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| Rizz loves the library book fair |
Friday night, it costs $5 to get in and the line stretches around the block. I skipped that. Saturday it's free to get in. And Sunday, it's always been closed to the public. From noon till three, anyone with a photo ID from a hospital, school, and senior or daycare center can carry out as many books as they want for free.
This year, the Friends of the Library introduced a new wrinkle. Sunday from 10 until noon, volunteers also shopped free! YEA! I brought a canvas tote and left with books to share with others. Three new, or like new, paperbacks that I'm going to send to the troops. I also grabbed a paperback mystery for my aunt. It's about a dog trainer-turned-sleuth. She likes dogs, she likes mysteries, she could use some cheering up, so why not? Even if she hates it, it was free.
And here's the haul for me, me, me!
How to Hepburn: Lessons Living from The Great Kate by Karen Karbo. A study of one of my all-time idols' fabulousness, and how to achieve it ourselves.
American Heiress by Jeffrey Toobin. I read Patty Hearst's own account of her ordeal, but I've always been curious about Toobin's take. And what they hell! It was free!
The Lonely Lady of San Clemente by Lester David. OK, I know this one will likely be crap because biographies by Lester David are usually pretty superficial. But I know very little about Pat Nixon, and this seems like a good way to start.
Five Days in November by Clint Hill and Lisa McCubbin. OK, I know this oversized coffee table book is going to be depressing. After all, it's the first-hand account of the JFK assassination by the agent who jumped onto the back of Kennedy's Lincoln, and into the public consciousness and history when he pushed Jackie back into the bloody backseat. But Mr. Hill is one of the last people who was there that day, saw it all, and can still tell his story. That makes it valuable.
Helter Skelter by Vincent Bugliosi. I can't believe I've never read this. While I doubt there's much about the crimes themselves I don't know, I bet I'll learn a lot about the trial. I admit it bugs me that Mr. Bugliosi died in 2015, but Manson goes on and on. To borrow from Little Joe Cartwright, I guess no grave will have him.
Mrs. Jeffries Learns the Trade by Emily Brightwell. Set in Victorian England, it's about a Scotland Yard inspector who solves crimes with the help of his maid, Mrs. Jeffires. It's been a while since I picked up a new mystery series.
Racing in the Rain: My Life as a Dog by Garth Stein. This is an adaptation of his famous book for younger readers. That's by design. I'm afraid if I read the "adult" version (which I already have), I may become too emotional. I'll test drive (no pun intended) this "family" verison.
A compilation on the films of Bette Davis, and a TCM study on how mothers are portrayed in the movies. Feud piqued my interest in Davis, and TCM promoted the hell out of that coffee table book for Mother's Day a few years back.
And no library book sale is over until I make a note of the year's Ubiquitous Book. There's one every year -- the book my neighbors bought in big numbers and then decided, seemingly at all once, to discard. In years gone by, I noticed which one it was as I perused the long tables as I shopper. This year, I made note of it as I was sorting.
In 2006, it was The Corrections.
In 2007, The Nanny Diaries.
In 2008, The Da Vinci Code.
In 2009, My Life by Bill Clinton.
In 2010, Scarlett, the Sequel to Margaret Mitchell's Gone with The Wind.
In 2011, The Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood.
In 2012, Sixkill by Robert B. Parker (a Spenser mystery)
In 2013, The Da Vinci Code all over again.
In 2014, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
In 2015, "The Girl" again, The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest
In 2016, it's The Help
In 2017, it's The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo again
