What was the coolest book you've ever bought at a used book store?

Answer 1

May I list two?

The first one was a copy of "Idylls of the King" by Tennyson. That particular volume was published in 1887, so it wasn't a first edition, but it was really a beautiful book. It was small, with a beautiful brown leather cover and gilt-edged pages. The neatest thing about it was the inscription in it. It was dated in the autumn of 1887, and it said that the book was a gift from someone who had taken "the grand tour" of Europe and whose last stop was in England. They had brought it back to the US as a gift for a friend who loved the stories of King Arthur. It was a really neat little book, and it only cost me $7.00! Unfortunately, I gave it to my boyfriend. We thought then that we would be spending the rest of our lives together, so I thought the book would eventually end up in "our" collection, but as it turned out, he was not Mr. Right. I have always regretted the loss of that book...

The other was a fairly inexpensive paperback copy of the sermons of John Dunne. It was published in the mid 1960s. There were newer editions at the store that day, but I liked this one because the woman who had owned it had made all sorts of notes in the margins, and had underlined passages that had meaning to her. She had written her name inside the cover, along with her phone number. One day, on a whim, I called the number. When I asked for her, I was told that she had been dead nearly 20 years. The woman who answered the phone was her daughter-in-law, and she asked me why in the world I was calling. I explained about the book, and before I could even finish she asked, "The one with the blue, green and black cover?" I said yes. She went on to tell me that when her mother-in-law was first diagnosed with cancer, she went out and bought a bunch of books which she had always wanted to read but for which she had never found the time; she wanted to read them before she died. That book, the one I now own, was one of her favorites. She spent hours rereading favorite passages and making notes. She even wrote extensively in her diary about how Donne's sermons made her feel in the face of her own impending death. That book was on her nightstand, right next to her, when she died. The woman I was speaking with said it was one they had wanted to keep, but that in all the confusion after her mother-in-law died, it had disappeared into a box and been donated to charity. I immediately offered to give it back to them, or to mail it to them, but she told me it wasn't necessary. I will always remember that she said to me just before our conversation ended, "Mother would be very pleased to know her beloved book is in the collection of someone who appreciates John Donne as much as she did. I believe she would want you to keep it." I think about that every time I pick up the book, and when I read the notes she made, it makes me feel as if I am travelling back in time, listening to the words of a woman facing her death. By itself, it isn't anything special, but the things I found out about the original owner, and what she was going through when she bought the book and read it make it very special to me.

Answer 2

The coolest book I ever found at a used book store was a very old, torn, dirty copy of John le Carre's "The Spy Who Came In From The Cold." It's a great war/spy novel and truly a classic.

Answer 3

I bought a really cool book full of pictures of graffiti from a library book sale one time. As far as actually used book stores go, the coolest book I've bought was one on handwriting analysis; it's really interesting.

Answer 4

My favorite author is Victoria Holt. Her books are from the 1960s or 70s. They're pretty much out of print. Anytime I find a book of hers I get excited and buy it. I'll search through used books and books at garage sales hoping to find one. I only have a few so far.

Answer 5

The Little Princesses by Marion Crawford. The book is about the childhood of Queen Elizabeth II and her sister, Princess Margaret.

Answer 6

Well, it wasn't a store, but it was a used book sale. I picked up an old paperback of Anya Seton's "Avalon" because it looked like it was a romance novel with a brain.

If I hadn't bought that little 15 cent paperback, I wouldn't have discovered Anya Seton, whose works were mostly out of print at the time. She has since become one of my favorite authors. And another of her books, "Katherine," is my favorite of all-time. But I never would have picked it up if I hadn't have read and liked "Avalon" first.

Answer 7

A first edition of "Hear the Sound of my Feet Walking, Drown the Sound of my Voice Talking" by Dan O'Neill. $10. A steal!

Answer 8

A book called "The Joys of Yiddish".

Answer 9

"Dodatak Flori Kraljevine Srbije" a book by a very famous botanist, first key to determining plants of the Balkans... So proud I have it, though it has many errors...

Answer 10

How to make ice?

How to repair a refrigerator?

Ice Cream making for Dummies.

Frozen Alaska in Ten days.

Ice Fishing in Michigan.