Big booksale today for Calgary Reads of whom I knew nothing about before…besides seeing this booksale advertized in previous years.  I still know nothing about them but the booksale was quite fabulous!  A whole indoor skating arena sans ice filled with tables and table of glorious books.  They charged me a couple of bucks to get in, which I think is simply beyond the point.  I AM going to spend gadfuls of money there anyway, why the superfluous token fee?

Besides this one little old lady in black who kept pushing me around the Classics area (really lady, they are Classics because they are not going out of style anytime soon.  Why the rush?), they had some awesome selection for paperbacks, surprisingly.  Usually, the library disgard paperbacks are so read that the spine is practically chalk.  These books, for the most part, were gently used and some looked brand new.  I swear some people only create libraries for show and don’t actually read their own books but replace them as trends change.

The only disappointment were the two tables Calgary Reads deemed as Bestsellers, which they were.  I was very impressed with the knowledge of the people who put that table together because the books have been very good, and might I add very literary, reads of the past couple of years.  The only problem was that they wanted $5 a shot for them.  Granted, it’s a lot cheaper than buying them for $20-30-50 brand new, but it would certainly bump up my book shopping accounts quite expendiently so I reluctantly replaced the Sylvanus Now signed by the Donna Morrissey, the author, and went back to getting pushed around the table by the little old lady (I think perhaps that was her job).

One last table of interest:  the silent auction table.  It had a hardcover copy of The Journals of Susanna Moodie by Maragaret Atwood with a starting bid of $30.  There were no bids yet.  They had a book 246 years old, and a few books from the 1800′s.  One, in particular, a textbook of the grammar of the Cree Language looked very interesting.  The starting on that one was $180, I think.  The super old one had a bookplate from The Duke of Montrose.  This is why I always ruin my books with plates.  I plan for people to ponder me and my taste in books once I’m dust.  It’ll be like a Dan Brown mystery but more tasteful and less exciting.

Getting to the point, these are the books I bought:

1.  My Cousin Rachel by Daphne du Maurier

2.  Misery by Stephen King (beautiful trade edition, rare).

3.  Sons and Lovers by D.H. Lawrence

4.  Three Novellas by D.H. Lawrence (take THAT little old lady)

5.  Cry, the Beloved Country by Alan Paton

6.  Obasan by Joy Kogawa (my treasure find)

7.  A Widow for One Year by John Irving

8.  Who Has Seen the Wind? by W.O. Mitchell (a SK standard I never read)

9.  Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha by Roddy Doyle

and one book of poems for my friend, B. that I can’t say what ’tis since I have to send it to him!  I bought an armful of chapters books for the kidlings and a John La Carre for the hubby.  There was plenty’o'La Carre.  Guy’s a maniac.  The total, plus admission, was $23.  Not too shabby!  I just might go back tomorrow and see about Ms. Atwood.

Related Britty Bites: