I seem to recall saying something about being cautious about shopping the last library book sale of the year, and it seems I stuck with my promise, though I had every intention of being bad given half a chance. Although I came away with eight great new books (mostly mysteries), this sale was a bit of a disappointment. It was packed as I expected, but unexpectedly the prices of the books went up. I guess there is no safe place anymore in this economy from rising prices! I shouldn't be greedy, though, as it all goes for a good cause.
My library book sales have been the best place I've come across to find really bargain book prices. In the past mass market paperbacks cost a mere 50 cents, trade size paperbacks $1.00 and hardcovers $1.50. Some of the popular trade paperbacks would also have special prices, but they would still cost less than half the original price. Normally I would be happy to grab a stack of older mass market books to give a try even though they were a little banged up or very old editions. This time I was far more selective since I knew I would be paying more (about half my books were priced at more than the standard $1.50). Also the selection didn't seem as good as it has been in the past few sales. There were lots of copies of really popular bestseller type books, but I guess they just didn't tempt me. I didn't find a single Virago. But I did find some good mysteries and one nonfiction title (that happened to be shelved with fiction or I would have missed it). So I didn't fill my trusty bookbag, but I still am happy with my new finds.
I didn't get on very well with Ariana Franklin's Medieval mystery series, but I have wanted to try City of Shadows, which is set in 1922 Berlin. It's supposed to be a fast paced thriller.
I've heard from several people that Will Thomas writes a great Victorian mystery series. I have his first novel, which I have not yet read and found three more titles in the series. They are also all signed by the author. I'm not yet quite sure which order they go in, but now I also have To Kingdom Come, The Limehouse Text, and The Hellfire Conspiracy. So now I guess it's time to get started on his books.
Margery Allingham is a recent discovery of mine, so I was happy to grab one of her earlier books in the Albert Campion series, Police at the Funeral. I recently finished one of her mysteries and am now reading The Tiger in the Smoke (a later title in the series), but I plan on going back and filling in the rest (and starting from the beginning).
It's always good to find a P.D. James novel. I really liked the one Adam Dalgliesh mystery I read and have been meaning (for some time now) to read more. I've added A Taste of Death to my pile.
The Princess of Burundi by Swedish author, Kjell Eriksson, is a book I looked at many times at the library, but could never decide whether to check it out or not. Now I can try it at my leisure. This won the Swedish Crime Academy Award for Best Crime novel. One reviewer called it "stunning...haunting...can chill you to the bone." That sounds pretty good to me.
By chance I found a biography mixed in with the regular fiction, and it sounds like something I would like--a biography of two gilded age women. Amanda Mackenzie Stuart's Consuelo and Alva Vanderbilt: The Story of a Daughter and a Mother in the Gilded Age is another biography I can add to my growing stack. I love reading about lives so very different than my own.
I wouldn't have minded adding a few more (good) books to my bag, but it's probably better that I showed some restraint. And even with the higher prices I still paid less than $20 for all eight. Not too shabby at all.