On the way home from work on Friday, I contemplated stopping in at the Friends of the Plano Public Library Book Sale. Despite my extreme fondness for the PPL, I've never been to the annual sale. It runs Thursday night through Saturday afternoon. Thursday night admission is $5, Friday and Saturday there is no charge. I was extremely tired by 7 pm and really just wanted to go home and go to bed. But, I had a feeling that I might be missing out on something important if I went home. So, I turned left instead of right, and ended up at the book sale.
Two observations worth noting:
- I saw at least four copies of Iacocca: An Autobiography on the biography table. How many do you think they started with on Thursday night?
- Someone had put Flaubert's Parrot in the hobby/pets/crafts section. I would love to know if that's where it started out, or if a shopper picked it up in fiction and then left it in the hobby section.
I also picked up a copy of Marguerite Patten's Cakes and Baking. The value of this book lies in its recipe for Battenburg, that oh-so-delicious cake confection from across the pond. In fact, I drove to the TWU library in Denton one evening for the express purpose of copying that recipe out of this very book. And now I have my own copy! After Battenburg, I'll have to learn how to make Guy Fawkes Cake.
I can only suppose, however, that the important thing I was not supposed to miss was The Statesman's Yearbook from 2003. It's a copy retired from the library, complete with book jacket cover, because the library can afford the $190 to buy the current edition. I however, cannot. But I will be perfectly happy with my slightly outdated but drastically discounted copy. It includes a pull-out political world map, a key of national flags, and fascinating tidbits such as the fact that Kazakhstan had 1,129 cinemas in 1997.
Now, I just have to find space for all my new treasures!
BTW, Chasing Vermeer is going to be very good. I had to take time out on Saturday to read Airframe by Michael Crichton, but I'll probably be back to Vermeer tonight.
6 comments:
Wow! I made honorable mention in my very first attempt at commenting! I'm pleased as punch. BTW, very impressed with your blog. Keep up the good work.
Yes, Auntie K truly appreciates all her readers and tries to let you know that when she can. Besides, trading comments is 3/4 of the fun! Thank you for the kind words.
Oh man, a hardback copy of Young Unicorns! I totally missed out! :) Actually, I'm a little relieved that I forgot and missed out this year--my foundation can't handle anymore book-weight.
I listened to the audio version of Chasing Vermeer. I have to say that the last part of the book went in a direction that I didn't expect, and am not sure that I even now completely understand. Perhaps you can explain it to me!
Starrlet, you can console yourself in that The Young Unicorns is pretty beat-up. I think it does have a dust jacket, however, and it isn't a library binding.
Yes, I went very fast and skimmed the tables I looked at rather than inspecting each item, so as to not come out with too much. I still had to break down and get a grocery sack before I was done, however.
Yes, I thought about listening to Chasing Vermeer, but the illustrations are so great, and my book has "extras" at the end (interviews and such), that I think I'll be better off reading. Also, the illustrations contain a coded message. Something having to do with frogs? I'm not very far into it--I've been reading other things the last few days. But the next Balliett book, The Wright 3, is waiting for me to pick up at the library, so guess I have to get moving.
Uh, that would be "Starrlett," not "Starrlet." Sorry about that. I knew something didn't look right when I typed that comment!
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