Buying in multiples

I have a serious book purchasing problem.  The reason for this is that I get too excited when I see a book that I really want to read or a book that is a great edition or publication.  I try to hold back on some, waiting for a better edition, but sometimes I just have to have the book and I end up regretting it later when I have multiple copies lining my bookshelves.

I thought I would detail my problem and how the tiered system works.

1. Paperbacks

I barely ever buy paperbacks, but I do receive a bunch as gifts.  I'm not a large fan of paperbacks, but I do have a thing for the ones that have special pages that are unevenly cut.  I don't know what they call this technique but it gets me every time.  A good example is the Centennial Edition of "The Grapes of Wrath".  What do they call this technique?  Anyway, I tend to take paperbacks on trips because I'm not really concerned if they get damaged and they are light weight (which is great for backpacking).  I may leave them at hostels too if I need the space, but I have yet to do so.

2. Hardcovers

I try to buy most of my books in hardcover, because I just like the structure.  I don't like when the spine on paperbacks gets creased, and while these spines crack, I never buy a hardcover with this problem and I don't crack them myself.  The preference is for the larger first edition copies, but I find I have a lot of undersized firsts which really aren't worth anything... but I like the originality of the artwork.  Note that a first edition will eclipse the third tier.

3. Modern Library / Everyman's Library

I love these types of editions, both smaller sized hardcovers which have a consistent spine which looks GREAT on my bookshelves.  I prefer Everyman to the Modern Library's silver covers, and Everyman also has chronological histories of the works of the author, his life, historic events going on in society at the time, and works that other authors are publishing at the time.  It's great reference, and it's really helpful for book club discussions.

4. The Folio Society

Each work is of a limited print run, and they are all works of art.  I also LOVE slipcases and I can't tell you why.  Again with the structure, I imagine... and they just make more sense then dust jackets which tear easily and really don't protect the book from anything, especially dust.

5. Easton Press & Franklin Library

These works are bound in leather.  Easton's are all full leather (mainly bonded) and Franklins can be faux leather, quarter leather (where the spine is bound in leather) or full leather.  These books look great on the shelves, but they are harder to read.  I usually wear white gloves so my hands don't transfer their natural oils, but this is fairly OCD of me.  Other than the look, I really enjoy the high quality paper and smell of the leather.  It's hard to pick a favourite of the two, but I think I enjoy the Franklin Library older versions (from the late 70's) the best because the quality of the leather is remarkable.

Book Shopping | Small Find

Came across a new bookstore last weekend [which I fell in love with] and picked up two titles:

In Praise of Slow by Carl Honore
A book by Carl Honoré containing his analysis of the Cult of Speed, which he claims is becoming the societal standard all over the world. He discusses and gives praise to the Slow Movement and the various groups around the world representative of this movement. [Wikipedia]

David Copperfield by Charles Dickens
Link to Summary

• I don't like to read the summaries of the classics before I read them, because I'm just plain odd.
• Based on the size of David Copperfield, I have a feeling that I'll read 'In Praise of Slow' first.  It seems like a vacation book, so I'll probably get through it in either August or November.

Book Shopping | Another good weekend

It being the long weekend, spent partially at home and partially up north, I went to a variety of bookstores... probably 8 in total.  I was able to curb my purchasing in all but one, where I picked up 5 books.  It's kind of an eclectic mix.

A Little Princess by Frances Burnett
Life of Herod by Joesephus (non-fiction)
Travels with Charley by John Steinbeck - I already own a copy but couldn't help myself
Thus Spoke Zarathustra by Friedrich Nietzsche
Buddenbrooks by Thomas Mann

My bookshelves can't hold anymore... so I'm either going to have to get rid of some duplicates, stop buying (yeah, right) or buy a new house.  ;)

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.

Book Shopping

This weekend I was feeling a little down in the dumps, and I couldn't figure out why.  It's probably the first weekend in the past 100 that I've been bored for the simple reason that I don't really get bored - I usually find there is just too much to do.

On Saturday, my girlfriend was studying so I took the opportunity of quiet time to catch up a bit on my reading.  I'm currently reading "Tender is the Night" for the book club and I started way later than usual this month because I was polishing up "The Mill on the Floss."  Since I'm hosting July's meeting, I figured that I shouldn't wait with this one until the last minute, so I'm now 100 pages from the end, which makes me feel a lot better.  Should be no problem to get it done in a week.

On Sunday, because I was bored I decided to walk down the main street in the little village that I live in.  I wasn't planning on buying anything other than freshly roasted coffee, but I stopped into a couple of book stores and couldn't help myself.  I ended up picking up two books, which meant some major restraint on my part. 

Despite not being very impressed with "A Man Without a Country", I decided to pick up "Armageddon in Retrospect" which was a collection of Vonnegut's short stories published posthumously.  I'm a decent Vonnegut fan, because we share a common history and because his books are always unique. 

The second book I purchased, against my better judgement (due to price) was a Guide to Switzerland.  I have been contemplating a trip there for about a week and I ended up purchasing this to force my hand a little bit.  Once you buy a guide book, it becomes more of a reality.  Dates still to be determined, but at least I've made the first step. 

My shelves are getting pretty packed, but they aren't as crazy as Shannon's... as her desk is starting to get infected.

Book Shopping | A Passion

I've been doing a lot of reading this month so I'm getting close to finishing the latest bookclub book - "A Passage to India" by E.M. Forster. I'll probably post a review some time this weekend.

In the interim, I thought I'd write a little note on some of my favour things about book shopping because I was just daydreaming of things I would like to be doing at this current moment. Along with the standard endorphins released during purchasing through the pleasure centre of the brain, here are some particular things I love about book shopping:


1. Quality of Books
I prefer to NOT buy new books. Initially I did this for cost considerations, but I also began to appreciate the fact that I was not hurting the environment. In addition, the quality of many older books is much better. Some books that have withstood the test of time are of such a quality that in today's cost-cutting world, no one would have taken the time/effort/expense to re-create them. Since I read mainly classic literature, there have been quite a few publisher's who have a strong feeling about creating a piece of art that will be enjoyed for years to come. Some of my favourites are "The Franklin Library", "The Easton Press", "The Folio Society", "The Modern Library" and "Everyman's Library (Knopf)." I'm told that "The Limited Editions Club" has some pretty nice things, but I'll never be able to afford them.



2. Thrill of the Hunt
I love the feeling I get when I go into a book store. I look around and there are endless surprises awaiting me in every corner. I never know what I'm going to find, and the excitement of the hunt is something I will never get by buying books online. Even if they are good deals, I don't feel the same if I haven't invested time looking for something.

3. Adventuring
I also love to walk around a city and come across a book store randomly. If I haven't been there before, chances are I'm either going to find NOTHING or a TON of things. The problem with finding a ton of things (other than the inevitable hit to the pocketbook) is that I may not be able to carry them all home. That being said, if I'm in a new city... I love adventuring and coming across book stores. I had a great time in Vancouver doing this - and I really had to be choosy with the books I brought home. My favourite was a 2 volume Franklin Library set of Homer ("The Iliad" and "The Odyssey") in beautiful green leather with a different colour patch on the spine where the title is.

4. Deals
I alluded to deals above - there is nothing I like more about shopping than finding something I LOVE that is also a great deal. When I find something truly unique (generally expensive), I want to run to the Internet to check out if the book is a good deal or not. No matter how nice a book looks, you don't want to pay $300 for something that is worth $100. The other way is okay.


I'm less likely to make a mistake if I go to a used book store that I know and trust the owner or can at least have done a couple dozen comparisons and can identify that the book prices are generally comparable to Abebooks [what I generally refer to as market price]. In some cases of rare finds in book stores I come across randomly, I've been prone to make a few mistakes.

5. Talking to the Owners / Workers
Book lovers and owners are an interesting breed. They know a lot about literature, and sometimes, how the world works in general. I love picking their brains and learning about how book selling works, interesting things they know about authors, or historic facts. The only problem is, a lot of these people have an abundance of time to chat (they also love to do it), so if you're in a time rush you may not want to strike up a conversation.

6. The Aesthetics of the Books
People sometimes view me as a book snob for this, but I just really love the look of books [especially on nice book shelves]. I could write tons on the organization methods of some people and book shelves, but I generally put items of the same publisher together. A Folio Society book is very different from a Franklin library, because the former books all have slipcases and the latter books are all made out of leather. This becomes an easy distinction on the shelves. I also try to group my first editions together, and I have separate shelves for authors with large works such as J.R.R. Tolkien. I also have another book case which I put "regular" books, and they're generally categorized by hardcover/softcover and sometimes by genre. In addition, the books that I have with a remainder mark (which I view as evil) are in their own section - a section of shame.

To get back to my original thought, I just love reading when I'm surrounded by a library. I don't know what it is, but it just makes me feel good.

7. Patient Friends
I love shopping with other people, only if they give me an appropriate amount of time at each store. In addition, it's great fun to talk about books you see on the shelves - how much you liked the novel, how evil a character is, how bad an author is, etc. Surrounding yourself with friends that are fellow book lovers is generally very enjoyable.

Well, that's about all about my book shopping. Tune in next time for my review on "A Passage to India."

Book Shopping | Revisited

So I made one of my infamous trips to Kitchener-Waterloo to hit up the four used books store in the area. Usually I make this trip several times a year, but it's been a while now due to the job change, school and the bookclub.

Sometimes I find absolutely nothing and sometimes I come home with a whole bunch of things... and this time was the latter.

OLD GOAT BOOKS
Found two beautiful rare Tolkien books which detail the history of middle earth. I believe there are 10 volumes or so, and I was able to pick up two for $65. You never see these anywhere, so I'm pleased with the purchase despite the price. Then I was able to pick up some serviceable Hemingway books from the 30's for $8 a piece (two in total).

KW BOOKSTORE
This place is usually very 'miss', but I found a couple of things here. I finally broke down and bought a copy of "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time" because I had a credit note, and I was also able to pick up a "The Poetical works of Scott" which was dated 1912 or older. It was from a school in the UK, and I had a great time researching the find.

CASABLANCA
The best deals are usually found here, and sometimes they have real gems (1st edition The Great Gatsby). I did end up with some fairly old (40's?) editions of "The Jungle Books" ($8 for 2 volumes). I also picked up a present... ;)

A SECOND LOOK
Every time I walk into this store, something about it floors me. There are books everywhere in piles, but most are so rare & beautiful that you don't know where to start looking first. The problem is, the man who owns the store knows what everything is worth and he usually charges a little more than market for them. I always have to weigh a lot of factors and decide which books make the cut and which don't. I was feeling liberal, so here is what I bought:

The Koran
Arabian Nights (Burton translation)
Wisdom of Confucious
Diary of Young Girl by Anne Frank (I've read this one when I was younger)
This Side of Paradise by F. Scott Fitzgerald
Middlemarch by George Eliot
A Passage to India by E.M. Forster

I honestly had a real problem narrowing it down to these books. They were chosen for a mix of interest, translation (edition) and price. Maybe some will be added as bookclub books in the future... time will tell.

Sixteen books is a pretty substantial haul considering I read about a book or two a month, and I needed a bookshelf reshuffle to fit everything in. The haul has led to a further dreading of the move. Last time, I took out all the shirts from my dressor, wrapped the books in them, and ended up washing all the shirts after all was done. I probably have 30% more books this time... so it will be a challenge.

Anyhow, I haven't posted for a while so I thought I would relate my story. "The Red and the Black" review will come later this month.