Weekend Philosophy Purchases

Take me to brunch and I'll order a small salad. Take me to fifth avenue and I'll be content to browse. But take me to Barnes and Noble and prepare for all hell to break loose. And Barnes and Noble is where I somehow ended up twice this weekend...so as you can probably figure, my book hoarding side came out to play. The first time was after seeing the Great Gatsby with my friend (awesome movie btw, I need to read the book so bad now) and being the awkward nerdy fashionista hipsters we are, we ended up spending an hour and a half in the isles of the book store, gushing over the classics and comparing cover designs (that's the publisher's daughter coming out in me). 

My dog is camera shy ;) On my first trip I bought The Prince and Other Writings by Machiavelli. It's part of the Barnes and Noble classics line, which they sell for six dollars; it seems to be a pretty good deal to me, considering the quality is pretty nice. And I like cheap books better than pristine hardcovers; I'm a compulsive hiliter/stickynoter, and I decided to stick with cheapies after a frenzy of hiliting in my first-edition signed Mark Helprin book(ok it deserved it though, I honestly hate that guy's writing) I like the cover design too. They keep it simple but tasteful, and I have a weakness for sage green.

My second trip to Barnes and Noble was just a couple hours ago, when i was driving back from the Cape and Islands sailing tournament (I got a sunburn meh). I managed to lure my mother in with the promise of starbucks, then trapped her in the philosophy section.

(excuse the awkwardly placed pictures of my dog)

Anyways, she caved into buying me this adorable edition called Philosophy; A Graphic Guide to The History of Thinking by Dave Robinson and Judy Groves. It's basically a graphic novel of the history of philosophy, but it presents all the ideas and philosophers in a witty and matter-of-fact way, using speech bubbles to highlight (hi-lite?) main ideas. I wanted just a general guide for reference, which I didn't get with Thirty Second Philosophies  by Barry Loewer. 

The Essential Nietzche WHY IS HIS NAME SO HARD TO SPELL i less bought and more found on my shelf, but i'm excited to read it. I guess I've always been a philosophical person, and it probably just came off as childish curiosity before (Daddy, what if we're all in a dream of someone else?), but since I got into highschool I've defined my interest more, and am trying to read as much as I can on philosophy and religion. My school is definitely very supportive of philosophical thought; it's all about learning how to think, and in junior and senior year there's a mandatory philosophy class. I'll come back with book reviews in due time!

P.S. Something to be explored further in an independent post, but I really hate e-books and amazon. It annoys me to death when my mom says that "We can order that on Amazon for less." Yes, Barnes and Noble may be a giant corporation, but Borders' closing scared me, and I want to support this store as much as I can, because it encourages reading by being placed in spots like malls, where normal people might wander in and buy something. If Barnes and Noble were to close, I think that people, especially my age, would probably read a lot less, since they would be a lot less likely to seek out independent book stores or used book shops.