Today I went to a going-out-of-business book sale. Now I hate to see any bookstore close its doors, but it was probably inevitable with this one. Nice people, but not good businessmen. They were in a bad location. Old book and new books were mixed together. Way too much Tom Clancy and Danielle Steel type stuff for my tastes. Still I'm sorry to see them go.
But I do have some consolation, like this book autographed by one of my favorite mystery writers. Sharyn McCrumb can do it all. She can write suspense and she can be very, very funny as she is in my favorite (so far) of her books "If I'd Killed Him When I Met Him."
I also picked up this autographed beauty from George Plimpton, and to paraphrase Will Rogers
"They ain't making any more of them." :
I also got this Wizard of Oz book I've been wanting:
This art book:
(What? It's art!)I also picked up Frank Sinatra: My father by Nancy Sinatra, The Atlas of Past Times by John Haywood, one of the few P.J. O'Rourke books I don't have, If You Want to Write by Branda Ueland, a golf book for either my brother or my father, a beautiful 100th anniversary edition of East of Eden, Mark O'Donnell's novel Getting Over Homer, three really nice baseball books including this one:
First Words: Early Writings From 22 Favorite Contemporary Authors from Paul Mandelbaum, When I Was Your Age: Remarkable Achievements of Writers, Artists and musicians at every age from 1 to 100, and The Billiard Table Murders from Glen Baxter, whom I'd never heard of, but it looks like I've been missing out.Oh, and an official Spalding Baseball score book.
And finally, I'm usually pretty persnickety about the condition of the books I buy. All the books other than this one are new or at least look new. This one's a little beat up and it's got an inscription, but I couldn't resist:
I was kinda surprised that there was a 77-page manual on such an activity, but obviously there's a lot about it I don't know.And I got all of these books for 26 bucks. Talk about nirvana.
Then when I got home, this was in my mailbox:
That one I got free from Book Mooch, one of my favorite websites, both as way to get new books and to find good homes for books of mine that are ready to move on.Next weekend is the Heroes Con where there will be a whole convention center full of books and comics to rummage through. I'll be so innerly peaceful I may ascend.
3 comments:
You just always make me laugh!
I've often thought I should write a book about women's restrooms (a la Bill Bryson). Lord knows I've visited enough of them around the country! If there's a market for how to shit in the woods, who's to say it wouldn't sell.
BTW, if you haven't read The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid, you should. Better yet, listen to Bryson read it on CD.
If you write a book about women's restrooms I'll definitely buy a copy. I've always wondered what goes on in there -- I mean, besides the obvious.
I have everything Bill Bryson's ever written. He's great. I wrote a little mini review of The Thunderbolt Kid back in February when I read it. I've just spent the last thirty minutes trying to create a link to that blog entry without getting anywhere, but if you're interested, you can search for Bryson and that'll take you to it.
Fun stuff... you just reminded me to read A Walk in the Woods - that's one I'd like to read, and keep saying I'll get around to, but keep forgetting for some reason.
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