a magic trick

 Today, I changed 9 books I no longer wanted into a set of books I did.

I went down to Sundrop books, the new bookstore in town. They sell some new books and also used books, and like many used-book stores, they have the "we will take books for store credit" program. (In fact, they may ONLY do store credit, I don't know). But I gathered up some of the good-quality, good condition books I no longer wanted and went down there - expecting to come home with a few of them (some bookstores are picky). They wanted them all, I got a bit more than $38 in store credit - which I turned around and spent on a new set of the Lord of the Rings trilogy. No, I had never read it all the way through; some years back I had mass-market paperbacks of it and stalled out midway through The Two Towers, but I want to try again - and found I'd given my copies away (I possibly gave them to my brother). I had seen these in there before when I was in and thought "well, maybe it is time to try again"

So essentially: free books. Or at least, a fair trade - I get rid of books I was done with that took up a lot of shelf space and got something more compact that I want to read.

Earlier when I was in there, I bought (for cash) this:

 

I didn't have a good Holmes omnibus, and in fact, I hadn't read most of the short novels (just some of the short stories, and maybe? The Sign of Four?). This was another new book - it's a republishing but it's a nice quality edition, what I call a "permanent" book, in the sense that it's one you want to keep and that will last. Because I can see re-reading Holmes even though I don't often re-read. 

I'm reading A Study in Scarlet right now and it's interesting - though I can see how one particular American religious group was not happy with their portrayal in there and I admit I cringed a bit (having known a few folks who belong to that group). But different times, different attitudes, I guess. 

I've also been working on the "more dishcloths" I said I needed, using the fall/halloween colors, but they take longer than I remember. (This is just the first of two? Or maybe three, if I decide to use the scraps up after I've done one from each color).

It's the so-called "Grandma's favorite" pattern - a simple bias-knit garter stitch cloth, but the thing is, for their simplicity of design, they work well, and they're quick enough that you don't feel bad using them and eventually wearing them out.