5th Floor Common Room, Sunday afternoon

[willbethenight.livejournal.com]

Bruce's preparations for leaving two weeks out were continuing. Today's task was to whittle down the eclectic collection of books he had in his room. He had plenty that he would be keeping, of course. But with the amount of things he'd be bringing back to Gotham from the cave, he needed to consider if he really needed to keep Trees of North America or Entering Space or even Racing Car Design and Development.

Seriously. Eclectic.

And so he hauled many of the less potentially useful books in his collection out to the common room and put up a sign saying "Free Books." While he waited for them to disappear, he was going to say goodbye to Code Administratif Des Etablissemens Dangereux, Insalubres Ou Incommodes (1832) by Trebuchet Adolphe, a French report he originally picked up because of the author's first name. Bruce wasn't made of stone. You see the name "Trebuchet" and you buy the damn book regardless of how esoteric the subject is.

[OOC: My Amazon recommendations may be weird after doing some of those searches. Open CR since I'm home from wooooooork! Feel free to mod books on a variety of bizarrely specific subjects.]

Comments

[shestheworst.livejournal.com]

"That's a lot of books," Britta commented, about ready to head to her room for a much needed nap after a belly full of coffee and toast and cigarettes.

No one could accuse Britta for having a lack of observation.

Well, not in this instance, anyway.

[willbethenight.livejournal.com]

"Very astute," Bruce said. "You're more than welcome to any you find interesting."

[shestheworst.livejournal.com]

"I'm not really that much of a reader." Shocker, really. Britta trailed her fingers along some of the books curiously, though, since some of the titles seemed like they could make someone seem pretty smart. "Are they all yours? You know what you should do, you should give them away to some underprivileged schools. I mean, how many chances are they going to get to read..."

She looked at the nearest title.

"The Post-Cold War Armored Vehicle Industries in Britain, Germany, and France: A Study in Political Economy and Transition (http://www.amazon.com/Post-Cold-Armored-Vehicle-Industries-Britain/dp/031331246X/ref=sr_1_33?ie=UTF8&qid=1335137205&sr=8-33)....ugh."

[willbethenight.livejournal.com]

"Some of them might be better suited to libraries," Bruce said, thinking that one over. "But that's not a bad idea. I'll just have to find the most appropriate titles for that."

[shestheworst.livejournal.com]

"I could help with that," Britta offered, though her perception of what might be good for school was likely to be a little skewed. She was scanning the titles of a few more before she let out a little sound of excitement. "Knitting Without Tears (http://www.amazon.com/Knitting-Without-Tears-Easy---Follow/dp/0684135051/ref=sr_1_9?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1335137342&sr=1-9)," she read, holding up the book as if to display it with a triumphant little smile. She wasn't going to question what Bruce had a book about knitting for, but she was going to crack it open and look it over. "Wouldn't you know, I was just talking to someone earlier about picking up knitting. Did you know Winona Ryder knits?"

[rilla-myrilla.livejournal.com]

Rilla held up a book (http://www.weirdomatic.com/wp-content/pictures/kex0116979.jpg) and arched her eyebrows. "Do I want to know?"

[willbethenight.livejournal.com]

"You see why I'm not keeping that book," Bruce said.

[rilla-myrilla.livejournal.com]

"I'm not sure that's something you exactly teach," Rilla offered.

[willbethenight.livejournal.com]

"I'll be honest, I bought that book largely because the title was too weird not to check it out," Bruce said.

[rilla-myrilla.livejournal.com]

"I can only imagine the looks my mother would give Father if he just left that around the house," Rilla said with a laugh.

[chief-cheerio.livejournal.com]

Quinn was nostalgic as she made her habitual trip up to the sixth floor for a Diet Coke. Two more weeks, and she'd never do it again.

She paused by the pile of books, glancing over to Bruce. "Are you starting to clean too?" she asked. "Or was there a really good sale at the library?"

[willbethenight.livejournal.com]

"The former," Bruce said. "The more I can give away now, the less I need to find room for in a couple weeks."

[chief-cheerio.livejournal.com]

"I'm trying to do the same," Quinn said, considering a dust jacket. "I'd take some of your books anyhow, but even at Yale I don't think I'll need Mastering the Sicilian Defense (http://www.amazon.com/Mastering-Sicilian-Defense-Danny-Kopec/dp/1466210044/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1335142115&sr=1-1)."

[willbethenight.livejournal.com]

"So you're going to Yale but you're not looking to become a chess master?" Bruce asked. "I have to admit, I'm surprised."

[chief-cheerio.livejournal.com]

Quinn looked vaguely panicked. "Wait, should I learn to play? I never have."

Don't ask why she had decided Bruce was an expert on Yale. He seemed to be an expert on everything else, and Quinn was a little nervous about the entire enterprise.

[wasthecuteone]

"Hey, Bruce," Petra said as she entered the common room, and then, "Oooh, hey, free books."

[willbethenight.livejournal.com]

"Afternoon, Petra," Bruce said. "Feel free to take some. I need to clear them out before I get serious about packing."

[wasthecuteone]

"Well, sure, who doesn't need...A Portable Guide to Federal Conspiracy Law," Petra said wryly, then considered the book for a moment before asking, "Actually, can I take this? It might come in handy. Long story."

[willbethenight.livejournal.com]

"Having heard a couple of your long stories, please, take it. Anything that might help," Bruce offered.

[wasthecuteone]

"Yeah, they do tend to be kind of...long," Petra said as she poked at the pile to see if there was anything else to hold her interest in there. "What's your plan? Backpacking around Europe or off to some fancy college?" she guessed.

[faithandscience.livejournal.com]

Some people had free food radar. William... apparently had free book radar.

"Alternative Energy Sources (http://www.amazon.com/Alternative-Energy-Systems-Applications-Hodge/dp/0470142502/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1335145375&sr=8-1)?"

[willbethenight.livejournal.com]

"It's a pretty interesting engineering textbook," Bruce said. "I'd keep it, but I figure that by the time I'm up caught up on energy systems to fully understand it, technology will be past it anyway."

[faithandscience.livejournal.com]

"Understandable," William nodded. "However, for someone who comes from nearly a century and a half in the past, it may prove quite useful."

[willbethenight.livejournal.com]

"You're welcome to take it," Bruce said. "Since you've been here, you even have a good head start compared to other people from your time."

"Just try not to destroy your future with this knowledge."

[faithandscience.livejournal.com]

William's eyes widened slightly. "I shall endeavour to avoid such a fate," he informed Bruce solemnly.