Had to choose between a 1969 field guide to mushrooms and a 1987 local history book at a library sale in Portland last Saturday

Both were $1 each but I only had $2 cash on me. The mushroom guide was falling apart but had handwritten notes in the margins from some guy named Frank. The history book was in better shape but felt like something you'd browse once and forget. Took me 10 minutes standing there flipping through both. Went with the mushroom guide. Frank's notes were actually useful - he marked which spots were good for foraging near the Sandy River. Found three edible patches this week. Anyone else ever buy a book purely because someone else scribbled in it?

2 comments

2 Comments

ryanh7712d ago

Three edible patches from Frank's scribbles? That's wild, man. I would have probably grabbed the history book out of guilt for being practical, but Frank clearly knew what he was doing. I've bought a couple used books with margin notes before, but nothing that paid off like that. Mostly just angry underlines and "no" written next to something the author said (which, to be fair, was kind of funny). You basically got a personalized foraging guide from a ghost for a dollar, that's a steal.

lunah8612d ago

Honestly, that's the thing about used books nobody talks about - you're not just buying paper and ink, you're buying a tiny slice of someone else's life. The history book was just facts, right? But Frank's notes turned that mushroom guide into a conversation across time. I've noticed this pattern in a lot of things we buy used or secondhand - the stuff that's got wear and tear, that's been lived in, it always tells a better story than the clean, perfect version. There's something about seeing another person's handwriting, their little corrections or thoughts, that makes you feel connected to this whole long chain of people who came before you. It's like the book chose you as much as you chose it.