Wow, I have been updating my website to reflect all that I sold this weekend, and it looks like nothing is left. Don’t despair! I have many books to add, but I need to mark all that sold first. I will work to keep updating with new stuff, plus I will be acquiring more books this week. So don’t go away…

I just finished two days as an exhibitor at a homeschooling conference in Modesto. I have attended lots of these conventions as a mom looking for curriculum and listening to the experts giving good advice about how to teach my children, but this was my first time selling things to people.

I went with my son Pieter and my friend Jennifer and her daughter. We took our big van with most of the seats removed and the back loaded with boxes of HEAVY books. I wasn’t sure how a used book business would be received at a homeschooling conference, but my worries were unfounded. My little booth was very popular, despite being off in a corner with someone selling a computer curriculm for preschoolers (I used to like the song “If You’re Happy and You Know It”) and a video art curriculum vendor. I was blessed by a sweet family across the way selling Rod and Staff curriculum, whose children kept coming over to browse my books and visit.

It was fun to be able to encourage so many homeschooling moms (and a few dads) by recommending good books for them to buy for their children. I was rewarded by many people exclaiming about what good books I had. And my boxes were much lighter when we packed them back into the van to go home.

Tomorrow night I will be marking the books on my website which sold at the conference. I still have a lot of good things left, and this week I will be putting more for sale on this site. I will also be shopping again to build up my inventory.

Now I’m glad to be back home with my dear family who did a wonderful job holding down the fort. Today was truly a day of rest for me as I recuperated from two solid days of being switched “on”, but tomorrow will be a fresh start at Buried Treasure Books!

That’s Shannon Reeves, not Christopher.

Check out the link at the left under what I’m buying. It will tell you about one of the rising stars in the California Republican Party. My husband and I, along with our three oldest sons, had the privilege of hearing him speak last night in our little hamlet of Georgetown.

The fact that he came to this out-of-the-way place at all (he did get lost navigating his way to our dinner…he blamed it on being a city boy) is amazing. He is one of the most sought-after speakers in the country right now. His fiery rhetoric was very inspiring. I’m so glad my sons were able to hear him.

This young man has gone against the flow for a long time. He grew up in the inner city of Oakland where he still lives. He listened to his mother and grandmother and aunt who always told him he could do whatever he wanted with his life, even though many others tried to discourage him from reaching high. Those women also instilled a fervent faith in Jesus Christ in him, which has kept him on a steady course and given him the courage he needed to face many obstacles, including death threats for his conservative beliefs. It’s pretty tough being black and conservative and the president of the Oakland NAACP. But his message of “No Excuses” helped his organization grow from 900 members to 4000 members in a short time. People are hungry for his message of hope.

Shannon reminded me of Teddy Roosevelt, both in his speech and in his demeanor (although he’s a little darker). As Sandy Hopkins, the tireless leader of the Georgetown Republican Women’s Club, said after Shannon finished his speech, “I’ve been whining for too much of my life!” Pray for Shannon who has a wonderful vision for our state and our country, and get off your keester and roll up your sleeves and get to work!

Ok, I admit it. I have an addiction. I can’t help myself, I have to buy books. I just can’t relate to people who say they have enough books, or they don’t want to buy any more books until they read the ones they have. That’s what makes this business so perfect: I can keep looking for those treasures, rejoicing when I find pearls for you as well as for myself.

This passage from The Haunted Bookshop by Christopher Morley made me chuckle as it sounded so familiar:

“He entered eagerly, and looked about. The [book]shop was comfortably busy, with a number of people browsing. They seemed normal enough from behind, but in their eyes he detected the wild, peering glitter of the bibliomaniac…”

When Steve and I went on our anniversary trip, we stopped at a little used bookstore in Seaside, Oregon, and the proprietress was reading this book, which happens to be one of my favorites, as well as its prequel, Parnassus on Wheels.

Tonight I ordered a couple of things from Amazon.com: A Pimsleur German language course on CD and A Mom Just Like You by Vickie and Jayme Farris. When I was placing my order, I checked DVDTalk.com, clicked on “Coupons” and found several codes for getting discounts on my order. I was able to save $15! They have coupons for many other online stores, also.

In conclusion, let me share a poem about books which is in My American Heritage, a book which I have just listed for sale on my Poetry page:

Here’s an adventure! What awaits
Beyond these closed, mysterious gates?
Whom shall I meet, where shall I go?
Beyond the lovely land I know?
Above the sky, across the sea?
What shall I learn and feel and be?
Open, strange doors, to good or ill!
I hold my breath a moment still
Before the magic of your look.
What shall you do to me, O Book?
–Anonymous

I have added some good stuff to the book bargains page. Take a peek using the menu at the top of the page, clicking on “Book Bargains”. I have started to dig for treasure at the AllBooks4Less website, and I have already found some wonderful things. Make sure to use the link on the bargains page or on my list of links on this page. If you have any questions about a book I have recommended, send me an email.