I took the afternoon off and went to the bookshop

yesterday afternoon. It was the monthly knitting group. I am not sure whether I feel like an animal in a zoo or some even rarer alien species.
It is good for the bookshop. People wander in. They want to know what we are doing. Those who know me (and there are always a few) wonder how I have ever managed to learn to knit. I wonder that myself and continue to wonder at the endless patience of my paternal grandmother who never suggested I could not do anything.
I know I look awkward and I do wonder what Jackie (owner-manager) had in mind when she thought I should be the one to lead the group. Perhaps it is all those knitting books I used to rescue at 'sale price'? These days people buy knitting books so they do not languish on the shelves in the shop.
Book buying habits change during a recession. Craft books seem to walk out the door. People want to make things. This has to be because they stay at home more and there are more repeats on television to drive them crazy. If I was so minded I could actually catch up on some of the programmes I have missed that others keep telling me I 'should' watch. I would still rather read a book.
I want to read Nicholas Ostler's 'Ad Infinitum' but the shop's hardback copy was $60 so I will wait for the paperback version.