Wish lists.

When all was said and done, I ordered all but 17 of the books on my list.

I've been keeping lists of books I see online, or in other bookstores, with the intent of someday ordering them.

The actual replacement of sold books came to about 35% of the total books ordered. In most cases, I'd prefer this to be more like 80% of the books I order. But it's Christmas, and until this order, I'd probably not ordered more than 10% off the wish lists over the last three or four orders, so this was a bit of catch-up, clearing the decks, and getting Christmas product at the same time.

I don't know why I pick certain books -- they just look good to me, or appeal to me.

Awhile back, I was talking about having a more systematic method of choosing books, comparing best-seller lists, best-of lists, and so on.

But I keep falling back on my quirky method of buying what appeals to me. I have limited budget for books, and by the time I've completed my ordering of the books I know I want, there isn't a whole lot of room for best-seller types.

Is it foolish of me to skip THE HELP, and instead order, THE BEAR WENT OVER THE MOUNTAIN, by William Kotzwinkle? Probably. But opening a bookstore is foolish in the first place, and I might as well be consistently foolish to the end.

It's not like I'm depriving anyone of THE HELP, which they can find in stacks at Barnes and Noble. But would they stumble across THE BEAR WENT....?

Well, I enjoy Kotzwinkle, I love the concept of the book, the cover looks really cool. Whereas, THE HELP, looks to me like another socially heartwarming book written by a white woman about black servants. (I could be wrong, but really -- I like the idea of a real Bear on Wall Street, more than another Hallmark moment....) I know, I know. It sounds like a good book, but it just doesn't grab me.

Finding room for all these books will, as usual, be the real problem. But it's the direction the store is going in, and I'll make room.