Books are good.

So after a very fast trip up to the mountains, I and one of my kids came home on Friday.

Mr. Fabulous and I had a free day yesterday, so it was only logical that we hit the bins.

Here's a picture to remind you of what it's like at the Goodwill Outlet, fondly termed 'the bins' by me and my people, thanks to lovely Miriam and our Portland bins experience. This photo was taken at the bins here in Denver.

Needle in a haystack to find anything of value, right?

It's true. There's a lot of crap at the bins. But the books - ah, the books.

The love of reading, the joy of expanding one's base of knowledge, the attractive price point....

All books at the bins are 49 cents. Each.

We found a bunch of really great books yesterday. I found a first edition Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Great Britain version. I found a first edition A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith - a personal favorite title of mine, and I bought it solely with the intention of reading it again. But this version is a first edition from 1943, which makes it even more compelling.

And then I found this:

When we got home with all of our treasures yesterday, I eventually got around to checking on the worth of this particular volume.

Its market value is somewhere in the $200 to $300 range.

Score!

So for a 49 cent investment, it's very likely this book will translate into my car payment this month.

That doesn't suck.

What can you buy for 49 cents any more? Not much.

But I got this great book, and a whole lot of other wonderful bits of book learnin', for 49 cents a piece.

Like the fabulous Coach purse I found at the bins a few weeks ago, this book and others we found yesterday have monetary value that far exceeds the bins' price tag. Finding these items compels me to wonder how so many people overlooked these valuables before we tripped onto them at the bins.

It's perplexing.

Books attempt to answer the previously unanswerable. And ironically, I'm finding valuable books in the most unlikely place, at the most desirable price. It's a conundrum why these volumes are virtually leaping into my hands at a rock-bottom price, but I really shouldn't question it.

I'm liking all this new knowledge.

Books are a good thing.