I found biographies of Georges Simenon (1903-1989), Ivor Novello (1893-1951) and Margery Allingham (1904-1966), the latter which I had already read, but didn't wish to see it disappear. Also, The Nehrus and the Gandhis: an Indian Dynasty (beginning with Jawaharlal Nehru, 1889-1964) and The Letters of Nancy Mitford (1904-1973).
Another book, the Fall of the Vanderbilts (Consuelo's family), spans the lives of "The Commodor" born 1794 through "Mrs (Grace Wilson) Vanderbilt" who died in 1953. Also, Gladys, the Duchess of Marlborough (after Consuelo divorced the same Duke).
Finally, two autobiographies, written by Adeline Yen Mah (born 1937, China) and Mathilde Kschessinska (1872-1971) (Russian ballerina). I don't usually do autobiographies, but these were too exotic to pass up.
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| Her Serene Highness |
On one hand, I think I hit the jackpot, for a grand total of £3.75! On the other, I'm horrified at what the library is discarding. I worry that one day I'll only find biographies of Posh Spice and Katie Price and I'll sadly find myself agreeing with Bill's views about the waste of public money on free libraries. One thing is for sure, the library's is the best sale I've ever encountered!
5 comments:
Hello Shelly
I couldn't agree more. My library seems to sell-off books from "The Stacks" at an alarming rate. It makes me wonder if they have anything left there now. On the other hand, like you, I have picked-up lots of interesting titles: mouldy smell and all.
Thank you for visiting. I now have to scrape a thin layer of ice off the car these frosty mornings, so, we have already turned-on the heating. The wet summer is hopefully going to pay dividends now: the dams are full which should mean that our hydroelectric power is not as expensive as last year.
Anna
Thanks for visiting Linderhof! You are my kind of person -- among the things I brought home from vacation were stacks of books -- some gotten at $2 a sack at a charity book sale!
And most will stay on Linderhof's shelves -- I buy books to keep not just to read. If I want to read them I'll go to the library!
I too make the library book sales and wonder why they are getting rid of all of the books. It appears they base their retension on the number of times they are checked out. Which is understandable in some ways, but you would think they would keep a couple of copies around someplace for those of us who like to read the older books.
The Friends of the Library hold a huge book sale every February. This is to benefit the Oklahoma City Metropolitian Libraries. They not only sell the extra books from the library but donated books from the public. When a book first comes out the Library will usually have several copies available. As time goes on and fewer people read them they cull them down to one or two copies and sell off the rest. They charge $1.00 for hardbacks and $.50 for paperbacks. Jo buys a cart load each year. After she reads them we often then donate them back for next years sale. Also, when my Dad downsized and cleaned out his massive personal library we hauled several loads of books to the FOTL to put in their sale. Jo's Mom also donates several boxes of books each year, mostly the paperback series books she likes to read. The FOTL are able to raise a few hundred thousand dollars for the library system each year.
Anna - I was interested to hear that full dams make heating cheaper. I'm very skeptical about the utility companies here in Britain - all private but with 'watchdogs' and 'price controls'. I'd love to know more about how things are done in Norway.
Martha - I was raised to love books and though I see the practicality of a Kindle, I have yet to give in. I worry about who is doing the selection at the library. Might have to go inquire at some point.
Joanne - I worry about this book business - where are all oldies to be found? I used to love James Michener but I've never seen one of his books here in England.
Rick - The Friends of the Library was the charity that my Mom worked for. Whenever they needed envelopes addressed and stuffed they brought her box loads and she sat and put together their mailings for them. She has her name on a brick or two at the new Village Library. That meant a lot to her. I'm glad to hear that Friends of the Library is still going strong.
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