USED BOOKS PHOTO POST

Thrift stores aren't the only place to buy inexpensive books. Remember used bookstores? There are still a few around. 

What I like to do is check out the booksales of your local library. People usually donate a lot of things that for whatever reason, aren't put into circulation. Usually because they are horrible. Sometimes it's just that it's a book they already have, or can't afford the shelf space for a book that's easily available elsewhere. Collected Stories by Edgar Allan Poe? Obscure poetry? Go to the Main Branch! These days you can probably order them online through your library's website and they'll deliver it to your local branch.

As I was saying, library booksales. The best place to get classic plays and old biographies for next to nothing or nothing.

Just this weekend, to get rid of a surplus the library's deal was: fill a shopping bag with books/videos and pay a dollar. That's right. A $1 USD for a standard size plastic bag filled to the brim. Because the money goes to improving the library, I intentionally overpaid. Still a bargain.

Here are some pics. I didn't buy these.

I don't know what this is.

I don't want to know what this is.

 

They had VHS.

All kinds.

Some were quite good, but who has a VCR that doesn't threaten to chew up tapes constantly? If you, then you shoulda been there.

 

This is the worst design with text I've ever seen. At least for a bookcover. Typefaces are bad. Kerning wasn't given any thought.

On top of that, the book itself filled me with anxiety. This is something out of Office Space.

 Enthralling!

What?

Weird Show wasn't weird enough for me. 

Believe me, I looked.

This was weirder than the Weird book. 

LOL!

Reading the way women wrote/talked in the 1970s... I kinda would rather watch Taxi.

The selection I read—there was a woman who complained that every time she and a female friend were out and about, they were harassed by men. They could not have a peaceful conversation without being bothered by men on the prowl, so they'd do their best to disgust them by picking their noses and being generally off-putting. Funny, but irrelevant now.

A fundraiser cookbook from a Japanese American organization? 

That's a BIG YES! My mother collects such things. This is totally a part of our Japanese American culture.

The following five cookbooks were from a much larger collection. The covers had beautiful photography. I could have easily fit them all into the bag, but I didn't bite. Realistically, I knew I'd never get around to using them. And, I can't afford the shelf space.

Southern

Pacific Northwest

Baking

Northeast

Caribbean

And finally, here's my take:

• Stephen Colbert I Am America (And So Can You!) — 1st edition, missing dust jacket 
• Howard Stern Private Parts — I was just thinking about tracking this down. I'm not sure why. I'm not a huge fan, I'm not very familiar, but I do like the guy. Maybe it just seeped into my brain by seeing too many America's Got Talent tv ads. I realize his life is much different today than from when the book was written, but I am still interested in parts of it.
• Better Homes and Gardens Fresh and Simple Quick-Toss Salad Meals — the title is longer than the content.
• The Playboy Gourmet — I'd seen this before and wanted it, but it was priced too high. This time it was virtually free. The recipes are so old and just... not the way people eat anymore. They are interesting to read through and imagine how classy people must have felt in the 1970s when they prepared and served these foods at sexy [orgy-filled?] weekend soirees in their homes. The 1970s food photography is great for a laugh too.