Jonathan Walker, 11, is not the kind of kid who goes halfway on a new experience like the Times Colonist Book Sale.
He woke before sunrise, got in a car with three family members, stopped at Tim Hortons for two donuts and a large hot chocolate and arrived at the Victoria Curling Club just after 4:30 a.m. — making him the second person in line. (Sports history writer Craig Bowlsby arrived a few minutes earlier.)
“It’s fun so far,” Jonathan said just before the doors opened at 9 a.m. By that time, a line of more than 600 people stretched behind him.
Jonathan was one of more than 3,500 people searching for treasures among more than 400,000 books at the book sale Saturday. More are likely to join the search today, when the sale continues between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m.
And while a love of books tends to be the common thread among the thousands who arrived Saturday, they showed a healthy diversity in favoured genres.
Darcy Houston, a project manager for the Ministry of Social Development, was looking for business books to update her office library. She had gathered $30 in donations from co-workers, to make up for financial constraints.
“I maintain our office library,” she said. “Of course, there’s no budget for that anymore.”
She was also on the lookout for Cajun Cooking — it’s a book she and husband Sly have searched the Times Colonist Book Sale for the past four years with no luck, but they hadn’t given up hope. There just isn’t a recipe for hot pepper pecans anywhere like it, they said.
Farther back in the line, Evelyn Tucker, an administrative assistant at the Ministry of Health, said she was looking for colourful and old books. She wanted to cut them up for an art project.
Inside, the room was abuzz with readers combing through books under sections such as Canadiana, Romance and Reference — with each going for between $1 and $3.
The “cage,” tucked in the corner near Humour, is where the connoisseurs find rare books at higher prices.
Jim Stachow, a specialist in rare non-fiction books based in Ladysmith, barely lifted his eyes while sifting through books. He lifted a large book of sheet music with a $350 price tag.
“I have a particular interest in music. I’m just not sure I can swallow this price,” he said. “This is maybe a first edition of a really epic piece by Wagner, so I’m processing this as I walk along.”
An easier decision was a 1913 B.C. cookbook called the Girls’ Home Manual.
“I’ll probably buy this. I’ve never seen it before. It’s kind of in tatters, and I don’t know if it’s complete right now — but I don’t have time to figure that out. You just have to make snap decisions,” he said.
Bob Jordan said he has made the trip from Comox to the book sale with his daughter every year since it began in 1998 — only missing it once when he was in hospital for an operation. He picked up early editions of Uncle Tom’s Cabin and The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam.
As for Jonathan, he found the graphic novels he was hoping for, from Jeff Smith’s popular Bones series, soon after entering. But half an hour later, gripping a box full of books from the children’s section, he said he had a new favourite find: a book on wizardry.
Organizers called Saturday one of the busiest book sale days yet.
“It was just non-stop traffic all day,” said Times Colonist promotions and community relations manager Shannon Kowalko.
But today will be an opportunity to find new gems: Books that didn’t initially fit on the tables will be moved up from boxes on the floor.
“Tomorrow is like a new day,” Kowalko said.
