Bookish Adventures in California

My trip home to California has been pretty quiet because the weather has been really grim, but I’m certainly glad to be here. Since it’s been raining pretty much non-stop, I haven’t had many outdoor adventures, but several of the ones I’ve had have been book related. Because of course they have!

I spent a few days cleaning out closets for my parents and came across so many treasures none of us had seen in years. The first was my abuelita’s (grandmother’s) Bible, an heirloom we were all sure had been long gone. Tucked inside its beautifully illustrated pages were several old photos that I’d never seen before.

My abuelo (grandfather) was a minister to the migrant farmworkers of California and most of the photos were of him, his church, and congregation. He died decades before I was born so it was amazing to see photos of him beyond the handful we had.

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Coming from a long line of bookworms, there are books everywhere in my parents’ house, but even more were unearthed in boxes I found in the closets. One delightful find was an illustrated copy of Jane Eyre my mom bought me when I was 10. It was an ambitious gift, but one that I did manage to read and love.

I re-read it a couple years ago, sans pictures, and loved it even more with adult eyes.

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On a previous addition to a Top Ten Tuesday post about beloved children’s books, I mentioned Harold and the Purple Crayon and how both the book and I met Sammy Hagar on our first trip to Europe. You can read the silly story in the blog post, but in the meantime here is my purple crayon signed copy! Plus I managed to find the photo of us, too.

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No trip home would be complete without a visit to my favorite used book shop, Recycle Bookstore! I’ve been coming to this San Jose institution since I was a kid and its charm has never waned.

Branching off from the entrance are several rooms literally stacked with books. Every genre of book you could possibly think of is in this store, all of which I’m convinced is carefully curated by the store’s cats.

It took some serious self restraint, but I managed to only leave with a few books and not the dozens I wanted. I checked my selections with the cats and they seemed to approve.

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So even though the weather has prevented me from doing most of what I like to do when I’m here, my visit to California has been an interesting one. I mean, can any trip be that bad when there’s a used bookstore involved?