Dollar Book Therapy

Last night the thrift store failed me. Everything was overpriced and the only thing I wanted couldn't be sold to me because there was no price tag on it (a battered picture frame with no back not worth more than .50 cents) Ironically, a stroll through the Dollar Store next door offered better prices and products. What's the thrift world coming to?

Not too long ago our North Florida Dollar Stores stocked obnoxious unpalatable books of the Money-Grubbing-Televangelist variety (spew). It's still a shock to encounter these fun books for a mere $1.00 (retail value about $25.00 each). No book nerd can resist their colorful shining hard-cover veneers. They're like Book Candy.

I've actually been trying to sink my eager book-chomps into Japanese Women Don't Get Old or Fat for a while now. The sweeping generalization (just like the "French Women Don't Get Fat" bestseller) is too funny to resist. I might write the sequel,  "Why Fat-Ass American Women Get Old and Obese".

The recipes in  Japanese Women Don't Get Old or Fat alone make it worth the $1.00, but the philosophy on why Japanese Women don't get fat is simple and I've read about it outside the context of this book. Many Japanese observe the rule hara hachibunme (eat until you are 80% full). In short, "Don't Overeat!"

Another standout "thrifty" book in the list is Brini Maxwell's Guide to Gracious Living, the bright retro design inspires the photographer in me. I'm not familiar with Maxwell's show, but the first sentence of the inside cover sold me:

"Brini Maxwell was inspired by a thrift store purchase of '50s nesting bowls to create her cable access program, The Brini Maxwell Show, in 1998."

I shall thoroughly enjoy savoring each of these book-treats. Being $1.00 each makes them even tastier.


Last month I found two other lovely books at the Dollar Store behold their beauty.