A Novel Idea

Sunday, August 31, 2008

You would think a girl would find little to love about an apartment that lacks a kitchen but costs nearly a grand a month. So what keeps me here? My ‘hood. I simply adore Cleveland Park, & one of my favorite aspects of living in it is the local D.C. branch library that’s about 10 steps from my place.

In all fairness, this is a pretty crummy library for anyone over the age of 7. It has, like, 20 adult books, & its non-kid-oriented movie selection is seriously lacking (unless you’re really into self-help DVDs). The best part of the library, though, is that it sells near-new novels for a mere 50 cents apiece. When you purchase one, you deposit your cash into a small black lockbox nailed to a wall beam – how’s that for trust in a city notorious for its lies? Anyway, I scored four titles this afternoon for a mere $2.



(That's "She's Come Undone" by Wally Lamb, "Little Earthquakes" by Jenifer Weiner, "Lake Wobegon Summer 1956" by Garrison Keillor and "The Color of Water" by James McBride. Last week, I bought "Candy Girl" by Juno writer Diablo Cody.)

I also snagged three VERY recent mags – a July Cosmo, an August Glamour & a September Lucky – out of the library’s “Free Magazine Bin," where patrons deposit their old publications for other patrons to browse & take for themselves. Last week, I snapped up a 1988 Parisian Vogue Enfants filled with weird, colorful glossies of Aryan kids in "Sound of Music"-esque Dutch/Austrian regalia, a few of which I tore out to frame & hang. Free wall art? Hipster holler.

4 comments:

  1. I was AT Lake Wobegon 5 days ago!! Enjoy it.

    ReplyDelete
  2. hooray for the library in CP, everyone should love a library!

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  3. A friend just e-mailed today about how glorious Candy Girl was. Let me know what you think.

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