Double score!

One of my guilty little pleasures (embarassing little quirks) is that I collect sorority and fraternity pins. It started out simply enough. I was in a sorority in college, so I owned a pin. I acquired my now-husband's fraternity pin when we "got pinned" our junior year. Post-college, it seemed a shame to let them gather dust in a drawer--too pretty for that--so I put them (plus the pins of some honor societies I belonged to) into a frame and put them on display. Soon after, I found a fraternity pin for sale in an antique shop, and a collection was born. Ebay has simplified the hunt, but it's still a small collection; I only splurge and buy one occasionally.

( My first score of the week )

My second score of the week? A hardcover first edition of The Hollow Hills by Mary Stewart that I got for 50 cents at a used book sale. Stewart's trilogy + one about Merlin is one of my favorite book series. The only way I could be even more thrilled would be if it were the first book in the series (my favorite) instead of the second.

If any of you are newly interested in Merlin due to the new TV series, you should definitely read Stewart's books. The trilogy (The Crystal Cave, The Hollow Hills, and The Last Enchantment) are the story of Merlin's life as told by Merlin himself. It's told in such a way that it seems to be the true story behind the tales that we've heard. Once Merlin departs the scene, Arthur's story continues in The Wicked Day.
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