What a Bargain!

Mrs. Paco and I drove to Richmond today for the Richmond Public Library’s semiannual book sale. I was disappointed to find out that they didn’t have a special collection room this time around (which is where they sell the more expensive stuff), but among the dollar and two-dollar volumes I found a few interesting things, including one of Forester’s Hornblower novels I hadn’t read (The Captain from Connecticut), and To the Last Man, Zane Grey’s novel about the Pleasant Valley War in Arizona, one of the most bloody feuds of the Old West. I also picked up Castiglione’s The Book of the Courtier, which I was thinking of sending to the White House so Obama will know when to bow, when to salaam, whose ring to kiss, etc. Toss in James Fenimore Cooper’s Wing-and –Wing, a novel set in the time of fighting sail, and Jeffery Farnol’s Martin Conisby’s Vengeance - all for under ten dollars – and I’d say it was a worthwhile trip.

The only real drawback was that I had been planning on making this trip for the last few weeks, and had been dreaming of stopping in at either Five Guys Burgers and Fries, or Dave’s Barbeque. Mrs. Paco helpfully reminded me that today is a Lenten Friday, so I had to make do with a peanut-butter sandwich. Which was good, of course, but…I dunno. I can almost smell that big, greasy bag of homemade fries from Five Guys, and the entrancing aroma of the “small” (i.e., only two patties) hamburger.