We didn't have book fairs in the 70s but did order them through Scholastic books. Always was excited to get the brochure, take it home and order some books.

Yeah, the book fair was like Christmas for me, too. My parents really believed in reading, so they always let us order at least one book. I remember when I ordered "Where the Red Fern Grows" and read it so fast that my teacher didn't believe me when I said I was done. My dad often said he'd take us to the library, but when we'd go, we'd check out books and then my dad would forget about taking us back to the library to return them, so our cards always had late fees on them, which meant library trips were super rare. You would think my parents would have realized that library=free books and been good citizens about it.

I used to love ordering books! Especially around October because then I could get all sorts of books and stickers that were spooky and Halloween themed. I'd totally forgotten about that. It was one of the only things I enjoyed about elementary school.

I loved the book fair and the catalogs. I always envied the ones that had money to purchase the books. They didn't really care and never read them but I wished I had just a few dollars to purchase just one. I would take my time looking at all the books picking them up and skimming through each one. When the catalogs would get passed out, I would sit and dream about all the books I wished I could get to make my own library. We got points for taking tests on books we read from the library and at the end of the 6 weeks everyone in the class would have under 20 points but I would always have 150+. On the days we got to cash in our points for prizes everyone wanted to be my friend so I would buy them something. NOPE! I learned early on that people use you.

I forgot about the book fair! It was like Christmas and Halloween and your birthday wll rolled into one. We always had books in the house but this was different. These were MY books. I love working in a library because every day is book day but they are all free.

I never order my kids Scholastic books. We visit the library weekly and twice a year the school does a book fair. We can afford it BUT the school constantly is doing fundraisers that I just can't do everything. Seriously I can think of 5 just off the top of my head.

The reading posts got me reminiscing about grade school in the 80's. Once in awhile a little brochure order form was handed out and you could order books. I loved books. I would get so excited and enjoy just looking at the order forms, all the photos of the books and dream of having all I wanted. We were poor so most times I didn't get to order, but when I did oh my I was so happy!! I felt good to be one of the kids whose name was called to get an order. Otherwise I was so bummed when books came in and none for me. I always hoped most others didn't either, and I didn't wanna be the only one out of my friends who wasn't getting books.

Pre-kid, I spent a shit ton of money on magazines and books - about $30/week just on magazines alone. Since my now-ex wouldn't help with the baby's expenses and I eventually became a single mom, that was one luxury I had to give up. So I was super excited to learn that the recycling company in our new neighborhood has a rewards program. You get points for watching videos and taking quizzes which you can redeem for things such as magazine subs. Yeah...I now have a stack of one year's worth of four different magazines that I've barely touched because I have no time.

Thanks for the feedback on dear Harry. I have 9 bookcases filled with books, and I am finally ready to let some go. It's so hard to do. I think he will be gifted to someone else. Haven't done it yet, but I'm feeling good about this choice.

Since when could you tell how "classy" someone is by their apparent income level? We live in a "low income" area house, drive "low income" cars, don't buy a lot of new flashy things, and guess what? We watch PBS, listen to NPR, experiment with renewable energy practices at our house, go to shows, read books, watch intelligent movies, and have a good income. So you may want to think twice about judging books by their covers.