Saturday Snapshot: Book Sale 2012

For Paris in July, click here to my home page. I’ll be starting to post the first week of July. 

Saturday Snapshot is hosted by At Home With Books.

Every year the gigantic book sale organized by the Servants Anonymous Society in our City kicks off my summer reading stock-up. This weekend begins their tenth annual book sale at the Crossroads Market. Here’s a photo of the books I hauled back yesterday, all in like-new condition, all for $1.50 each since I’ve got 20 of them.

Many of the titles I’ve been watching out for some time. Some of them I came to know when I read their reviews on your blogs. Glad I can find them in the book sale and in such good condition. A few of the books look like they haven’t been opened.

Here’s the list in no particular order:

Travels In The Scriptorium by Paul Auster

England, England by Julian Barnes

Pulse, stories by Julian Barnes

Home by Marilynne Robinson

The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides

The Tragedy of Arthur by Arthur Phillips

Lit by Mary Karr

Suite Française by Irène Némirovsky

The Secret Daughter by Shilpi Somaya Gowda

Lottery by Patricia Wood

Blindness by José Saramago

The Reinvention of Love by Helen Humphreys

The Enchantress of Florence by Salman Rushdie

Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel

The Mistress of Nothing by Kate Pullinger

Cool Water by Dianne Warren

The Imperfectionists by Tom Rachman

One Summer by David Baldacci

The King’s Speech by Mark Logue and Peter Conradi (biography of Lionel Logue)

Changing My Mind by Margaret Trudeau (autobiography)

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Any of your favorites here? The Sale lasts for three weekends beginning June 8. If you were me, would you go back in the next two? Know my struggling sentiment?

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Published by

Arti

If she’s not birding by the Pond, Arti’s likely watching a movie, reading, or writing a review. Creator of Ripple Effects, bylines in Asian American Press, Vague Visages, Curator Magazine.

46 thoughts on “Saturday Snapshot: Book Sale 2012”

  1. Used book sales are the best! Those look to be in really good condition too. I’ve read some of these and have a few other ones on my TBR shelf. It seems we have a similar taste in books 😉

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    1. trish,

      You see, I only picked those that were in mint condition, with their spine smooth to the touch. 😉 Are you on Goodreads?

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      1. I like a book in good condition too, but I don’t mind a bit of dog-eared wear and tear. It’s the really ratty falling-apart ones that I can’t abide. I’m on Shelfari which is like Goodreads . . .

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    1. I’ve read The King’s Speech and reviewed it. But that was a library copy. Glad you’ve read some of these and they’re good.

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  5. That’s a great haul for sure and the price was right! I’m enjoying a new to me mystery author Anne Perry right now. Great airplane reading…

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    1. I’m sure they are, albeit I haven’t read Anne Perry. I usually watch movies on the plane or sleep… got motion sickness you see… can’t read on the plane, which is a pity.

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    1. SAS was started to help women involved in the sex trades and to escape from human trafficking. Do click on their website for more info. This is the 10th Anniversary for their Book Sale. So, it’s really appealing for me to go and browse for some more books since it’s for a worthy cause. 😉

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    1. You see I’m involved in a read-along of Salman Rushdie’s Midnight’s Children. That has piqued my interest in Rushdie’s other works.

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  10. Serious waves of envy coming over the Atlantic. Why do I never come across book sales like that? (Cries of “and where exactly would you put them?” echo round the room.)

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    1. Alex,

      You see, the idea (for me anyway) is that I’d donate books back to them every year… they have a huge book drive for their book sale, where we’d bring boxes of books to our friendly neighbourhood firehall. Yes, even the firemen help out to collect for the Sale… community spirit. As for your last question? It’s unanswerable. 😉

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  11. My goodness, I can’t believe it’s that time of year again. I like this photo very much – fun to have a better peek at the covers.

    And of course you should go back! Lucky you, to have a sale extending over time. Ours just took place, and I didn’t realize it until it was past – only two days this time. Perhaps they didn’t have as many contributions – it usually goes three days.

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    1. Linda,

      This annual sale is huge. I mean it generates a big portion of the revenue in SAS’s annual budget. Do check out their website. Good reason for me to go back… eh? (I checked and checked, I think it’s a uniquely Canadian charity group to help women escape the sex trade and human trafficking… couldn’t find any SAS chapters in other countries.)

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  12. Oh wow, that’s a fantastic book sale….$1.50 each? Very nice! You purchased many books that I have read or would like too including Lit by Mary Karr, the Julian Barnes books, The Virgin Suicides, Lottery by Patricia Wood, The Reinvention of Love, The Imperfectionists etc.

    Happy Reading!

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    1. They’re $2 each or if you get groups of 10, then it’s $1.5 each. Proceeds go to charity. I’m glad I found Lit cause I’ve been thinking of getting it. Julian Barnes… after reading The Sense of an Ending I wanted to read more of his works. Virgin Suicides… have seen the film, don’t mind reading the book. Yes, I’m excited… just may go back and find more gems. Thanks for stopping by and leaving your comment.

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  14. Oooh! Two Julian Barnes novels! Great choice there. And, I read and enjoyed The Imperfectionists about a year or so ago–hope you like that one. I can’t resist book sales (and just brought home 13 today from a “support the local museum” garage sale).

    Here’s my Snapshot

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    1. Curious what are some of the titles you got at the garage sale? Here in this annual Book Sale in our City, I can usually find some good ones.

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    1. There were so many to choose from, albeit I’d to fight the crowd. I only pick those of mint condition… picky buyer/reader… only the clean ones, and look unopened and with no lines on the spine. 😉

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  16. a mountain of books with time to browse. Your book list contain interesting books-Home and Lit. I’m staring The Enchantress from Florence.

    Our book sale is through the Friends of the Library which is at least 4 times a year.

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    1. I’ve read Gilead and it’s one of the most inspirational books I’ve read. So glad I could find its sequel Home. Salman Rushdie has a memoir coming out soon, about his life in hiding during the past decades. Watch for it… Thanks for stopping by and sharing.

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    1. As a matter of fact I went back today, and got books by Albert Camus, D. H. Lawrence, Evelyn Waugh, Willa Cather… just to name a few. Hard to resist. I won’t let TBR pressure take over… I’m just building my personal library. Who ever has read all the books in a library? 😉

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  18. Fantastic snap! You have some books in there that I would love to have. Good thing you live far away from me or you might have a book burglar on your hands! 🙂

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    1. Yes, many of them are on my TBR list too. Glad I could find them. Actually I was going to buy some of them first hand online. Glad I waited a bit.

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  19. Several excellent books here, and many I want to read, too. Suite Francaise was a favorite the year I read it and Wolf Hall is historical fiction for the historian. Would have snatched up every title by Julian Barnes and I’m dying to read Paul Auster. Home, The Virgin Suicides, Lottery, and The Imperfectionists are all on my wish list. You have lots of good reading ahead, Arti. I love library book sales!

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    1. I was there lining up at the opening so was very lucky to grab some great titles. This is no library used book sale. Last year this SAS Book Drive and Sale raised more than $230,000! They even have first editions and rare books etc. All for a good cause in supporting the Servant Anonymous Society and the Raise A Reader program. Now, the challenge is for me to find space in the house to put them. 😉

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  20. Ooh so jealous! I so wish we had more used book sales in my part of the world. You have lots of wonderful titles there – can’t wait for the reviews!

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  21. OK, I know you are going back! Lots of great titles here, most of which I haven’t read. Did just finish The King’s Speech and trying to carve out time to write my take on poor, forgotten step-child Chopsticks and String! Curious about England, England!

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  22. I think sales like these would be the death of me. But the organization they support is certainly a worthy one. There was a new law that came into effect in California this year that was about verifying that nothing in the supply chain involved human trafficking or slavery. One of my co-workers asked, “What’s human trafficking?” I was momentarily speechless.

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    1. The annual booksale sure has raised awareness of the work of SAS… I admit I haven’t heard of them before. And the church I attend throws great support behind organizations fighting against human trafficking… some are deep into the areas and rescue victims out. That’s how I know a bit more.

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