{"id":29700,"date":"2025-08-01T03:00:19","date_gmt":"2025-08-01T10:00:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/writersfunzone.com\/blog\/?p=29700"},"modified":"2025-07-29T10:42:25","modified_gmt":"2025-07-29T17:42:25","slug":"books-as-oracles-by-catharine-bramkamp","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/writersfunzone.com\/blog\/2025\/08\/01\/books-as-oracles-by-catharine-bramkamp\/","title":{"rendered":"Books as Oracles by Catharine Bramkamp"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Books<\/a>Let\u2019s welcome back monthly columnist Catharine Bramkamp<\/a> as she shares with us \u201cBooks as Oracles.\u201d Enjoy!<\/p>\n

***<\/span><\/p>\n

The Power of Bookstores<\/h2>\n

I wrote a blog about finding your next career or even passion by visiting a book store.<\/p>\n

I considered this<\/strong> as I was prepping for a trip to Moe\u2019s Books in Berkeley.<\/p>\n

A four story treasure house of used and new books.<\/p>\n

I can spend three hours in this store and feel I only scratched the surface.<\/p>\n

I love huge used bookstores.\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

You probably do too.<\/p>\n

Entering with a Plan<\/h2>\n

And I also guess that like me you don\u2019t walk into a book store unarmed with no battle plan.<\/p>\n

And if you avoid bookstores<\/strong> because they are overwhelming, what you need is to be armed.<\/p>\n

With a plan.<\/p>\n

At least a list.<\/p>\n

My Amazon Wish List Strategy<\/h2>\n

My list is kept by Amazon.<\/p>\n

Whatever and whenever a book captures my eye, I find it on Amazon and add it to my wish list.<\/p>\n

I love my Amazon wish list.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Every time I see an interesting book — referenced in a newsletter, a review, an article, a book club recommendation, I toss the book into the Amazon wish list — free, organized, TBR (To Be Read) without the cost.<\/p>\n

From Digital to Analog<\/h2>\n

When I travel to a marvelous book store, or just want to support our Indie bookstores in town, I pull about 10 to 15 books from the list and create a hard copy list of what I want to find in the bookstore.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s the plan.<\/p>\n

Tracking Past Reads<\/h2>\n

I also carry the history of past battles.<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t enter a library<\/strong> or a marvelous used bookstore, without my history of read books (on Notes in my phone).<\/p>\n

This helps in a used bookstore, and it is critical at Friends of the Library sales.<\/p>\n

I started the reading book list ever since the afternoon I pulled a book from the crowded sales shelf and thought, wow, this looks great!<\/p>\n

It was.\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

I\u2019d donated it last year.<\/p>\n

Wish List<\/h2>\n

I love books so much that I consistently overestimate the time I have to read versus the wealth of published books.<\/p>\n

The Amazon book list<\/strong> holds all my scattered enthusiasm and ideas about what I probably, likely, very soon, will read.<\/p>\n

The list holds every book that catches my eye (I\u2019m like a magpie) and stands at about 250 books ready to be purchased.<\/p>\n

Why so many?<\/p>\n

Sometimes the interest is brief<\/strong> and on further inspection, the book is deleted from the list.<\/p>\n

Sometimes I realize the book is exactly what I need and it is promoted to the shopping cart.<\/p>\n

And sometimes it serves as the indie bookstore search engine.<\/p>\n

A Reflection on Reading Focus<\/h2>\n

Prior to the drive to Berkeley, I skimmed down the 200 or so books on the wish list and pulled out 13 to focus my Saturday search.<\/p>\n

Out of thirteen books:\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n