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!)
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.
I got lucky today and found most of these at the Arvada ARC, and all at reasonable prices when not Saturday half-off. They just put them on the shelf; usually by the time I get there, all the good stuff has been picked through, often by the resellers who go through every book with their scanners and block the aisles with their buggy full of the best of the crop of books. Not a fan of those resellers.
This book from 1951 sat at the thrift store for about five weeks. It was somewhat unique, as it had the same title as one of John Grisham’s earlier novels, one that I read many years ago. This one had a battered dust jacket that I fixed.
It sat, week after week, even after its blue sticker was the non-sale tag a second time, so it went through the entire sale tag cycle at the ARC thrift.
I finally bought it for several reasons: I’ve been reading a lot of old books lately; it isn’t very long, it is a genre that I like, and nobody else wanted it. I saved a book. Obviously, I can’t save every book, but this one? Okay.
These are my high-end books, or most of them. Easton Press leather-bound editions, some Barnes & Noble Collector’s Editions, and a few others. The John Wyndham Omnibus on the right was a great find, as I want to read those other books anyway. He wrote my favorite, “Day of the Triffids,” and his other books, which are well-regarded science fiction, I really need to give a try.
I could give a story on every book here, but it is enough to say that higher-quality books feel so much better to hold while reading than normal books. I like them all—beat-up books, normal hardback, ex-library, paperbacks in any condition… but leather-bound books are the best. Expensive, but worth it.
Another great example of a book I wanted to buy, but couldn’t because it was so ruined by doodles and underlining.
I recently watched a video by a guy who has a bookstore and reads a hundred books a year; he said that reading is a conversation and one should have food stains, writing, notes, underlining, etc, in books.
I believe that one should get jail time for this kind of thing!
I originally made it to page 365 in “The Count of Monte Cristo” before I was distracted by other books. Now, I’m at page 200 out of more than 1000 pages. Has anybody else read this book?
This translation is the slightly-more-difficult-to-read “Modern Library Translation” and not the more modern-accessible “Robin Buss translation”.
This copy is the Barnes & Noble Collector’s Edition, not a bad value for the money, but I’m going to eventually get the Easton Press (more expensive) version as it is the “Robin Buss” translation. I’d like to know how much easier that is to read. I think the Penguin Books version is “Robin Buss”.
1. Quality over Quantity. 2. Always carry a book with you. 3. Read with a pen. 4. Books are not precious things. 5. Read while you eat. 6. Stop watching news. 7. ReRead books. 8. Don’t be a snob. 9. Keep a commonplace book. 10. Quit bad books. 11. Good books aren’t hard. 12. Ask “What book changed your life?” 13. Look for wisdom not facts. 14. Find your next book in that book. Footnotes, annexures, bibliography 15. Read everything about the authors you love. 16. Buy books immediately 17. Speed reading is a scam 18. Build an anti-library 19. Read like a spy. 20. Go to bookstores. 21. Don’t skip prefaces 22. Pay it forward.
Number three and four, I have some disagreements with; it stinks to find a great book at a great price, and find that they have been completely written in. Especially if all of the underlining is shaky and the writing is unreadable.
And, books are precious things. But I do get that usage is okay, however beating them up is unnecessary. I do like well-used books, but not abusing them when there is no need to.
Re-reading books, ABSOLUTELY. Totally correct.
Quitting bad books, yeah. Back in the day there are some horrible books I just plowed through because I wasn’t a quitter. I’m far more of a quitter these days. My interest in Science Fiction took a big hit when I began to quit bad books, because so many of them have great covers and reviews, but are absolutely terrible.
I was at a bookseller recently, and this woman made a comment about a political figure, mocking the idea of reading his book. That is how one stays ignorant. That book represents, that political figure, he signed off on it, and that is how one learns more about that person. Hate him or like him, one would know more by reading about him. Instead, she apparently only reads things that she agrees with, which is just a big echo chamber, comfortable ignorance.
I keep a file on my phone/computer of passages that I find I want to remember. It is quite extensive now.
What I need to do is build a character list of characters in a book, as I come across them when reading. A good reference which would help as I get along in the book. But I don’t always want to stop to do this, but it would really be helpful. I actually did this in high school when reading “IT”, by Stephen King. The character list I made still exists today, bad handwriting and all!
