Our Local Library

One way that Tokyo is different from Taiwan is the plentiful English language reading material. Initially, I bought books from Amazon or the occasional bookstore here and there, but then 4-5 months ago a Book Off opened down the street. They are a Japanese used book chain, but since our neighborhood is full of foreigners, it wasn't long before they had a sizeable English language section. Not as big as the English only bookstores, but generally newer books, more turnover, and much cheaper. Especially, for some reason, the English books, which I think the staff is not quite sure what to do with. Also, we soon discovered that one weekend a month the English books are half-off, (although the signs that advertise this are all in Japanese), which means that a lot of the paperbacks and kids books are only a dollar. So, for the first time, I started buying books as a consumption item. Anything you want to do in Tokyo costs. With transportation, food, admission fees, you're lucky if you can leave the house as a family for less than $30-$50. Movies cost $2o per person, or so I hear. Even hiking or going to the beach, usually considered free, will put you out $30 just getting there and back. So books seem like a great deal in comparison. Even if you are only going to read them once and then sell them back. It sort of feels like a pay library. Once I got a whole stack of kids books, so Miriam would have something to practice with. Although I have been the one who gets most of the practice. This is also how we have kept up with books to read Miriam at night. After all, we finish something every week or so, and so I have probably already read her 15-20 books. Anyway, so I went yesterday and here is my haul. The first four Harry Potter books, The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman, and By the Shores of Silver Lake by Laura Ingalls Wilder. I also go Tipping Point and Blink by Malcolm Gladwell, who writes for the New Yorker, which look interesting. All for $14. Last time I got Flow by Mihaly Czisentmihalyi, which I am now reading and enjoying. Other previous finds include Hiking and Hot Springs in the Pacific Northwest, Surfing Indonesia, and Fundamentals of Kayak Navigation for future adventures.