5 Things Essential for Book Hunting

     Like Dean Corso from The Club Dumas, you must be prepared when out book hunting. Should anything happen to you, or something unexpected come up while your out at the flea market, swap meet, or garage sale, having the right tools with you can really help.

1) Smart Phone - This is an easy one. You can price check books or see if you are missing one on the fly. Need to call someone? Having google ready to go at a moments notice is amazing, and few people really do it when collecting books. Good for notes, time, internet, camera, etc. Take pictures of book shelves everywhere you go. Technology is so good right now, you can zoom in and see individual books, and if you need them or not.

2) Money - You should always have cash on you! If you have a budget for that day, double that just to be safe. Typically I carry around $30 with me at any given time, maybe a small amount more. I only want to spend around $10-15.. but if you have read any of my below posts, you know how that goes.

3) Messenger Bag - Dean Corso carries one, you should too. I'm bad at this, and my bag strap broke so I'm in the market for a new one, and may get one tomorrow. Get something leather, durable, and waterproof. Leather lasts forever and will protect your precious cargo. You can put additional money, a magnifying glass, and your hand written lists/notes in there, and now you have a bag to put all your scores in.

4) A pen and note pad, and a hand written list of exactly what you want. - Be it a general list, or specific for completion of a series. Your phone could die, or get wet, or you may forget to use it. If you write it down, its faster to just reach in to your bag and get a quick peek at the list. More times than not, if you write something down, you have a much easier time recalling that particular memory.

5) Another set of eyes - I'm pretty much always alone, but when I have someone with me, I literally always find something I'm looking for. You can let each other know what you need, and when scanning books, he may pick up on something you missed, and visa-versa. Having a like minded friend who collects some of the same stuff is invaluable, never be afraid to get someone to go with you.