Treasure Hunt

stacks of books on top of each other in used bookstore with background books blurred

I'm thankful that I recently had the opportunity to visit a number of Christian and secular bookstores that sell new and used books in all the possible combinations you can find. Though I'm especially fond of stores that sell used Christian books, I'm also delighted to pick up new Christian books at bargain prices.

While I've been intentional in not wanting to promote a lifestyle of consumption on my blog or on social media, I do confess that there is an element of treasure hunting for me when I go shopping for books. I've had to become adept at scanning bookshelves quite fast as I've gotten into having my husband time me to prove that I don't spend that much time in bookstores 😆 I can very easily spot a Christian book in the wild, so to speak!

This fun challenge aside, I do value finding books that point toward God, both in fiction and non-fiction genres. However, one of the things that hit me most this time is that I can have too much of a good thing. Although I've officially run out of bookshelf space and am now stacking the books horizontally onto open surfaces, I don't want to live this way. I want to discover the treasure but also to spread it.

Even if I won't necessarily give up the hunt just yet as I'm still tracking down several hard-to-find books, it's a reminder to me that hoarding all of this treasure can be just as meaningless as its pursuit. Some of my goals are to donate non-fiction titles to my church and to gift fictional series to anyone local. I do wish that it wasn't so expensive to ship books as I'd love to share my books this way!

Since I've previously worked in libraries and bookstores, I've been able to take meticulous care of my books, so I hope to one day pass the treasure along. While I don't think I'll tire of searching for Christian books at home and during my travels, the treasure is in seeing others enjoy a new book. If anyone wants to find out if they're local to me in Canada, feel free to send me an email at christianshelves (at) gmail (dot) com and I'll see if it's feasible for me to send anything down the road 😊

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