Book Shopping | A Nice Haul

Downtown with Nick on a Saturday afternoon in the middle of the rain, we naturally gravitated towards books.  This was all my doing, because the Annex in Toronto is a good place between where Nick and I live so it's a natural meeting place.  Sometimes I leave both stores I frequent without anything, and other times I hit the jackpot.  My wallet always weeps, but I'm usually happy.

I found some beautiful Franklin Library copies and one nice Folio Society.  None had major flaws, bookplates attached (which I hate beyond belief), signatures, etc.  What was quite remarkable, was that they were all part of the Limited Edition category and were made in the late 70's (the leather on these Franklin's are typically of the greatest quality, in my non-expert opinion).  So I bought the following (restricted to five books):

• Gone with the Wind, by Margaret Mitchell.  I have yet to read this epic and now I have two copies.  Email me if you want a nice one on the cheap.
• The Good Earth, by Pearl S. Buck.  Again, I have two copies of this now... but I had been looking for this version for a LONG time.  I have a Reader's Digest version available... great quality and cheap.
• The Grapes of Wrath, John Steinbeck.  I absolutely love this book, and own multiple copies.  I have learned that if you ever find a Steinbeck or Hemingway Franklin/Easton then you buy it on the spot and ask questions later.
• The Confessions of Nat Turner, by William Styron.  I had never heard of this (though the name Nat Turner is somewhere in my memory banks).  This is a novel that is supposed to be told from a Southern slave's perspective... perhaps it belongs in the same mentioning of Alice Walker's "The Color Purple" which I also have yet to read.
• The Egyptians, by Alan Gardiner.  I have always wanted to learn more about them, and this book is a behemoth.  Jen doesn't think I will read them, as I have yet to touch five other civilizations in the series.  I think I'd start with the Egyptians... or maybe the Aztecs.

Two hundred bucks was a lot to blow in one store, but I have learned that you always regret the ones you didn't buy.  It's rare that your memory for a lost purchase dissipates.  I still remember a Charles Dickens set that I could have had for so cheap, but didn't get because I didn't want to carry the whole set-around in London.  Your back is always a small price to pay for a nice haul.