bagged books
May. 12th, 2009 07:59 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
bluecastleI’ve been going to this sale every year since I was a little girl and my Dad and I would drive over the mountain to attend. Back then it was in a church fellowship room. Many of my favorite childhood books from my 28_Books series back in February still have their distinctive blue and white price tags on them as they sit in my study filling up my shelves, still precious all these years later.
But the sale is huge now. So I just wait until the last day and go paw through the books no one else wanted and see what is ripe for the picking. There wasn’t a lot left when I went over at lunchtime today. I think there were 6 sad books left on the science fiction table. Mostly what’s left is cookbooks, outdated textbooks, John Grisham novels, and biographies about people no one seems to care about.
Now and then there are hidden treasures. I’m not sure anything I got qualifies as a treasure, but I did a lot of just picking up things that looked interesting. So for the sake of all you eclectics out there… here’s what I came home with for my $2.50 (since it wasn’t a full bag they only charged me half price, which shocked me. They never did THAT before).
If we are what we read… what does this say about me? …
Floor Sample: A Creative Memoir (Julia Cameron, 2006) I couldn’t NOT pick up something called a ‘creative memoir.' I read the first couple pages with my dinner, and I’m hooked already.
Contrary Mary (Temple Bailey, 1915) again, drawn in by the title… the the chapter descriptions… “Chapter 1 … In which silken ladies ascend one stairway, and a lonely wayfarer ascends another and comes face to face with old friends.” delightful, no?
The Chorus of Praise (ed. J. M. Black, 1898) it’s essentially a Sunday school hymnal, snagged for the graphic nature of the music more than anything else. Also battered but useful to keep on hand as a prop for those shows which require small hymnals.
Haworth and the Brontes: A Visitor’s Guide (by W.R. Mitchell, 1969. list price: 6 shillings)
London A to Z: Street Atlas and Index (12th edition) No doubt out of date, but but helpful for those vacations planned but never taken, or when writing fiction and you suddenly need to know how to get from Maida Vale to the Cromwell Road.
The Nine Tailors (Dorothy L. Sayers) just a jolly good find. I’m well on my way to being totally wim-sical. :0{)
The Last Temptation (Val McDermid) because I can’t seem to get enough of broody detectives lately.
Tarka the Otter (Henry Williamson, c. 1927) because every other English book seems to have a mention of this stupid otter. Ironically, I just noticed a note on the back cover that says “For copyright reasons this edition is not for sale in the U.S.A.” It’s stamped inside E.D. Galgotia & Sons, Booksellers, Connaught Place, New Delhi. Cool.
The Small Room – A novel about women in academic life, set on the campus of a New England college (May Sarton, 1961) perhaps because my own college experience was so dreadful, I am a sucker for stories of co-eds at women’s colleges.
Other Voices, Other Vistas – Short stories from Africa, China, India, Japan, and Latin America (1992) because diversity is important!
Julie (Catherine Marshall) 1934. Pennsylvania. mill town. small town girl and a small town newspaper. simple. mostly though it wound up in my bag on the strength of my liking “Christy” despite the religiousness.
We Always Wore Sailor Suits (Susanna Agnelli, 1975) again, how to resist the title. And when I read ‘autobiographical. Italy. 20s – 40s, it was a keeper!
Saint Jack (Paul Theroux, 1973) the author caught my eye, the words “In Singapore’s hot and steamy street, meet Jack Flowers – world traveler, ship’s chandler, bearer of ornate tattoos, drinker of pink gins …” and I was all over this.
