MM: BOOK FAIR!!

March 06, 2013


In actuality, this was the Mailbox Monday for LAST week, but since there were so many pictures to take of this one and things to get together (not to mention trying to find room for all the books and receive them), and other things to do last week, I missed the deadline on having it ready in time.

The yearly book fair from my local library is the result of all these new books. That Tuesday we went to a mini library sale, and then the big bash was held all day Friday and until 11 PM Saturday.


Friday Melissa and I spent a few hours there in the morning, then came back with Starbucks to look through everything. I already had quite a bit. But Saturday I wanted to check out the bag sale day so went at 10:00. Their bag sale turned out to be $1.00 for all the books you could fit into a plastic bag. Ended up getting many more.

After putting all the new books into Goodreads, stamping, sorting, and taking pictures after arranging them, I'm a bit behind. Have most put away but there are a few stragglers still since I am redoing the book room and where some of the genres are for room and better organization.

The book sale was a LOT of fun. They didn't have many of certain genres - hardly any horror, urban fantasy, paranormal, or fantasy. They had a lot of romance (Of course), general drama (some very good ones), some nonfiction of course, older YA and childrens tales.

I bought more than I will display here. I purchased 10 childrens books hardcovers of one author, romance and many more that I will be putting up for donation. Since they aren't technically mine won't be putting them up here.

The sale held 2500 books total. I know they had a decent amount left at the end but hope the turnout was good for the library trying to raise money.  Although some of these were from the smaller sale Tuesday, I threw them all together anyway to make it easier.

Now, on to the books!




Mysteries




First, I hit a GOLDMINE of Lilian Jackson Braun mystery novels. My friend Melissa was lucky to find some Rita Mae Brown cat mystery novels I didn't get to in time. It's cool we both walked away with a cat series.

Behold:



I also found many Sue Grafton novels. One, D is for Deadbeat, doesn't have a cover. Argh! I already own A is for Alibi and B is for Burglar. Of course I'm missing C =(.  I'm now missing G, E, R, H, I, L, T, and V, but own the rest of the alphabet above.

I found another Tony Hillerman series to add to the collection, The Blessing Way. I own about five others collected through the years. This happens to be, luckily, the first in the series. Sudden Mischief (far left) is #25 of a series - yowza. Mercy Street is a mix between mystery and thriller/suspense but is first in a series. Devious is the seventh of the New Orleans series, which I hadn't previously heard of. So many mystery series, so little time? A Body to Die For is book two of Bailey Weggins series, and The Death Dealer is book 6 of a series.



The first book, Emma Chizzit and the Mother Lode Marauder, has such an unusual cover and obviously was a library edition. It's all in black and white and almost looks self-published. Thale's Folly was written by the creator of the Mrs. Pollifax mystery series.   Emma Chizzit and the Napa Nemesis 
is another one with a strange cover!  Others pictured: My Gal Sunday,
The Beggar's Opera, and Light Thicken.



Curtain is Agatha's Christie final novel written for Hercule Poirot before he's killed off. I could have sworn I owned it but cannot find it anywhere in the home library. I'm hoping to find all the novels about the infamous Belgian detective before reading this one. I have three books by Mary Roberts Rinehart and greatly enjoyed them, so I'm happy to have found The Case of Jennie Brice. Cyanide Wells seems to be a suspense-thriller type, as does A Sight for Sore Eyes, both seeming interesting.


Another Mary Higgins Clark to try out, Pretend you don't see her. I read some of her growing up but not much. Two by a new to me author, Colin Dexter, who the librarian recommended: Last Bus to Woodstock and The Daughters of Cain. And last of this pile, a good looking cover and crime-ridden sounding plot, In Plain View. 

Horror



As I said, horror was small compared to other genres, but I did manage to pick up a good couple. I already owned Lost Boy, Lost Girl in hardback form, but to free up bookshelf space and because it was such a steal, I picked this one up and will donate the hardcover to the clubhouse library.  Farris 'When Michael Calls' sounds like a fun 80's type horror book (not sure when it was written). Urban Gothic is a book I actually don't own by Brian Keene yet (gasp!)  The Pines is a cheesy type sounding one form the 80's but it also sounds cool as all can get. Buick 8 by King...well, not sure it will be up my alley but it's a King book I don't own so no big loss picking it up. The dog cover hiding below the others is a really nifty sounding book (sounds creepy, unique, and original) called The Book of Lies.
It's not pure horror, but it's strange sounding.

Gone South by Robert McCammon is a "of course, must buy." Forbidden is the first in a series called The Book of Mortals, and Dragon King is NOT horror, but the only fantasy I bought so I threw it in there.


Young Adult and Children


Most of these books are older YA types or children types book. A few I read when I was younger and wanted for old time's sake (Babysitter's Club anyone?)

I'm a big Christopher Pike dork. STILL I haven't got my favorite by him, and one of my favorite books period, Whisper of Death. My copy disappeared years ago. I've never read a Spooksville but grabbed them - I'm guessing they are like RL Stines Goosebump series. I already have read The Last Vampire but didn't own sequels, so am happy to have found three of them.


These are some child YA, The Family Under the Bridge I owned when I was a kid and forgot about. The others are typically fifth grade to junior high level. Will likely donate them when I've read them and seen if son wants to read any of them. I remember having Secrets in the Attic when I was a kid too.

Others:




Two of the RL Stines are Find your own Adventure types of books written for a very young age: Golden Sword of Dragonwalk and The Cult of the Mummy's Crypt. The Evil Moon is a fear street I don't have. How I broke up with Ernie...when I was a teenager I remember reading the ads for this book in the back of Fear Streets but never could find it anywhere. It was a comedy type he wrote early in his career.

I absolutely adore the YA series covers with the vampires. Found book 3 and 1: Re-Vamped! and Switched. The Bogeyman Caper and the Campfire Ghosts are also children's series book that will be donated to the clubhouse soon. SO Cute looking! Tom Sawyer Abroad is a book Mark Twain wrote with mixed reviews. And I keep stumbling upon new Spiderwick Chronicles books (The Nixie's Song, Beyond the Spiderwick Chronicles 1), goodie for me for my collection. Also picked up a Boxcar Children, remember reading those as a youngster also.

I used to adore The Babysitter's Club and found six more to re-add to the collection. Well, most of these it doesn't seem that I read. I remember reading Welcome Back, Stacy!, but I didn't read Mary Anne Vs. Logan, Little Miss Stoneybrook...and Dawn, Mary Anne and Too Many Boys, Dawn on the coast, and Jesse and the Superbrat.


For some more "Modern" YA, found another Harry Potter I didn't have, Chamber of Secrets and Goblet of Fire. Gallows Hill is from Lois Duncan, who I'm trying to collect.  Found two more Vampire Academys (woohoo!) Frostbite and Shadow's Kiss, and a Cirque Du Freak Book, Killers of the Dawn. Killers is book 9, which I won't get to for awhile, but Frostbite and Shadow's Kiss are the second and third of the series, so can read them right away.




Drama And General Fiction


I had a great time with the Drama section and found tons of good books I'm excited to read. 


Would you believe I still have never read Gone with the Wind???

The Hound Of the Baskervilles and A Christmas Carol were easy classics to grab up. A Prayer for Owen Meanie was part of the male grab bag, as was Catch -22. 
I want to collect all of John Steinbeck's books so instantly grabbed up Cannery Row.
Not sure if I'll ever be able to really read Shakespeare, but grabbed up All's Well that Ends Well. Night was a book I read in college and wished to revisit.



I was delighted to find three books by Philippa Gregory after enjoying The Boleyn Inheritance. The Other Boleyn Girl and The Virgin's Lover are of the same Tudor Court Series. Wideacre is of another series I haven't read yet, but it is the first book.

For the second picture, I found the complete trilogy, then two books on a series that was spawned off the trilogy. Not sure if they are romance or drama or gothic. I know they are Christian and family saga fiction. I love family saga stuff. The top three are together, and the bottom two are the spinoff series.



I have never read Emilie Richards before, do you think I'll enjoy her? Found these four books and they looked tempting. Beautiful Lies, Fox River, Iron Lace, and Rising Tides.  I'm not sure how to label her genre yet. Some sound like romance, others fiction, others mystery-ish. I have one by Maeve Binchy I haven't read, so I added this new one, Circle of Friends. I used to have an Erma Bombeck comedy I adored, so instantly nabbed up Family Ties that Bind...and Gag! Others picked up here are Life, Libby, and the Pursuit of Happiness, The Red Hat Club, Georgia Bottoms, and Little Altars Everywhere.


Belva Plain has written a lot of novels, many of which I've never read. Looking Back just made it's way into my massive TBR pile. The Bean Trees looks cute. The Corps ... well, it was another grab from the "man bag", so we shall see. The Yellow House sounds intriguing enough.





I have to say I'm in love with some of these covers. Pure drama laden stuff: Those who Save Us, Nella Last's Peace, The Very Thought of You, Middlesex, Nights in Rodanthe, and The Cat's Table. I have a feeling most of these will be tear jerkers.



Yes, the controversial Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Ghost Recon, The Gun Ketch, Year of the Tiger  and December 6 are other ones from the "guy pile" A Separate Country and The Silent gift seem like tear jerkers. The Weird Sisters and The Secret Sisters - do I sense a sisters theme? Others: The Gold Coast


The librarian highly recommended The Orchid Thief to me. Sounds...different. Other books: The Tiger's Wife, The Observations, A Violet Season, Cane River, Autumn Laing, Run, and the Butterfly Cabinet.

Romance


Of course, where books are to be found, there's tons of romance. I need no more, but they call to me to collect like it's nobody's business. For some odd reason I am in the mood for Indian Romances. This happens every few years. I was mainly browsing for those.

Found a few:


Malachite  - Walks in Shadow  - Apache Legacy - Half-Breeds Lady - Tykota's Woman - Sun Hawk - Bold Wolf.  I have read three of these types in the past week and a half. They're not the easiest to find either. It's a bizarre addiction that strikes every so often. Why? Who knows. But there was a fun story telling my fiance about this in a bookstore a week ago. He made sure to make fun of me that day. Should I keep my mouth shut about liking Pirate romances too?


I'm not even going to bother listing these, too much work. SOOOO many Nora Roberts. Amazingly I only ended up owning one of these already when I went home to check. How many books did she write? I now have Nora Roberts books coming out of my ears.

These two Nicholas Sparks books, Message in a Bottle and The Choice, will work well for the challenge this year. Naked Duke looks like a humorous Contemporary, as does The Model Man and Unveiled. I'm not much for Contemporary other than Harlequins, but these looked fun.




















I'm such a Harlequin addict. Way too many to list. I sectioned them off by Presents, Harlequin Romance, and Misc. Harlequins.

I haven't yet read Debbie Macomber. Here's hoping I like her writing style.











 I had one great experience with a book of hers years ago, and then one bad experience. Still I try to grab her stuff when I can. I believe she only wrote 12 books total in her career. Here is The Reluctant Suitor, one of her most famous Ashes in the Wind, The Wolf and the Dove, and Shanna. I think at one point I owned three of these, or read them as teenagers.

Paranormal Romance



There weren't many of these to find that I was interested in, but was lucky to grab Tempted, Eternal Hunger, Tiger Eye, and Sunrise in a Garden of Love and Evil. Tiger Eye is the first in a series, while Tempted and Eternal Hunger are #3 in other series.

Religious Studies



Found some good looking books for the religious collection from that table for a great price for the bag deal. Care of the Soul: A Guide for Cultivating Depth and Sacredness in Everyday Life 

Thrillers/Suspense



I already have more suspense and thrillers than I can read it seems. I haven't really been in the mood to read them for a few years. I need to force myself to try one and get a good book out of it so I can move onward with further reading. I think I get burned out on a lot of the cliche scenarios from some of the suspense novels. The traditional serial killer and police chasing them can get old. 

I also dislike most amnesia stories, but I still picked up Before I Go To Sleep . Part was the amazing cover (it has a neat feel to it as well,) but another major reason is the plot reminded me of the Drew Barrymore flick where she loses her memory every night when she goes to sleep. The Killing Game (Eve Duncan, #2) is the second book of the Eve Duncan series. I have always heard good things about Iris Johansen. 

The librarian highly recommended Harlan Coben to me, so I picked up both his books, No Second Chance and Bolitar's Game: Back Spin / The Final Detail / Darkest Fear. They are mystery-ish also so I'm not sure if I categorized them well in Suspense. Will know more when I read them.

The others grabbed are Slipknot, Beverly Hills Dead, and Double Tap.


Always a great idea to grab up more Tami Hoag when you get the chance! Dust to Dust, Kill the Messenger, Final Target, Tiger Prince, and Dark Horse.


F. Paul Wilson is an instant grab, no matter when, where, or how. I was delighted to find Gateways.

Others listed:
Boy in the Water 
Executive Privilege   
Suspicion of Innocence (Gail Connor and Anthony Quintana #1)
The Innocent Man   
Born To Die (To Die, #3)

 (Books About Books)


The bookshop look like a fun, intriguing drama I had to grab. Any book that focuses on bookstores, librarians, or avid readers makes it an easy sell. Book Lust: Recommended Reading for Every Mood, Moment, and Reason is a non-fiction book recommendation guide. It's slightly outdated now but I can't wait to read it. One of my favorite finds of the fair.

Miscellaneous


 And, finally, the last purchases. A truly awesome tote bag. The inside of it clips with a snap button and even though you can't tell well from the picture, there is a front pocket on the front. Out of all the book totes I own this may be the best quality in terms of feature and material. It was only $2.00! I bought one for myself and one for Melissa, we got the last two left. The hunger games shirt is rather plain but they were trying to get rid of them at only $1.00 a piece. How could I resist? In fact, when I went back Saturday I was wearing the shirt and found it so comfortable I bought an extra so I could keep two around.


Well, this Mailbox Monday is now finally done. It's now published Wednesday morning and over a week late. I'm such a slow person and a procrastinator. =)