Goodnight, Sweet Prince

Thursday 11 February 2010: Hastings in McAllen, Texas will be officially closed. This marks a bitter blow to the book readers of the McAllen/Edinburg area as we are forced to march the lines to Barnes & Noble. This isn't a big deal, though. Barnes & Noble is still a respectable store (even though the one on 10th St. has an incredible douche working for them), and still a haven for a book hunter like myself. But it lacks one thing: used books. 

Hastings was my small heaven for this reason. I strive for a cheap copy of a first edition, salivate for the five dollar copy of a beloved collection of poems. I walked through the doors one last time, today. Most of it was blocked off, boxed away and ready for the shipment to the great beyond. Frothing book hunters, music diggers and movie aficionados were running rampant looking for a deal. Along with the books (photo above) I bought Crime & Punishment in Suburbia.

Other than Barnes & Noble, book hunters of the area still have Books -n- Things and Georgia's Thrift Shop, but in the end, it's never the same.  Not to mention the various Friends of the Library book sales.

Still, there will be a void in our hearts by the end of the week. And no matter  how many books we collect, it will never be filled.

Until next time, happy huntin'.

Last Run

It was a sad day last week when I learned the McAllen, Texas location of Hastings bookstore was going to close down. Everything must go.

Last night, I had the urge to drag both Jyg and Izzy to the store and dig. However, I didn't want them to see me at my worse. This morning, however, I woke up and dragged Mother with me because I knew she'd find some deals, as well. It was the last time - well, more than likely - that I would ever go book hunting in Hastings again.

I spent $40.83. Most of the good stuff was already gone. The store officially closes on 11 February. 

***A short history of my relationship with Hastings***

Hastings and I didn't get along at first. Most of the people who hung out there were annoying teenagers with poor tastes in books and in music. Live bands would play covers of shitty songs and even shittier originals. Whines. Whistles. Hastings and I weren't compatible. Not yet, anyway. 

Barnes & Noble (on N. 10th) acquired a new guy who strutted around as if he owned the place. The sofa chairs began to vanish. We were left to sit on the floors, camping mostly at the sex and relationship section, making those who ventured there rather uncomfortable. The new guy began his war against the aisle sitters. 

While lacking comfy seats, Hastings did think about its costumers. While more and more of the stupid teenagers started to migrate to Barnes, my group and I began to move our way towards Hastings. We still visited Barnes, but we preferred Hastings way more. 

Fast forward: Barnes yuppy guy finally tells us that we cannot sit amongst the aisles anymore - we always choose aisles no one ever goes to anyway. Tells us that we had to sit in the cafe area, but there aren't anymore seats there. Chairs in Barnes & Noble have become scarce. The place becomes more and more unwelcoming - only the N. 10th location, the Ware Rd. is still rather comfortable. Yuppy man will never leave. It's clear that Barnes & Noble 10th St. is dead to me. 

Sitting on a high chair at Hastings, I hatch to Jyg my plans to start a book hunting blog. This page is born later on in the day. 

In all seriousness, the store has become a part of what I do. Every pay check - or whenever I was feeling blue - I'd go over and buy a book. Be it used - which I preferred - new, or value - which I also prefer. It became a place to get away, to seek escape. It beckoned me. Whenever I got an itch, knowing if I just go out to the store, I'd find whatever it was that I craved unknowingly. 

Hastings has been my rock. It has been my hunting ground. It will always be remembered fondly. I'll write more on this tomorrow. Less corny. Less stupid. Less about me.

Until then, good-night, Sweet Prince.

This indeed a sad day

Sent on the Sprint® Now Network from my BlackBerry®

Hunting in Hastings

I'm a good hunter. I pride myself with this. I always get my book for a reasonable price - even if it isn't always the cheapest. For me, book hunting isn't always about knowing what I'm looking for, but finding why I was driven to the bookstore in the first place. Call it intuition, I wouldn't.

Last Saturday, of course, was no different. I had an itch that I couldn't just scratch. I went to Hastings looking for something, possibly the fourth book in the Vampire Chronicles because I think I'm getting deeper into Anne Rice than I previous expected.  However, this novel wasn't found.

Moving on, I went to the new in used books shelf and skimmed. Found the book What Nietzsche Really Said, but that too seemed a tad wrong for me. I left it behind in the philosophy section for safe keeping if I should change my mind within the week.

Social Sciences and History sections later, I wound up in the the biography section to find the book Her Last Death by Susanna Sonnenberg. My eye had been on this book for a while, but that too was placed back. A certain defeating sensation came over me. I'm never wrong about this sort of thing. Never had I've been called to and come home empty handed.

I returned to the new in used shelf and skimmed the spines. Nothing. Almost. Wait! Viola Canales?! While The Tequila Worm isn't on the top of my Most Wanted list, but it has been a thorn in my spine since I took my first creative writing course five years ago. It's not an expensive book, it's just one I would probably never pay full price for. I flip it over. Do my eyes deceive me?! $3.20 for the first print hardback? Whoa! Is that an autograph on the title page?! Every book hunter's wet dream. The inscription reads: For Gabriela With friendship, Viola Canales. Why thank you Gabby (also written within the book) for the awesome find! I only hope that you didn't sell this book back because you needed the money badly or that you are no longer with us (I have many a book that came from a deceased English professor from UTPA).

While it is often pimped as Young Adult (which it just might be), I'm glad I came across this book. It shows that my skills are still burning in me, even though I don't have the cash flow to purchase books often. It's another trophy to "mount" on my wall. Next up in the YA list is Rene Saldana, Jr. book, Case of the Pen Gone Missing.

Happy Huntings!

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I've fallen in love with Sony Reader

Forgive Me For I Have Sinned

 A few weeks ago, I hung out with Jerry and Esmer (the half of Jyg and my Friday nights). We weren't going anywhere in particular, but we did land ourselves at two different bookstores (Hastings and Barnes & Noble) and two different Best Buys, Targets and a Wendy's. It was at the first Target where I saw the Sony Reader and its less costly pocket edition.

For quite sometime, I've taken a stand against electronic book readers such as Amazon's Kindle and Barnes & Noble's Nook because I love holding the hard copy in my hand, being able to flip back to a previous page, make notes (on sticky notes) and basically tear the book apart (in the less literal sense). I was asked by a creative writing professor what I thought of the future of the printed word. My answer was plain: "Books are never going to go away."

To this day, I still see that the printed word is better than the animated one. Jaron Lanier, author of You Are Not A Gadget: A Manifesto, wrote a book about the effects that technology has on us. The irony of this, of course, that its avaible in Kindle edition and Nook edition. But there is something special about the Sony Reader that I loved. And it's hard to explain what, though. Is it all the public domain books I can read? The fact that I can store up to 350 books? I really don't know and will probably never understand. In the meanwhile, however, I'm going to stick to hard copies and shelves.