This World War I book, I actually didn’t have, and it has an introduction by John Keegan. Published in 1980, I find it hard to believe I haven’t seen this book before at all of the book sales and thrift/book stores I’ve frequented over the years!
The Demon of Unrest was published within the year, a 2024 book and still has the original $18.99 price tag on it. I got it for nowhere near that much!
Scholar of Mahem is one of those first-person accounts that I like so much, so that was a no-brainer to pick up.
Bloodlands is a book I already had, and accidentally bought again. Turns out I had a beat-up paperback, and this one is hardback. So, everything worked out. And it looks to be a great book on a topic that is extremely interesting.
I was at an estate sale on Thursday; there were some magazines I needed to come closer to completing my “America in World War II” set, published 2005-2019. Thirty cents apiece! While this magazine maintains a web site, they don’t appear to still be in print, which is too bad. Many magazines like this are going quarterly, thinner, or just disappearing.
I just noticed that the books in the set on the right are inserted backwards in the case. I had to wait a week for these to become half-off, they were both a great deal! Good for me, but a shame that most people don’t give a hoot about these subjects.
I never see things like this at the thrifts: military books on cd! This was a great deal! I have read Helmet for My Pillow, which is one of the two books that the miniseries The Pacific is based on.
Another week of great finds! I had to leave some behind for various reasons, mostly price and lack of room for new books. But all of these are just great! Behind the Curtain is similar to another book I’ve read that was published around the same time, by another journalist except this one was trying to stay ahead of the Nazi advance, and the one in this book is describing how the Iron Curtain is from behind it. I could go on about each book here, but suffice to say, they all look to be great reading and good additions to my library. The most expensive books were only three dollars, at the ARC where for a while the standard for hardbacks had changed to nine, before the half-off Saturday discount. Most of these here were $1.50-$2.00. One or two of these are only a few years old, and we all know how expensive brand-new hardbacks are!
Report From Ground Zero • I sampled a few paragraphs from this before I bought it, and he was describing what it was like to find someone’s foot and leg bone, and what they did with it. We shouldn’t forget these things, all most people remember or know is the sight of the buildings burning, but there is so much more that happened.
Went to four ARC thrifts this weekend for their half-off Saturday sale, and also hit an estate sale where I picked up four really old yearbooks for next to nothing. One of them was from 1902, and the other three were before World War II! I haven’t purchased this many books in a really long time! I’m finding that estate sales can have a kind of depressing air about them, as usually someone has passed away and all of their things are for sale… right where that person lived, and maybe died. In this case, it was a dirty, dusty house full of stuff that had to have been a rough job for the people running the sale. The book selection was one of those odd situations where all of the books didn’t interest me at all, save for the yearbooks. But at least at sales like this, things can be both cheap, and still flexible in price. Also, many of the books I saw at one of the ARC stores gave off the possibility that some World War II vet had just passed away, or someone older with that kind of interest based on the volume of books and the date they were published. Another one of those sad realities.
Thirteen books added to my library this week! That is the neat thing about having your own library, it is tailored to my interests, and every book I have is one that I could just pick up and read without having to wonder if it is remotely interesting. That has already been determined. Every book I buy is reviewed on the spot as to whether would be worth my time to read, so the library is 100% up my alley, so to speak. Not so much at the public libraries, that is another conversation/lecture! I’m not going to comment on each book here, most of them are self-explanatory.
Hillbilly Elegy • I’ve heard a lot about this book, it was written maybe ten years ago, obviously before becoming Vice President.
Makin’ Tracks • I watched the series Hell On Wheels, which was not a consistently good series, but the aspect of the story about building the railroad was always the interesting part of it, as well as the productions values in respect to recreating pieces of history.
The Survivor of the Holocaust • First-hand accounts are one of my favorite kind of book.
Klondike Fever • I read a book about the history of Alaska, so this is an continuation of that.
Men at Sea • Many good perspectives on something I am glad I’ve never had to do.
Total Recall • I do have issues with Arnold on politics, and like anybody, he’s made some big mistakes in life, but at the same time, there is a lot to admire about the guy, and his story has to be very interesting. Plus, Terminator and Predator are two of the best movies ever made.
randyrydberg.org 