Library Book Sales are the BEST

  My local library had a sale yesterday. They've been holding one the first Saturday of every month this year, and I missed all of them except last month's, where I arrived with about fifteen minutes to browse (came home with five books), and this one, at which I arrived half an hour after it began, had a gleeful time browsing and grabbing, and went home with THIRTY books, all for the charming sum of $20. My total actually came to $15.50, but I didn't ask for change back. I have had a card for the Carnegie Public Library in Turners Falls since I was six years old (that's 36 years; wow...I feel old now); I am more than happy to support my library in any way that I can.
   So, what did I take home from this sale? (I didn't realize exactly how many I bought until after I got home. Finding a home for all of these was interesting to say the least)
   Let me include a disclaimer here that says not all of these are for me. Some are Liam's. Okay, five. 
For Liam:
Peter and the Shadow Thieves by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson (This is actually book 2 of a series; I'll look for Book 1 on Amazon)
The Doll People by Ann M. Martin and Laura Godwin (Book 1 of a series; at least he can read this one now)
The 39 Clues, Book 10 by Margaret Peterson Haddix (We have Book 1; slowly building up the collection)
The Boy in the Box by Cary Fagan (A tale of a boy who runs away to join the circus; not to be confused with an account of an unnamed murder victim. Horrible, sad, and absolutely nothing I would give my nine year old to read. I have just added it to my Goodreads list, however)
Encyclopedia Brown (I don't recall which number, but it's one of the classic ones. I loved Encyclopedia Brown when I was Liam's age. Then I discovered Sherlock Holmes.) 
The Empty City (Survivors, #1) by Erin Hunter. (Henry LOVED Erin Hunter's Warriors series, featuring clans of cats. He also really liked the Seekers series, featuring a polar bear, a black bear, and a grizzly bear. By the time the Survivors came out, Henry had outgrown Erin Hunter)

For ME!
Cookbooks:
You Won't Believe it's Gluten-Free and The Gluten-Free Cookbook (Henry's girlfriend has celiac disease; I don't want to send her to the hospital when I have her over for dinner)
Also: The Family Dinner Cookbook and The Moosewood Restaurant Simple Suppers Cookbook AND English Bread and Yeast Cookery and The Afternoon Tea Book. I don't know how much I will actually use the last two, but I can't wait to read them!
Plants/Gardening:
Sunflower Houses, Edible Spots and Pots, and The Drunken Botanist. I have read all of these before; because I have to plant container gardens Edible Spots and Pots is a frequent choice of mine from the regular stacks Apparently I was the only person taking it out? And the Drunken Botanist is by turns informative, entertaining, and disturbing. I highly recommend.
All of my other purchases were nonfiction. Here they are, in no particular order:
Hand Wash Cold (essays)
The Man Who Loved Books Too Much (True crime, about a man even more obsessed with books than I am)
The Complete Book of Running for Women (*sigh*)
New England Day by Day (Road trips!)
Ireland for Dummies (I am going. Soon. Eventually)
The Bitch in the House (essays)
Woman and Nature (essays)
Marriage and Family in the Middle Ages (This and the next were a total score! Research here I come!)
Women in the Middle Ages (see above)
The Witch's Almanac (2017) (The theme of this issue is water, and despite being a fire sign I have a strong affinity for the Western element.)
Reiki for Life (I am a Reiki Master. I have read this several times before, and it is on my Amazon wish list. Need to remember to delete it)
First Family (I love John and Abigail Adams. Mainly Abigail. She is a particular heroine of mine)
Travels with Pomegranates (This spiritual travelogue by Sue Monk Kidd and her daughter Ann Kidd Taylor is so moving. I can't recommend it enough)
American Saint (The life of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, the first American saint. I am not Catholic, but her story is so engaging and profound)
L. Frank Baum, Creator of Oz (His story The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus is one of my absolute favorite books. Oh, yeah, Oz is great, too)

If this list isn't enough proof for you to hit a library book sale the next time you see one, I don't know what is. For context, the original price of the Moosewood Restaurant Simple Suppers Cookbook was $32.50. I paid $20 for all thirty books. That breaks down to about $0.67 per book. WOO!





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