To make popping into op shops and the like a little more exciting, I like to set a couple of concurrently running challenges for myself. No rush, no sweat, just a goal that allows random fate to reward one with a little, but cheap, hurrah! every now and then. At the moment, one of my self-imposed contests is to collect hardback versions of The Masters of Rome series by Colleen McCullough. I found The First Man in Rome ($10) at Clunes Booktown last year, and The Grass Crown (down from $8 to $3 - what a bargain) at the R.S.P.C.A. shop in Bendigo. An op shop I often pop into whilst walking of a morning from the train station to the the Arvo Job when I have early starts has yielded two volumes - Anthony and Cleopatra ($5) and...
... today, The October Horse ($5). I'm especially pleased about this hefty acquisition because there was a softback copy in the same shop about five months ago, which I almost buckled and bought. But no! Rule number two is that they must all be hardbacks! So I waited. And so I triumphed. Caesar himself would have been proud of my will power and patience. Ah, the little things. Enjoy them.
No comments:
Post a Comment