure chest. I've found books dating back to the 1920s (like a copy of E.M. Forster's "Captain Hornblower" and "Cartellas del Armas" from 1944), but you have to to really dig to find them. Once you find them, it's worth the one dollar you pay for each.


I'll keep coming back a few times a month to see what's "new" on the shelves. It's like a siren call that I can't resist, one that leads me to treasure. 



All original writing and art copyright A. Dameron 2000-2010