Wednesday, February 24, 2016

book sale finds

February brings a large area book sale which, over the years, has swelled our home library with many favorites. I didn't scour the children's section as I have in years gone by, but I did find some nice additions and maybe a few that will only be read once and then passed along. It's always a gamble, but when I am paying a dollar or less per book, I can afford to be liberal. 


When I delightedly found the hard cover edition of The Phantom Tollbooth, my 12 year old was incredulous that I was buying yet another copy of this book. "Don't we have like four copies at home already?" Yes, but this one is hardcover and look at the map drawings on the endpapers. And our paperback copies are in varying states of used. And you will each want one for your own libraries. See, completely justified and only a dollar.


The Phantom Tollbooth map
 Some of you saw these spines on my Instagram photo, but really, we all want to see the covers. I haunted the classics and poetry sections of the sale on the night I went and found quite a few treasures. John Buchan's The 39 Steps, Mark Twain's The Innocents Abroad, and T.S. Eliot poems. I have other Buchan books, but I wanted to start his series in the right order. I'm enjoying 39 Steps so far. Capote's Breakfast at Tiffany's was drab. The James Thurber collection, (gray spine on left) looks fun.


*Edited to add:
All the books get the same treatment every year. We wipe the covers down with disinfectant wipes, being careful to not rub too hard. If necessary, we peel old stickers and remove sticker residue with Goo Gone if possible. Then the books are scanned or manually added in to my Library Thing account. It's not a perfect database, but it gives me some idea of what books we have.

7 comments:

  1. So fun! Escape from Warsaw is retitled from it's original title, The Silver Sword (which is what our copy reads), and is very good. So many other great books, too! (Can you believe I've never read The Phantom Tollbooth? If you think it's worth owning several copies, clearly I ought to track one down and read it! ;))

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    1. Stacy, umm, Escape from Warsaw is a second copy too. We have an older edition with the original title, but I think it is falling apart. :)
      The Phantom Tollbooth does not make a good read aloud book because the spelling and words choices are part of the fun. I hope your kids like it too.

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  2. Any of the Cranberry books are a great find!

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    1. Good to know! Thanks for telling me.

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  3. I just acquired a few Faulkner books. Haven't read any yet, though! :) Love your book posts, Heather! I've just started using Goodreads for my book inventory and I really like it. :)

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    1. I picked Library Thing years ago as an online database. I use Goodreads more for the social aspect. I haven't read my Faulkner books yet either. Thanks for stopping by, Catie.

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  4. Oh Swoon! wonderful finds

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