Thrifts Don’t Check, They Just Tape Shut

There was a Buy-One-Get-One-Free in the games at the thrift store. I wanted this U.S. Army version of Monopoly, of which I’ve never seen before and likely would never see again, but of course, they always tape the boxes shut, so I couldn’t check it. And, of course, I get home, and it has some clothes and card games in it… no cool Monopoly game. A wise man told me to always cut that tape and inspect before purchasing, but I failed to do so and look at this. I was blinded, perhaps, by the really neat Axis & Allies game I picked up last week.

However, the puzzle I picked up with this for the BOGO turned out to be the actual find… 4000 pieces, and all in the bag, unopened! That made up for the Monopoly disappointment.

The Count of Monte Cristo • Finished!

I finally finished The Count of Monte Cristo, the 1,061-page translation that isn’t easy to read. There’s a version I recently acquired that has been translated into contemporary English, which is the version most people read. However, I discovered that there were different translations only after I was already deep into this one. I couldn’t turn back because, when I previously attempted to read this book, I got to page 365 (a number that will be remembered in infamy for me), and I couldn’t just stop again.

I did find two errors in this big book (I’m showing only one here). They can put out a book with maybe a million words in it, get all but two of them right, and I’m the smart guy who’ll point those two out to the world.

To be quite spoiled, I now have three versions of this book: the Barnes & Noble edition that I just finished, which is a mass-produced, quality volume; the Easton Press copy, which is of even better quality; and the standard Penguin Classics edition, which is the most readable but doesn’t come in a quality format like the other two.

It was a good thing to read, beyond the story itself, because this book was an actual challenge. Most books I read cover topics I find interesting or tell stories that flow easily, but this one was tough. Not bad, just tough. It didn’t flow as easily as a Brad Thor or Vince Flynn book. People simply talked differently almost two centuries ago, and the societal customs, currency, and other details always made the reading more challenging. But I’m ready to get back to other things now.

I was going to jump into War & Peace (the Easton Press copy), but I’m going to take a break from that kind of massive challenge. It’s hard enough just to get through regular books, much less something like that. I’m not exactly a speed-reader!

This is the third 1,000-plus-page book I’ve read in the last few years. The other two were John Toland’s biography of Hitler and Ian Kershaw’s biography of Hitler—or at least the first half of Kershaw’s, anyway.

Axis & Allies

Being half-off Saturday, this shouldn’t have still been on the shelf for only six bucks. I have no idea how to play it, but couldn’t pass it up, the topic is great for a game. I also have RISK, which I also haven’t played before.

I also saw a new version of Stratego, which, in order to enhance the realism, added hot babes, who of course would have helped Napoleon win at Waterloo. Just a little tiny bit of historical revisionism added to enhance gameplay.

Time/Life Reprinted Classics

I didn’t know this for a long time, but select Time/Life sets continued by reprinting books that were referenced in their content. And they did a great job, too, with leather covers, gilded pages, quality paper, and so on.

I don’t come across them very often, so when I get a chance, I pick them up!

I only have two of the World War II books, but I have a decent number of the series on Epic of Flight, The Civil War, and The Old West. I think I have maybe 30% of all four of these reprint sets, so there is a way to go! (And yes, I put the two Eldorado books together after this photo was taken!)

Beep… Thump… Beep… Thump… Beep… Thump…

Another reason to dislike those resellers (Do you see… it?) that go through every single book at the thrift store so that the selection isn’t as good as it should be.

They have these scanners and they quickly scan every single book, with a “beep” and the sound of the book being shoved quickly back into place. Over, and over, and over… with every book in the store, while actual book people are trying to concentrate on the books for sale.

This guy didn’t put each book back where he found it, everything was askew. My guess is that this isn’t a book-reading kind of guy, he’s just there to fill his online store, or is working for someone else.