So, a couple weeks ago, I get an ad for "the Folio Society", publishers and purveyors of fine books. The introductory deal looked pretty sweet (four volumes of various fairy tales, one with reprints of Rackham illustrations, one with illustrations by another famous illustrator) and a two-volume set of Graves' Greek Myths. And you "only" have to buy four Folio books ("At reasonable prices!") to join.

Um. Yeah. So I got sucked in. My books came yesterday (a short rant: I hate UPS. They leave packages on my back porch in any weather. If I had been 20 minutes later getting home, the rain would have soaked through the box and got my books wet).

Just a word of warning: it's true, Folio Press books are beautiful. And they are reasonably priced, considering the quality. But. They are not cheap. The least expensive ones in the catalog are $29.95 or so. And of course, they're not the ones I want.

And the real kicker: the four books you buy to fulfill your membership apparently have to be bought *all at once* or you get charged like $200 for the introductory set. Of course they did not make that clear in the come-on ad.

Yes, I know, I could send the whole mess back and say "I'm sorry, I'm not satisfied." But. There are a couple books I reaaaalllly want. A good hardcover edition of "The Hobbit" (I never made it through Lord of the Rings, which is darker and deeper, but I love The Hobbit). A good hardcover edition of "The Wind in the Willows" (a loved book from childhood; all I have is a cheapo paperback of it with no illustrations). I'm also ordering a copy of their translation of the Dead Sea Scrolls as a Christmas present for my brother, who is studying to be a minister.

I'm having a hard time finding a fourth book to order. I think I'm going to go with one that's something like "Stories from the Great Raconteurs" in their Humor section. It's cheap, at least.

what I really want is T.H. Lawrence's "The Seven Pillars of Wisdom", but it's almost $75. For one book. As it is, I'm pushing $200 (with the shipping and the $14.95 "introductory price" on the fairytale books).

I can afford it - it can be my big splurge for the fall - but I'm really not happy about the "you have to buy all four at once" dictum. Because if they DIDN'T do that, I'd probably actually wind up ordering four more-expensive books for my library over a longer period of time.

At least, once I'm over this hump, I'm in, and I can order only one book at a time, and only when I feel like it.

And I do want to keep the fairytale books, darn it. I read a couple of the stories last night - it has been a long long time since I read or heard "The Red Shoes" or "The Ugly Duckling". And the books are gorgeous. It makes me happy just to hold them and look at the pictures.

I'm trying to make the little voice shut up that says "but you can sometimes find used Folio Press books for, like, $15". Yes, but these are nice and bright and NEW and I am the first one ever to read this particular book.

My mother commented that my grandfather (my dad's dad) would go around in an old beat up hat and an old winter coat, and let holes wear in his shoes, but spend his money on books instead. Even though I never really knew him (he was sick much of the time when I was little and he died when I was 8), I guess I am very much his granddaughter.

He was a member of Heritage Press and got their books (Heritage press is like a slightly more affordable and less ritzy version of the Folio Society; I have a number of books published by them that I bought used).