Fabulous Haul at the Annual Library Sale

April 28, 2019April 28, 2019 / still a dreamer / 5 Comments

This will not be a long post – just a share of the fabulous finds I collected at the county library’s huge annual book sale.

For a half hour’s drive and $24.00, I picked up the amazing selections you see here, hardbound and paperback. I do go with a list, and am happy to find anything on it, but don’t expect my top picks, especially from 2018. But I did bring home some selections from favorite authors – Lisa See, Alice Hoffman, Jodi Picoult, Barbara Kingsolver, E. Annie Proulx, and more. I also picked up a number of middle grade/YA novels including Jacqueline Woodson, Jerry Spinelli – and amazingly, the exact book by Linda Sue Park, A Long Walk to Water, that will help me in a drawing project for a client!

There are also authors I am not yet familiar with but had been hoping to find, and some I don’t know at all. There are a couple psychological thrillers, some historical fiction, science fiction, and mysteries – enough to keep me happily reading for quite some time.

In addition, I found something special for one of my doctors who is a huge reader; a hardbound replacement for a paperback version of a wonderful novel whose type is so small, it hurts my eyes — a book I will read again; and a small volume in brand new condition that might be a little surprise for someone.

As I drove down the lovely backroads to the book sale, I couldn’t help but think that a good book and a warm and fuzzy friend to curl up with can get us through a lot of stuff in life – both good times and bad. And $24.00 isn’t much to pay to have one of those pleasures at my fingertips.

For You Readers and Writers … exciting events!

April 14, 2015April 14, 2015 / still a dreamer / 4 Comments

This may be for the reader or the writer in you, but if you’re in driving distance of either of these events, I suspect you may be interested in both!

First, what’s happening the weekend of May 2nd and 3rd? The event that I have no business going to but will be heading to anyway – the Hunterdon County Library’s Annual Book Sale! It will be held again at the South County Park Fairgrounds in Lambertville, just off Rt. 179, (for you locals), and as always, Saturday features hardbound books at $2, paperback, $1 and Sunday, they’re half that. Something new – Monday, May 4th from 9 to 12, they’re having a $5 bag sale! Last year I believe they had something like 60,000 books, so collect your totes and mark your calendars. For complete information, go to the Library Sale website.

If you’re a children’s book writer and/or illustrator, published or aspiring, think about attending the New Jersey SCBWI big June Conference Saturday and Sunday, June 13th and 14th, in Princeton, NJ. The conference is two days packed with workshops taught by great names in the children’s book field, critiques from editors, agents, authors, illustrators or your peers, special intensives, socializing with agents and editors over meals, great camaraderie among all those who love children’s books, and more. This, however, requires registration and a conference fee, plus there’s a deadline to register – early bird by April 19th, otherwise by May 15th. You also receive a discount as an SCBWI member. Find more details here, and click on the link to register for more in-depth information. (You are not automatically committed to registering by going to the registration site.) You’ll enjoy wonderful food all weekend long, (I’m looking forward to it already), and you can stay overnight at the Crowne Plaza/Holiday Inn Express Conference Center.

I’ll be going to both events – hope to see you there – I’ll be the one with that book-ish glow!

100 Book Bucket List (2 Ways)

March 24, 2014March 24, 2014 / still a dreamer / 8 Comments

Aside from the general appeal of a great list or two, who doesn’t love a good list for books?

Here’s one for all you book lovers – Amazon’s 100 book bucket list, chosen by their own book editors as the 100 books everyone should read in their lifetime. Although mostly adult books, they aren’t all for grown-ups, but a bunch for children and the child in all of us. Among their choices are Beloved by Toni Morrison, The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver, Great Expectations by Charles Dickens, Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein, Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White, and yes … Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J.K. Rowling. The list is packed with classics and more recently published books.

And here’s the variation on a theme – Goodreads readers have chosen their own top 100 books they feel everyone should read. There is a great deal of overlap in the two lists, but I loved seeing some wonderful books here and on Amazon that are so worthwhile. I was very happy to see the highly deserving The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak as well as The Help by Kathryn Stockett, The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini, Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden, Watership Down by Richard Adams, A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine Engle, and many, many more.

I was also quietly happy to see how many of these books I have already read, those in the past thanks to a good education along the way, and how many I have already read or have right here waiting to be read. But best of all, I see some new titles that I look forward to getting and reading. And the good news about that? Next month is the Friends of the Hunterdon County Library’s huge annual book sale!! Woo hoo! That’s April 26th and 27th, details here.

If you are in driving distance of southern Hunterdon County, make the trip, fellow readers. This year it’s at the South County Park Fairgrounds on Rte. 179 in Lambertville, and on Saturday it’s hardcover $2, softcover $1, and in Sunday it’s all half that! I have books on my list for friends, some for the silent auction of the equine rescue I work with, and some just for me. I seem to be the only person left on the planet who has not read To Kill a Mockingbird, so that’s on my list as well as some others on these top 100 lists that intrigue me.

Feel like curling up with a good book? These lists may point you in the right direction. Me? Watching my list go off the paper. It’s easy to go overboard at this sale, but I’ll only bring 2 canvas bags, promise. Okay, mayyyybe 3.

Dirt Cheap Book Alert!!

March 29, 2013March 29, 2013 / still a dreamer

Did that get your attention? If you, (and your kids), love to read, don’t miss the upcoming Hunterdon County Library Annual Book Sale!

It’s coming up this month on Saturday and Sunday April 20th and 21st at the National Guard Armory on Rt. 12 in Flemington. Check the library’s web site for location, directions and complete details.

Saturday, hardbound books are generally $2.00, paperbacks $1.00, and on Sunday, they’re half that. The main armory houses fiction, children’s books and YA, and the secondary building houses non-fiction. And it’s free as is the jitney transport back and forth from the county complex to the armory when their lot is full. Hard to beat if you love books. It is anticipated that there will be approximately 120,000 books for sale.

I understand that this event draws people from quite a distance, so even if you’re not “local,” come on down and take advantage of the wonder of books for what is truly a pittance.

Did I Go Overboard (at the Book Sale?)

April 22, 2012April 22, 2012 / still a dreamer / 2 Comments

Or maybe the question really should be, can one go overboard at this book sale?

I met my friend and her daughter in the library parking lot, eager to spend time together as well as pick up a few select books. I had a very short list as I still have quite a few books from last year, and figured I’d just be quasi-aimlessly browsing. Up the aisles, down the aisles, I wasn’t seeing much of interest at all. Then all of a sudden it was like something kicked in and books I wanted were everywhere! Alas, I checked out with two big canvas bags of books.

At a $1 for hardbound and large paperbacks, $.50 for smaller paperbacks, how bad could I feel?

What you don’t see here are the 3 Twilight books I have not yet read — that’s for whenever — a replacement of a truly fabulous book, White Oleander, I’d lent someone and may never see again, and a copy of a book I’d lent a friend which she liked so much, (and returned), I thought she might like her own copy.

What else did I get? Some new (to me) titles by authors that I love – Second Nature and The Third Angel by Alice Hoffman, And Both Were Young by Madeleine L’Engle, Smoke Jumper by Nicholas Evans and one excellent writer I haven’t read in ages – Pandora by Anne Rice. I also picked up a couple authors I really enjoy when I want a somewhat lighter read – Body Surfing by Anita Shreve, Skinny Dip by Carl Hiassen, and a couple books by authors I’ve read and was sufficiently impressed by to want to read more, Saving Fish from Drowning by Amy Tan and The Edible Woman by Margaret Atwood. Here’s hoping their second reads are as riveting as the first!

In addition, I bought one book recommended to me by my book sale buddy, The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls, and two by a lovely woman I was chatting with about some of our favorites. We each took home books recommended by the other. What better place to start up a conversation than in aisles of books! She recommended The Bridges of Madison County by Robert James Waller and A Million Little Pieces by James Frey.

I spotted a few interesting titles and authors I’m not familiar with and believe I will like … I Am Morgan LeFay by Nancy Springer, Witches on the Road Tonight by Sheri Holman, I See You Everywhere by Julia Glass, The Last Templar by Michael Jecks and That Old Cape Magic by Richard Russo. (Turns out I actually have read a book by him before, and I’m glad I got this.)

The damages? Including the 5 books not pictured, a whopping $17.25! Overboard? I think not.

I just don’t know what to read first.