Wednesday, June 10, 2020

Breaking up the monotony

After 13 straight card posts, I find myself in need of a palate cleanser, and since I haven't been buying much, or going to any exotic places, it'll have to come in the form of a quick (and I do mean quick!) recap from last weeks trip to the book store (Book Cellar).


I haven't spent much time talking about it here on the blog, but stamps might be #1 on my list of things that I enjoy collecting the most (bottles and toys would be high on that list as well). In fact, taking up stamp collecting is what led me back to card collecting, which of course then ultimately led this blogs creation. Unfortunately though, the collection has fallen by the wayside over the last couple of years, but I am hoping to revive it soon, as I need something else other than cards right now. My only real issue with stamp collecting is with other collectors, not that they're unfriendly or anything, it's just that a lot of them tend to be highly educated and/or well traveled, and I find myself becoming very self-conscious over my lack of either of those things when discussing pretty much anything with one of them. I realize that this is just a "me" thing, but have never been able to shake it, and honestly, I don't think that I ever will.

As for the book itself, it's one that I've been wanting to read for years, but just wasn't willing to pay the $10 (or more) online price for (after being burned by a couple of "expensive" books, I developed a strict policy of never paying more than $5 for a book). Never in a million years would I've thought that I'd find a copy at this particular store, but I did, and even though the dust jacket has seen better days, I wasn't about to pass up the chance to finally read it, especially when it was only a buck. I'm a little over halfway through it as of this typing, and am happy to report that it hasn't disappointed, one could even say that it's exceeded expectations.

There's no synopsis on the back of this one, but the cover pretty much tells you what you need to know. I may know it, but not off of the top of my head, and I'm not going to Google it just so I can sound like I know what I'm talking about in the post, so for the moment I either don't know, or can't recall, what was so special about the 1941 baseball season, but will obviously be finding out at some point. I don't read a lot of books on sports, but this one was kind of hard to pass up for fifty cents.



Golden age Hollywood is my jam, and I will rarely turn down the opportunity to learn new things about that particular time and place. I have read a lot of books on the subject, and watched a number of documentaries, so it can be a little hard sometimes to find stories that I haven't heard, but as chunky as this book is, I can't imagine that there won't be at least a few tidbits that are new-to-me within it's pages.

That covers (no pun intended) the book portion of my purchases, but I did grab one other thing while there...


It's pretty much impossible for me to go here, and not bring home a few videos! Although this time it was just one, but it is something that I had never even heard of, so no complaints about that.

As an aside, this was the second time that I've been to the bookstore since it reopened, and have been glad to see how well it's been doing. Considering that it's located in a relatively small town, and is the only bookstore in a 35-mile radius, I was a little worried about their status after having to be closed for two months, but from what I've seen, they don't seem to be any worse for wear. There's been plenty of people buying, and trading stuff in, both times that I've been there, the shelves have been loaded, and the inventory has been turning over, so it's really nice to know that they've weathered the storm -- especially given how often we as a society have been, and still are being, subjected to constant "news" stories about struggling businesses as of late.


Thanks for taking a moment to look at my page.

18 comments:

  1. You might remember I posted a stamp album on my blog a while back. I'd be happy to trade 99.9% of the stamps to you for some cards when I am back to doing post office trips.

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    1. I don't think that I've missed too many of your posts, but I don't recall that one... I'll have to go back and look for it.

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    2. https://borosny.blogspot.com/2020/04/card-and-vintage-things-stamps.html

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  2. Whenever you read that baseball book, I'd be interested in a review. Between his brother's hit streak and his teammate's .400 season, Dom must have had quite a perspective on the season!

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    1. You really don't want me to do a book review... that's like asking an orangutan to play Chopin!

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  3. Stamps have always interested me, but never enough to start any sort of collection. Some nice finds on the book front!

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    1. I've seen a lot of people say that over the years, and I always find it to be very understandable.

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  4. I've been a stamp collector since my dad bought me an album almost 40 years ago. But over the years its been a very on/off thing. Sometimes I'll go for 6 or 7 year stretches without looking at a stamp, then something will suddenly pique my interest in stamps and I'll start intensively collecting them for a few months, then that enthusiasm will run its course, I'll put the albums aside and not look at them for a few more years and the cycle will start again!

    That looks like a cool book, glad that you are enjoying it!

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    1. I guess my collecting is now sort of like that too, although I'd like to change that, as stamps used to bring me much joy -- plus that, collecting stamps doesn't feel nearly as hectic as sports cards do, and I kind of need something less chaotic right now.

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  5. I was totally interested in collecting stamps as a kid. I even bought one of those start up kits at my elementary school's book fair. Not sure why I didn't ever pursue it. Maybe baseball cards just took over. Anyways... it's cool to see what other bloggers collect. I'll see stamps at flea markets every now and then, but have no idea what they're worth.

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    1. I suspect that most of what you see isn't worth much monetarily speaking, as just like with sports cards, there are an awful lot of common "junk" stamps floating around, but of course that doesn't mean that one can't enjoy collecting them though... you just won't be able to retire early on them :)

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  6. I love the variety here. Never could get into stamps but every single one of these books looks intriguing to read. Same likes it seems.

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    1. When it comes to books, variety is always a good thing!

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  7. Golden Age Hollywood is my favorite era as well. I have a dvr full of TCM movies. Cary Grant is probably one of my all-time fave actors. Hope you enjoy your new treasures. Small town bookstores are often full of them.

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    1. Back when I had cable/satellite, I too would often have a dvr full of TCM movies, and before dvr was a thing, blank tapes. I am a big fan of Cary Grant as well, and have a number of his films on video and DVD.

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  8. Didn't know stamps were your first thing, I always thought it was cards. It's fun to find out these little facts about far away friends

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    1. I mentioned a long time ago that this blog was originally going to be a stamp blog, but ultimately wasn't comfortable enough with my intelligence level to go ahead with it (stamp blogs/websites are almost always run by very smart people).

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