I LOVE BOOKS: the words, the paper, the typeface, the cover art, the sound of the turning page. I even enjoy the slightly musty smell of a well-worn tome. Besides the enduring love of my spouse, William, little else in the world offers me more passion, exhilaration and escape than that of picking up a good book and engrossing myself in a new adventure.

A quick glance around my home office would testify to this. While I tend to be more of a minimalist when it comes to personal belongings, I already have hundreds of books, mostly hardcovers, in my personal collection and there are many, many, many more to be added, along with the occasional and necessary new bookshelf. I simply can’t resist buying a beautiful edition of a favorite classic or a newly discovered author.

Many of the books in my collection I have purchased second hand.  While paperbacks abound at stores that sell new books, it can be difficult finding a new hardbound copy of works published more than a few years before. Besides, knowing that the book in my hand has previously sat on someone else’s shelf and been held in someone else’s hands while soaking up the literary juice holds a special feeling of camaraderie for me while I am absorbed in the very pages that have enamored those before me.

It is nearly impossible for me to pass by a used bookstore without going in and leaving without a new purchase in hand is almost unheard of. Strolling the aisles is not unlike a treasure hunt for me. The anticipation can be exciting and I can grow anxious while searching the stacks, hoping that I will come across that beautiful leather bound edition of The Great Gatsby, or a well travelled, charmingly beat up copy of On The Road. Often a visit to these shops leads to a conversation with a well-read bookseller and I have discovered new favorite writers from these informal literary discussions over the years. Roger from one of my favorite haunts, The Great Overland Book Company in San Francisco, turned me on to Roberto Bolaño a few years ago and I have since collected and read many of his works.

I usually exhaust all the possibilities of my favorite local shops when looking for a specific book. However, when I just am totally unable to find that certain sought after book, I turn to the plethora of used booksellers online.  Websites, such as Abebooks.com and Alibris.com, as well as the Marketplace at Amazon.com allow thousands of used booksellers to sell their wares without having to invest in costly and time-consuming websites of their own. Another great resource that I use is Powells.com, the online site of Powell’s City of Books in Portland Oregon. I visited Powell’s, the largest used and new bookstore in the world, for the first time seven years ago and was totally overwhelmed by the shear volume of books. It is virtually indescribable. It’s the Disneyland of booklovers.

And I don’t rule out Flea markets, thrift stores or garage sales when on the hunt. I’ve been quite surprised at what I have found with a little patience at these unlikely literary stops.

An added bonus of buying used books, especially during these challenging economic times, is simply that the price is right. I have found many gorgeous books that were under five dollars each, which is an astonishing value when I consider the payback of the knowledge and the art. The words become a part of the very fabric of my being. I am currently halfway through my 600-page edition of East of Eden by John Steinbeck and I feel myself grow as a person with each chapter.

As I sit here, surrounded by the many books that I have read, along with many more still to be experienced, I am comforted by the stories, the characters, the lessons learned and to be learned. And I rest in the fact that I am among greatness.