What Comes Around -- Jennie

I lend out a lot of books. It brings me super satisfaction to hook up a reader with the perfect read.

The winning pairs have been an old family friend and The Future Housewives of America, my cousin and The Alchemist, my daughter and Mandy, my aunt and Patty Jane's House of Curl. There was also my son's teacher and Possessing the Secret of Joy. And my college roommate and Like Water for Chocolate.

For some reason, it's easier for me to match literature to females, but successful relationships have been formed between my brother and Godless, an acquaintance and Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption, and a doctor and Freakonomics.

On rare occasion, someone will give me a book that fits perfectly, like a pair of shoe orthotics that are between being nicely broken in and too worn thin. These have included Pobby and Dingan from my sister, Someday This Pain Will be Useful to You from Christy, and, though I hate admitting it, Four Blondes from my husband. Because I read a lot/teach English/write, I guess, well-meaning people are always loaning me literature they think I'll love.

But as you know by now, I'm a tough critic.

When someone asks to borrow one of my books, I am both eager to lend it and doubtful; I want to be sure it comes back. After writing my name prominently on the front cover, I stress that the book is one of my favorites, to please return it. I know: anal. I always remember who has my book, when I gave it to them, and whether or not it's returned.

You know where this blog is going.

Yep. Someone kept my beloved The Shadow of the Wind.

Here's how it happened: in June 2007, my kids were in swimming lessons at the park. I had just gotten back the Gothic novel from my friend, when a colleague noticed it laying on the lawn, and took interest in it. Said Colleague is a professor of literature, from Europe, with a fetish for all things foreign. I couldn't believe he hadn't heard of the book. It was such a fit! I handed it over with much enthusiasm.

And have waited a year and a half to get it back.

I've missed that $14 book. Since I gave it away, I could've lent it to other readers a hundred times over.

Once my dad told me that he let a co-worker borrow $7 from him, which to this day remains uncollected. So the origin of my memory, okay, resentment, is easy to trace.

I've hinted at needing the book back, even flat-out demanding. No luck. Though I'd like to, I can't imagine forgetting that Said Colleague has my book stashed away on some shelf, buried by dust. Excuse me while I grab a tissue.

Last month, a funny thing happened. I was Christmas shopping at a big gift store, when Said Colleague sauntered over, wearing the store name tag. He explained that he was moonlighting during the holidays, earning extra cash for some hefty wish lists. He'd be happy to give me his employee discount card, he said. I could save 30 %.

Of course I took him up on his offer. He had my cherished book hostage, remember?

With the employee discount, I pocketed a $14 savings.

Guess what I did with it.

What My Kids Are Reading (And What It's Costing Me) - Jennie

This weekend, Powell’s Books in Portland proved that reading is alive and well, not to mention the survival of the independent bookstore itself.

Of course, I had lofty expectations of scanning the various floors for Steinbeck steals, and maybe deals on Coelho or Pollan.

But you know where I ended up. Yep. The children’s section. I never even left the first floor.

Sure, I did a fair amount of research there, trying to solve my usual perplexities: “How did (insert author) begin/end (insert title)?” “How many I’s are acceptable on one page?” And “What are the sellers recommending?”

Mostly, though, as The Husband browsed “Americana” above us, I helped our three kids find, decide on, and buy some entertainment for the 4 ½ hour drive home.

Dominic, 10, had to settle. He’s been waiting forever for the release of Mouse, Number Six in Jeff Stone’s Five Ancestors Series, and for Brisingr, Number Three in Christoper Paolini’s Inheritance Cycle. Since nothing could substitute for either of these, Dominic huffed off with The Complete Guide to Pokemon under his arm. It was $24.99, and he read it in the car in seven seconds flat.

Stephan Dubner and Steven Levitt, co-authors of Freakonomics, would break this down as a disproportionate time-money ratio. But nothing about Dominic comes cheap. Especially entertainment.

On the other hand, Daney, 9, will read anything. The problem is that she’s already blown through every young work of fiction printed in English—twice. In Powell’s, she was deliberate, scrutinizing covers and studying backs, before confidently slapping The Lost Files of Nancy Drew on the counter. Knowing that wouldn’t last her long, I grabbed Patricia MacLachlan’s Baby off the shelf, a bargain at $1.95 that might buy an hour.

And speaking of babies, Rees, 7, staked out a towering heap: a Speed Racer board book, a flimsy Lego paperback that came with trading cards, a SkippyJohn Jones pop-up, and a Star Wars sticker book. I coaxed him into choosing the latter; $12.99 for 30 miles of silence was worth it. If I were the Freakonomics guys, I’d factor a mom’s sanity into that ratio-thing.

We could have spent $40 on a book-on-tape that the kids have probably already borrowed a hundred times from the library. Instead, I plucked a Mad-Libs off the rack. From Salem to Eugene, that $2.48 kept them from asking, “How much longer?”

Trip book total: $62.40. About a tank of gas, had the kids not been crammed in the back of a Prius.

I figure we broke even.