Re: Happy hunting!/ reply

[Guest guest]

What a wonderful event! I hope you benefit from it, Reb!Love to you and to and to Pixie, and to all the family,nTo: MSersLife Sent: Thu, February 24, 2011 2:29:41 AMSubject: Happy hunting!

Every year, starting on the last wednesday of february, Sweden has a book sale. And, to quote from a Swedish-American blog I found (at http://welcometosweden.blogspot.com/2010/03/books-guilt-and-akvavit.html ): "Because every year in February, all of Sweden has a book sale. Literally (see what I did there?). The entire country has a book sale. A bokrea if you will." Yep, that's right. The whole country has a book sale (bokrea in Swedish). It'd usually referred to as "THE book sale" (bokrean). Every store, shop and boutique that ever sold books will prepare a sale. During the day or days before the official start you can often see piles of books and tables with books, wrapped in paper (the paper is removed when the sale starts – and it starts at the same time everywhere). It's almost a day before Christmas feeling, with all those wrapped gifts you are so curious about... There is a sale catalogue (or several catalogues) available the days or weeks before the sale, but there will always be a few

surprises on the actual sale day. For a few years you could hand in lists to the stores before the sale, where you requested (or stated a wish, rather) to buy certain of the books on sale. There were no guarantees, of course, it was "first come first served" on paper as well as in the stores (or when "first come" couldn't be used to determine who'd get to buy a certain book, they'd do a lottery). And you'd almost never get your whole list. But that was kind of the charm with it. Even more of that Christmas feeling. It really was like writing a wish list for Santa... We would usually pick up our pre-requests as soon as the sale started (meaning midnight), even though that was not actually necessary. You handed the clerk your request receipt and then you watched (excitedly, attentively) as they walked over to the area with the pre-packed packages and paper bags to find the one with your number on. Just like a kid on Christmas Eve, you were hoping for the

biggest package, or at least the one you had your eyes on... We usually didn't unpack till we got back home. Spending the way home guessing on what we had in our packages/bags, which of our wishes had been granted... Unfortunately, they don't do the pre-request thing anymore, but the Sale is still going on, every year. And for book lovers like myself, and , THE book sale is of course a huge event. Even if we no longer queue outside the bookstores before or on midnight on the starting day of the sale.This year we took the afternoon off, to go browse the stores. We didn't really think we would actually buy anything, but of course we were carrying three heavy bags as we returned home... love/Reb

[Guest guest]

Thank you! I am sure I will!love/Reb>> What a wonderful event! I hope you benefit from it, Reb!> Love to you and to and to Pixie, and to all the family,> n> > > > > ________________________________> To: MSersLife > Sent: Thu, February 24, 2011 2:29:41 AM> Subject: Happy hunting!> > > Every year, starting on the last wednesday of february, Sweden has a book sale. > > And, to quote from a Swedish-American blog I found (at > http://welcometosweden.blogspot.com/2010/03/books-guilt-and-akvavit.html ): > "Because every year in February, all of Sweden has a book sale. Literally (see > what I did there?). The entire country has a book sale. A bokrea if you will." > > Yep, that's right. The whole country has a book sale (bokrea in Swedish). It'd > usually referred to as "THE book sale" (bokrean). Every store, shop and boutique > that ever sold books will prepare a sale. During the day or days before the > official start you can often see piles of books and tables with books, wrapped > in paper (the paper is removed when the sale starts â€" and it starts at the same > time everywhere). It's almost a day before Christmas feeling, with all those > wrapped gifts you are so curious about... > > There is a sale catalogue (or several catalogues) available the days or weeks > before the sale, but there will always be a few surprises on the actual sale > day. For a few years you could hand in lists to the stores before the sale, > where you requested (or stated a wish, rather) to buy certain of the books on > sale. There were no guarantees, of course, it was "first come first served" on > paper as well as in the stores (or when "first come" couldn't be used to > determine who'd get to buy a certain book, they'd do a lottery). And you'd > almost never get your whole list. But that was kind of the charm with it. Even > more of that Christmas feeling. It really was like writing a wish list for > Santa... We would usually pick up our pre-requests as soon as the sale started > (meaning midnight), even though that was not actually necessary. You handed the > clerk your request receipt and then you watched (excitedly, attentively) as they > walked over to the area with the pre-packed packages and paper bags to find the > one with your number on. Just like a kid on Christmas Eve, you were hoping for > the biggest package, or at least the one you had your eyes on... We usually > didn't unpack till we got back home. Spending the way home guessing on what we > had in our packages/bags, which of our wishes had been granted... > > Unfortunately, they don't do the pre-request thing anymore, but the Sale is > still going on, every year. And for book lovers like myself, and , THE book > sale is of course a huge event. Even if we no longer queue outside the > bookstores before or on midnight on the starting day of the sale.> > This year we took the afternoon off, to go browse the stores. We didn't really > think we would actually buy anything, but of course we were carrying three heavy > bags as we returned home... > > love> /Reb>