ABC Books had another book signing yesterday, so of course I went. I brought along my youngest who came along only because of the promise of lunch at a restaurant (which is kind of a tradition). So up we went in the early afternoon.
I was pleased to see the martial arts section was restocked. Well, restocked means it had a book and some sort of instructional material that looked like a box of cards of some sort. As the latter was $24.95, I did not get it this time.
I did pick up a couple of books.
They include:
- Wild Foraged by Rachael West, the author signing books. It’s a guide to local flora, weeds and whatnot, that one can use in cooking, mostly as spices, herbs, and berries to add to other things. It has a lot of full color photos to help you properly identify things and to present appetizing views of the dishes you can make with them, but when I checked out with the new kid, I was surprised at the total. Apparently, the book was $40. It’s not quite the second time in a row I’ve been surprised by the price of a self-published book by a local author (the last was my penultimate visit last month, but day-um. Although I’ve noticed that the price of my books are creeping up on Amazon. I should look to see if I’m losing money on every sale under the great success of Current Regimenomics.
- Kendo for Beginners by Masahiro Imafuji. The one actual book in the martial arts section, a thin treatise on swordsmanship.
- Mel Bay’s Modern Guitar Method Grade 1 and Essential Guitar Chords: Everything You Need To Play Basic Guitar because I do have a guitar, you know, and someday perhaps one of these books will click enough and I’ll be self-disciplined enough to learn to play. Unlikely, but possible.
Well, the unexpected price of the signing author’s book led to its immediate usage, as the boy and I, instead of going to a real restaurant, at some dandelion stems we found in the green space between the grocery store and the former home of my dojo in the strip mall next to it. As we were just foraging, we didn’t have the equipment to cook anything. On the other hand, we found a couple of abandoned and partially crushed soda cans which offered a mouth-moistening amount of flat and hot soda whose bounty was not covered in the book. If we two had eaten in the little diner in the strip mall, it’s entirely possible that one gyro and fries with water and a chicken parm with a Pepsi would have cost about $40 (including a generous tip which is my wont), so it’s almost a win?
