Journal

And now I know the secret history of British plants.

A day after receiving my Everyman’s edition of To The Lighthouse in the mail, I open my mailbox to see a big package wrapped in cardboard. Excitedly, I fish it out of the little metal space and hop my way back home, careful not to let the rain get on the package. I had dinner first, so I tried my best to contain my excitement. When the clock struck nine, I got my fat fingers on the package and pulled and tugged and huffed and puffed until the cardboard came off.

Initially, I thought there would be two books inside, because it was just so big. But no, there was only one and it was Hatfield’s Herbal in a nice hardbound edition. Because I’d seen the more recent paperback before, I didn’t think that the hardback would be this big, but that’s certainly fine with me.

It’s a really nice looking book and I haven’t felt so happy about the simple fact of getting a really pretty book since… Heck, I really don’t remember. It’s probably a sad reflection on how I’ve not got a purely pretty book in a long, long time. Oh well, this more than makes up for it.

It smells wonderful. The pages are lovely to touch. And all this for just fifteen dollars. Thank you, Book Depository; thank you, Penguin; and thank you, Ms. Hatfield.

On a slightly different note, still five books to come, though I kind of doubt any of them will be as pretty. They are all standard paperbacks that is the norm for giamsiap students such as yours truly. Besides, paperback editions really help save on the shelf space, or so I would want to believe.

I think I’ll have to build a couple of platforms into my shelves so that I can put a few more books in. I’m not sure how that’s going to work. The new one will be coming in a week or two, but if nothing else, it serves as a very decent reminder that I don’t have as much space as I would like to have…

Meanwhile, I’m going to add my new book to my growing waiting list…

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