Good Book Hunting: August 22, 2008

The final book fair of the season, the Carondolet YMCA book fair, no longer takes place at the Carondolet YMCA. As a matter of fact, I overheard at the new venue that the Loughborough YMCA is closing down since there’s a new, more modern facility available. A shame, really, since the old building was historic in nature. Also, because the books were spread over a number of rooms, they didn’t overwhelm one, unlike the hockey rink in a South County park that had a checkout line wrapping into the bleachers when we came in.

I didn’t even hit the fiction section before calling it a day, as I’d carried my fifty pounds (eventually) of books for part of or most of an hour and a half just getting through four of the six rows of tables. I’ve got so many books and read so few these days that I get little joy from my compulsive acquisition these days.

So here’s what I got:



Carondolet Y purchases 2008

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I bought:

  • Rush!, a biography of Rush Limbaugh.
  • Playwriting, a book about writing plays. Duh! Probably not as good as Backwards and Forwards, but I already have that.
  • How to Study History by Norman Cantor and an extra. I’ve read a couple of Cantor’s history books and enjoyed them. Maybe he’ll tell me I’m doing it right.
  • Five Women I Love by Bob Hope about touring with the USO in Vietnam. I think.
  • Interview with History by Oriana Fallaci.
  • A biography of Carl Sandburg.
  • The Kama Sutra, which is a game like Mah Jong.
  • A hardback copy of The Return of the Native, which is good because my unread paperback copy has a front cover that’s torn off and taped on, badly. Something more durable will lend itself more easily to reading.
  • The Broken Spears, history of the conquest of Mexico from Aztec sources.
  • Infidel by Ayaan Hirsi Ali.
  • The Rush Limbaugh Story, another Rush Limbaugh bio. Which means I own three now (the other is Rush To Us, which was also available amongst the multitudes at the Y).
  • Before Jane Austen, a scholarly book about the rise of the novel in England.
  • I’m Glad I’m Not Young Anymore, a second copy of Clarissa Start’s memoir to give as a gift to my mother-in-law.
  • Platoon, the book or novelization of the movie.
  • Churchill, a collection about Winston Churchill.
  • Urban Affairs, a collection of pieces by Elaine Viets. The cover photo was taken at the Coral Court motel, if I remember correctly.
  • The Fifty Year Dash by Bob Greene.
  • The Dragon and the Gnarly King by Gordon Dickson, because I don’t have any unread Dickson, I think.
  • Thunder on the Left, a political bit.
  • Guns, Crime, and Freedom by NRA Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre.
  • Bob Geldof, a biography. Listen, because the guy played Pink in The Wall, I’ve bought an album of his (Deep In the Heart of Nowhere) and a bio. That’s carrying it a little far just because I liked the movie.
  • Inside American Education by Thomas Sowell. My friend Glenn would be proud, if I ever talk to him again and let him know I got a book by his favorite columnist.
  • Warriors of the Way, an alternate history bit by Harry Harrison. The Vikings conquered England.
  • The Virginian in the Reader’s Digest Classics edition. I actually bought this at an antique store we stopped in to kill some time between the book fair and dinner, so I paid a whole $3 for it, which is still only 10% of its original cost.
  • Cocoon, the movie paperback.
  • The Age of Reason, some small paperback summary history of the Enlightenment.
  • Old Yeller. Never read it. Nobody tell me it ends sadly. Actually, in 8th grade, I was kidding around with someone who read it and I blurted out an ending to ruin it for him. Someone told me the ending I made up (having not read the book) was the actual ending. What a waste of precognitive skills.
  • The Peter Principle. The book that coined the term, I think.
  • Event Horizon, the movie’s paperback, which will be less gory than the movie since it won’t have the special effects. Never saw the movie. Heard it was gory.
  • Smarter by the Dozen, a book about two families here in Old Trees.
  • The Study of American Folklore, the textbook about American Folklore by Jan Brunvand.
  • William the Conqueror. A biography.
  • England in Elizabeth’s Time. A summary history book.
  • The Wizard and the Glass, which means I have the complete set now of Stephen King’s The Dark Tower series. I’ll need to reread the first three, though, so this project will be in the future sometime.
  • The Aztecs, a book about the Aztecs.
  • A stray issue of the Missouri Historical Review from last year.
  • The Mysterious Maya. Not about the poet.
  • Mysteries of the Past, a book by American Heritage, so it’s probably more credible than what the Reader’s Digest people put out in this vein.
  • Appliance Service Handbook.

As you can see, Mrs. Noggle bought a couple cookbooks, a couple books, a stack of magazines, and dozens of cassettes. The children got a couple of books.

Loading these onto the to read shelves, I note I have just a litle space left. No doubt I’ll accidentally fill this in the coming months. Then I’ll have to start determining what furniture we sacrifice for more bookshelves. But that’s not really a sacrifice, is it? Or perhaps I can somehow justify renting storage somewhere….

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2 thoughts on “Good Book Hunting: August 22, 2008

  1. Cat: “Steven King, Mysterious Mayas, wisdom of the ages, whatever. Just open to the page you want to read so I can stretch out on it.”

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