Bargains are Just Excuses to Spend More Money (Unfortunately, It Works)

You know what I hate? Restraint. If it weren't for a lifetime of parents teaching me that For The Last Time, Money Does Not Grow On Trees I would be advertisers' favorite person ever. A coupon for 30% off something I don't need? GIVE IT TO ME. There are big red letters spelling S-A-L-E in your window? I MUST LOOK. Suddenly I discover a whole host of things that I do not need.

I know that this is how advertisers get people to buy things. I do it myself in my job: Did you know these sweaters are buy-one-get-one 50% off? Did you want to get one in another color? And the majority of people say yes. It doesn't matter that they were okay five seconds ago with just a $35 orange sweater, the minute the can get something for less--even if they didn't particularly want it--it doesn't become an extra $17.50, it becomes a bargain. A bargain that just adds to your total.

The point of this post isn't really about my efforts to improve my sales numbers. It's about the fact that Borders is going out of business and OMG book are on sale. And my instinct is to buy every single book in the entire store. Because they are cheap and therefore it is a bargain. Across the Universe is a total bargain at $11 even though I wasn't planning on buying it! I didn't particularly like Extras, but it's on sale for $7! Basically if it has a pretty cover and paper in-between, I am filled with the desire to throw money at it.

This is where the restraint comes in. Because I am a semi-broke college student with no shelf space, I reasoned that instead of the armfuls of books that I desired, I would only buy things that I would end up buying anyway, sale price or not. This unfortunately crushes my dream of blogging like Merle over at A Bookworm's Shelf and showing off the fifteen shiny new books that I dream of. I did get three, though, and anyone who knows me (or reads this blog, therefore knowing me. Think how close we're getting! This means you have to get me a birthday present, right?) knows that I cannot shut up about books I like. You're welcome.

Eon is one of the rare books that I ganked off the shelf of the library and loved enough to buy it (not enough to buy hardcover, but that's not a reflection of its awesomeness. For more detail, see: college student, semi-broke). In a China-analogue world, twelve-year-old boys are chosen to apprentice as 'Dragoneyes,' and form a magical bond with the dragons that help keep the country stable. Girls aren't allowed, but that doesn't stop Eona from disguising herself as Eon-the-boy. But death is a sure thing if anyone discovers her secret.

It's in the vein of Tamora Pierce, with a strong female lead in an interesting world with a good, fast-paced story and action, none of the paranormal romance or dystopian societies that are currently popular.

 
Sorcery and Cecelia is another book that I've read (in this case, multiple times) and needed to own. Written in the form of (very detailed, though believable) letters between cousins Kate and Cecelia, it chronicles a regency that's mixed with magic. Co-author Patricia Wrede is good about writing strong female characters and infusing her books with humor, so this ends up being much better than the general "find a husband! With magic!" regency-era books I tend to find.


Artemis Fowl, though not as famous as Harry Potter, was a staple of the juvenile section when it was a trilogy nearly ten years ago (which we are not talking about, lest I realize that I am old), and the teen criminal mastermind who deals with fairies showed up in a seventh (and second-to-last) book last year. This is one of those things that was basically invented to make me spend money: this was on Borders' red-tag clearance even before the liquidation. Grand cost of this hardback: $2.50. I believe that is an excellent price to pay in exchange for sarcasm, gun-toting leprechauns, tin-foil-hat-wearing centaur tech geniuses, and probably a story, too.

Grand total for 1,269 pages of fantasy: about $10. That's less than one cent per page.

I think that's a bargain.