Books, a tradition.
The paper advantage holds across ages and has grown over time. Long live physical books."
~ Adam Grant
For as long as I can remember, I've made a tradition of going to a bookstore while out holiday shopping. When I first moved to the Seattle area, I'd go to the Borders bookstore in Southcenter. At some point, I found Half Price Books. The tradition has lived there pretty much ever since, probably twenty years or so. I know this because one year while there I picked up a CD from a band I had never of before: Interpol's Turn On The Bright Lights. Over the years, it's held the coveted #4 or #5 Top Album Of All Time According To Me. I remember asking the guy behind the counter at Half Price if he had heard of them. He responded, "No, but I don't trust them." When I asked him why, his reason was matter of fact: "Because they all wear ties." Apparently, that's part of their signature look. Besides that albums ranking in my list of top albums, I've seen them perform twice at the Paramount Theater in Seattle.
But that's a CD. I also sometimes pick up music at Half Price when on my once a year trip. Last year, K and I snagged Enya's seminal album, Watermark, on vinyl.
So yeah, over the years I've gotten lots of books. Sometimes it's a single book. Other times it's several. I'm not ashamed to buy books. Especially used books. I always visit a handful of sections on every visit: photography, outdoor and adventure writing, music, and architecture. For the past bunch of years, also the children's section. For K and I now in Wenatchee, we plan our annual trip back to Tacoma to also hit up HBP and a few other stores we shop at exactly once a year, including Cost Plus World Market and See's Candies. Since they're all within a mile or so radius in Tacoma, we also tend to visit REI and BevMo. Winter beers are hard to find for some reason here in Wenatchee. Bother all.
This year's finds were a little eclectic. Proper, for my book collection. In no particular order, I found and bought all for under ten bucks.
- Short Nights of the Shadow Catcher: I've only ever heard of the photographer Edward Curtis. If you've seen a portrait of Chief Seattle, it's Curtis' photograph. He spent decades doing maybe the unthinkable: photographing the vanishing first peoples of the American west. A monumental task and unbelievable legacy. I'm stoked to read more about that and his life.
- Why People Photograph: the title says it all for this one. I'm curious to read Adams' essays that may put into words the one thing I cannot not do, which of course is to photograph.
- Light Science & Magic: okay, this book is sort of a textbook that deals with the science of lighting as it pertains to photography. Granted, now on its sixth edition, this $8 third edition is maybe a little dated. Also, the science behind lighting doesn't change. Even in my quickly flipping through, I already know this is going to be a fascinating read.
- The Darkest White: I bought this for one reason, the author. Eric Blehm wrote one of my favorites accounts of the Sierra Nevada, The Last Season. I've quoted the quotes he pulled from Randy Morgensen's phenomenouly poetic journals too often to count. True story about The Last Season: I picked it up on a once-also-annual trip to the local bookstore in Bishop, California when J and I stayed there on our annual trips into the Sierras backcountry.
