Today, Thursday February 23, is the first day of the annual nationwide book sale in Sweden. This is a very big event, advertised for weeks in newspapers, on TV, and in special promotional material from the big bookstore chains who will take pre-orders by mail. Many bookstores opened already at midnight. All other books are removed in the stores for the first week at least or well hidden and have to be asked for. Books for sale are those that didn't sell so well when they first appeared, classics, some bestsellers in special sale editions (this was a no-no at first, now all publishers do it to compete with the pocket editions), lots of poetry, all kinds of craft books, coffee table books of every variety, cookbooks and, in particular, children's books are the best bargains.

I am not going anywhere today, the first day is always impossible with hysterical customers and staff and long waiting lines at the cashiers, but I plan to finally buy a translation of Marcel Proust in 8 volumes (TBR for many years), a basic classic cookbook in an updated edition for my son and daughter-in-law, because their old one had an accident with water, a new flora of the Nordic countries and as many good children's books I can find for younger kids.