The only bad thing about beginning a new semester is having to shell out the big bucks to buy books.  I’ve never quite understood why textbooks were so expensive–after all, aren’t they just covers with a bunch of pages stuck in-between?  When it comes to buying books, I have two bits of advice.  First, try to find a fellow student who has already taken the class and has the particular book that you’re interested in.  Make a deal–it’s just about guaranteed that their price will be far lower than what you might encounter in the bookstore.  Secondly, try to buy used books from the bookstore, if at all possible.  Hit the bookstore as soon as you return from summer or Christmas break, while there’s still used books available for purchase.  On a different note, we have a pretty awesome bookstore here at Lyon.  It has practically everything you can imagine.  School supplies, college logo apparel, greeting cards, cool knick-knacks, food items, and books (of course) are stocked in abundance in the bookstore.  And if you need some help finding something, Sandy Michael and the rest of the bookstore staff are more than willing to help!