For many of us the best thing about the fall season is that it's the best time of year to search the area for the used book sales.

Since September it seems like there has not been a weekend that goes by that the opportunity is not there to go fighting among the crowds at various locations throughout the GTA to get your hands on someone else's treasure. Many people seem to agree that there is no better way to spend a Sunday afternoon, as this year in particular at the sales I have been at, the crowds seem larger than ever.

That may surprise many because we are supposed to be in an age where no one reads, at least if its not on a screen, or that's what we keep hearing. The fact that there are droves of people (and it is reassuring that many of them are under the age of 30) who want to search through the piles of classics and non-classics and that there is still a lot of interest in the printed word.

Some of us aren't into gadgets. We aren't the types that are going to line up in the middle of the night to be the first on the street to get a new iPhone or other device designed to help increase Ted Rogers' net worth and like many pieces of technology will rarely work the way we want.

But if we know that there might be a good condition copy of a Robertson Davies novel for $2, now that's worth lining up for. The best thing of all is you don't need to keep calling some technological wizard to help you get it set up. All you have to do is turn the page, and it keeps working the same each day.

The cost of new books has gotten so high that for many of us it is a rare book indeed that we would spend the full price for. That's why getting a good deal on a book, even if it might be slightly dog eared and have a few notes scrawled inside is a treasure.

Even if you don't pick up a particular book you can have a lot of fun just thinking of the previous owner. I always think of the daughter who had written an inscription on a Conrad Black tome a number of years ago. She wished her father Merry Christmas and said she expected he would enjoy the book since he admired the author so much. I wonder if that view has changed in recent years.

There were literally thousands of people out on a gorgeous Sunday afternoon in September at the Word on the Street Festival at Queen's Park and it was a smart bit of marketing by one of the colleges at the nearby University of Toronto to hold their used book sale at the same time.

The best book sales are the ones that are used to raise money, either for a library, a school or a cultural organization and usually they will tell you right up front where the money is going. Many of those that don't really tell you where the money is going don't really offer a lot of bargains.

I admit the last thing I need is another book.

Over the years I have picked up many that I haven't yet gotten around to reading.

But when you spend a $1 and get a hardcover by John Irving you don't mind.

The hunt and the anticipation that on a future lazy afternoon you will get around to it, make it all well worth it.