The Wheaton Public Library bookstore.

Earlier this month, a post by John Lingan on the Paris Review website chronicled an afternoon spent in a used bookshop with Michael Dirda, the book critic for the Washington Post. Imagine my surprise when the bookshop was revealed to be my favorite local haunt: The Friends of the Library store in the basement of the Wheaton Public Library here in Montgomery County, Maryland. It truly is an amazing place; as Lingan notes, “the stock turns over constantly, the volume is overwhelming, and most books go for two dollars or less.” It’s about a 10-minute drive from my house, so I try to make it there as often as I can, and today was one of those days: My wife, three kids, and I spent a good hour at the “crusty bargain dungeon” (in Lingan’s apt words). Running after my 2-year-old son every few seconds kept me from browsing as intently as I would’ve liked, but I managed a decent enough haul nonetheless. The booty, in no particular order:

• An omnibus of The Barrytown Trilogy (The Commitments, The Snapper, and The Van) by Roddy Doyle ($1.50)
• A House for Mr. Biswas by V. S. Naipaul ($2)
• Blue Movie by Terry Southern ($1.50)
• Scoop by Eveyln Waugh ($2)
• The Snowman by Jo Nesbø ($2)
• Trust ($1) and The Pagan Rabbi and Other Stories ($1.50) by Cynthia Ozick 
• Letters from London by Julian Barnes ($1)
• Sleepwalking Through History: America in the Reagan Years by Haynes Johnson ($2)

Nine books for under $15 — not too shabby.