One recent strange book experience concerns my one-eyed ambition to purchase an Anthology of Chinese Literature. It was unbelievably expensive brand new...so I haunted 2nd hand book websites for months looking for an affordable copy. Even so it appeared that if the book was affordable it was also pretty trashed. One fine day a copy magically appeared in my search - it was in reputedly in excellent condition, at a ridiculously low price. It is a hefty tome so I knew that the cost of shipping was going to be considerable. It almost doubled the price, but I was determined to have this book so i swallowed the costs and bought it.

Once the book arrived I was delighted with its virtually new condition, and secretly quite gruntled that I had coughed up the money for it. I was even more delighted when I started leafing through the book and discovered a stash of 10 and 20 US dollar notes lying fresh and crisp throughout the pages. It precisely covered the total cost of the book. I really was meant to have it!