Not bad for being lazy

After a successful visit to Old Book Store, we made our way next to Raven Used Books in downtown Northampton. We had already made a long drive that morning and eaten a yummy lunch at one of our old favorites, Bueno y Sano, so by the time we made it to Raven, I was feeling a bit tired and ready to be done. I did a lazy scan of the fiction section -- so lazy in fact that Kristian picked out a Riverside -- a good one, The Mill on the Floss by George Elliot -- on his way through that I had missed. He playfully chided me for my laziness and I defended myself by producing a nice hardcover edition of Collected Stories of William Faulkner, published in 1950. We both enjoy a good collection of short stories, so I was pardoned.

As he continued to retrace my steps along the fiction shelf, he mentioned that he had noticed a smaller shelf of old hardcovers behind the cashier's desk, so I wandered over to check it out. When they keep books behind the counter it usually means they are out of our price range, but it is always fun to see what they may have hiding there. My eyes fell immediately on a very interesting old spine for Bleak House. Now, Bleak House is one of my favorite books -- the story is amazing, with so many layers. I highly recommend it. Dickens was genius, a magician with a pen. But back to this book. I asked to take a look at it and was delighted to find that not only was it in great shape, but it was printed in 1883, and it was $15, which is absolutely in our price range. So that rounded out a nice little purchase at Raven Books -- not bad for being lazy.

Books added: Bleak House by Charles Dickens; The Mill on the Floss by George Eliot; Collected Stories of William Faulkner by William Faulkner

Publishers (in same order): Estes and Lauriat; Houghton Mifflin Co. Riverside Editions; Random House

Years: 1883; 1961; 1950

Where obtained: Raven Used Books

Prices: $15.00; $5.50; $6.00

Books for every variety of taste and opinion

We had big plans for this Saturday morning. A leisurely trip to our farm for some fresh veggies, then off to the SPCA Rummage store! The first Saturday of the month their books are half-price (regularly $3 hardcovers, $1 paperbacks) and we've been meaning to hit up the sale for awhile now, but kept missing it. Well, a few exciting home improvement projects and an eight-month-old who refused to nap without her mama meant we got a much later start than we had planned, which in turn meant I was hitting up the sale solo (with the baby) since Kristian had to work this afternoon.

We've been to the Rummage store many times -- it is a great thrift store all around -- but I had never really checked out the book section before. There was a small classics shelf with a mix of paperback and hardcover. On first scan, I didn't see much to get excited about, but as I examined more closely -- in between picking up dropped toys -- I came away with a few pretty good ones. On a prior visit, Kristian saw that they had the same 1964 paperback edition of The Awakening that we have, only without the sun-bleached cover, so that came home with me today. In addition to that, I found a funky paperback copy of Death in Venice by Thomas Mann that I liked, and a 1953 hardcover edition of The Magic Mountain, also by Thomas Mann -- nothing super special about it, but I've been wanting to read it and for $1.50 I figured, why not?

I also came home with a small hardcover Modern Library of "The Collected Stories of Dorothy Parker". But what I was most excited about was the copy of "The Best Known Novels of George Elliot" -- those being, Adam Bede, The Mill on the Floss, Silas Marner, and Romola. A big book, published in 1940, it is a Modern Library Giant. The dust jacket is in pretty rough shape, but it is one of the best parts about this book. The inside of the jacket has a complete list (as of 1940, that is) of titles in the Modern Library and also seems to be the marketing medium. Printed across the top of the list it reads, "Which of these 334 outstanding books do you want to read?" And along the side is printed "Books that appeal to every variety of taste and opinion".

Books added: The Awakening, Kate Chopin (1964); Death in Venice and Seven Other Stories, Thomas Mann (1964); The Magic Mountain, Thomas Mann (1953); "Collected Stories of Dorothy Parker," Dorothy Parker (1942); "The Best Known Novels of George Elliot," George Elliot (1940)

Publishers (in same order):  Capricorn Books; Random House, Vintage Books; Alfred A. Knopf; Random House, The Modern Library, Random House, The Modern Library

Years: see above

Where obtained: SPCA Rummage Store, Charlottesville, VA

Price: $5.50

Our first time at Second Story

Back in our prior lives, in the days before "we," Deborah and I both lived in Washington, D.C. We both lived in the Northwest quadrant of Washington, D.C. For a time, we both lived within two blocks of Dupont Circle in the Northwest quadrant of Washington, D.C.

Yet it wasn't until today that either one of us had ever set foot inside  -- or lingered outside near the book carts -- at Second Story Books, on the corner of 20th and P Sts. NW.

We were on a little vacation in the nation's capital, the cherry blossoms were in full (early) bloom, and the day was too good to do anything but be outside. So after lounging a bit on the lawn at Dupont Circle, we stopped by Second Story before meeting up with a friend of Deborah's.

It wasn't long before we had our hands full from the "$4.00, or 6 for $18.00" carts outside on the sidewalk. We took our haul inside to check out the shop proper, and while impressive, most of the items of interest to us on the inside were too rich for our blood. Definitely cool, and desired, but we had to pass.

One thing we learned the hard way: when traveling on foot in a major city, bring a bigger bag if you think there's even the smallest chance you'll be going to a bookstore. It's no fun to paper-bag it for many city blocks with a pile of hardcovers.

Books added: Adam Bede, Middlemarch, Romola, Essays, George Eliot

Publisher:  A.L. Burt

Year: c.1900

Where obtained: Second Story Books, Washington, D.C.

Price: $3.25 each.

Book added: The Red Rover, James Fenimore Cooper

Publisher:  W.B. Conkey Company

Year: c.1900

Where obtained: Second Story Books, Washington, D.C.

Price: $3.25

Book added: The Siege of London, Henry James

Publisher:  James R. Osgood and Company,

Year: 1883

Where obtained: Second Story Books, Washington, D.C.

Price: $3.25

Book added: Classic Myths, Charles Mills Gayley,

Publisher:  Ginn and Company,

Year: 1911

Where obtained: Second Story Books, Washington, D.C.

Price: $3.25

Book added: Our Old Home, English Notebooks, Nathaniel Hawthorne,

Publisher:  Houghton Mifflin and Company, Riverside,

Year: 1885

Where obtained: Second Story Books, Washington, D.C.

Price: $3.25

A note about our collection

As we said in our first post, our collection is made up of, in part, the books we each had prior to us getting together.

It wasn't until we became "we" and began collecting books together that we started to develop a more specific approach to building our library. So while there are many works of great literature in our collection... there are also many editions of those works that we would like to replace (if not forget about entirely...), now that we have a common goal and approach in our search.

Like we said in our opening post, we are not opposed to having multiple editions of the same work, so long as we like all the editions. But if we're not happy with our edition of George Eliot's Silas Marner, for instance, we'll be on the lookout for one that better fits our ideas for what we want our library to be.