Welcome to 2Summers blog post #200! Thanks for reading.
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New books are expensive in South Africa. Walk into an average retail bookstore and an average paperback will set you back R150-R200 ($20-$26). Hardbacks and new releases cost much more.
So when I heard that Friends of Johannesburg Public Libraries was putting on a huge sale of used books at the Mark’s Park Sports Club, just around the corner from Melville, I decided to check it out.
The book sale began this morning at 9:00 a.m. I arrived a few minutes before 10:00, and drove around for 10 minutes before finding a parking space.
I was astonished at what I found inside.
The whole city was there.
I’m told that the crowd at 10:00 a.m. paled in comparison to the crowd when the sale opened at 9:00. One guy described the opening as a “rugby scrum”, consisting mainly of book dealers trying to get their hands on the best collectibles.
Most of the paperbacks at the sale were priced at R10 ($1.50), and the majority of the hardbacks were R20. Some of the special books cost more, but I didn’t see any books priced higher than R100.
Books books books books.
I love to read, but I must confess that I’ve done a lot less of it since moving to Joburg. I can’t seem to find time anymore, now that I no longer have a daily two-hour commute. These days, it seems like all my free time is eaten up by blogging and reading other blogs. No offense to my fellow bloggers, but I don’t consider reading blogs to be “real” reading.
Today’s sale has motivated me to change. I spent R90 (less than $12) on three books from the Africana section, including a fascinating-looking volume called Tales From the Cape Malay Quarter, by I.D. Du Plessis. I’ve been wanting to learn more about South Africa’s Cape Malay history ever since I visited Bo-Kaap in Cape Town last year. Here is my chance.
My favorite new (old) book. It has beautiful illustrations and it’s hand-signed by the author. It cost R50 (about $6.50).
This book sale made me happy. iPads and Kindles are taking over the world, but people still love books. Especially people in Joburg.
This lady couldn’t even wait to get home. She plopped down right outside the door of the club and started reading.
The longer I live in Joburg, the more I grow to respect old things. I used to want everything in my life to be new. But now I realize that older is often better.
Note: This observation does not apply to the old pipes in the Lucky 5 Star, which are currently leaking smelly brown water on my kitchen counter. But it does apply to old books.
How have I never blogged about 44 Stanley Avenue, the coolest shopping and dining complex in Joburg, which is only five minutes from my house?
I guess it’s wrong to say I’ve never blogged about 44 Stanley; I’ve mentioned it countless times over the years (see here and here) when writing about specific restaurants or shops that are there. But I’ve never written a dedicated post about 44 Stanley as a destination and it’s about time I did – especially now, with the holidays upon us.
I’ve been dreadfully uninspired lately, struggling to think of anything I want to blog about despite having a long list of great ideas (many of which you, my readers, provided in September). I’m finding it hard to feel positive about life at the moment. But on Saturday Thorsten and I got the chance to visit Indwe Park, an indigenous garden and sculpture park in Braamfontein, and I knew I had my topic for today.
Given this week’s political nuclear bomb blast, it feels like a weird time to publish a light-hearted post about my recent (pre-election) jaunt through the United States. But I’m hoping you’ve have had enough of the U.S. election horror show – I know I have – and are ready (at least temporarily) for some wholesome American travel adventures. If so, please read on about my four-day visit to Maine, the northeastern-most state in the lower 48, with my sister, Susanna.
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