Sunday, July 31, 2011
Military History no longer lives in chaos!
The military history section has now been reorganized. Some of the books on the new non-fiction table have been shelved, a few remain there. There are three boxes sitting temporarily (I hope) on the floor. One is filled with paperbacks, mostly of WWII and Vietnam. One box contains mostly Cold War and nuclear weapons books. And the last box has books on the future of the military in the 21st Century. Come, peruse, enjoy and buy!
Saturday, July 30, 2011
Passions. Who had them, and with whom?
Presidential Passions: The Love Affairs of America's Presidents- From Washington and Jefferson to Kennedy and Johnson, by Michael John Sullivan (HC, 1991, $3)
Love and War, by James Hewitt ( HC, 1999, $3)
"To those who fought with him James Hewitt was a hero and a brave soldier... He was a loyal friend, and a formidable foe. He was single and alone. But he made one mistake. He met and befriended a hurt, lonely married woman.... Since the day their relationship became public he has become one of the most reviled men in history."
That part about him being the "one of the most reviled men in history" seems quite an exaggeration, but his reputation certainly took a hit when the news became public that he and Princess Diana were involved, which is quite amazing since Diana' s husband had been straying since the very first.
Love and War, by James Hewitt ( HC, 1999, $3)
"To those who fought with him James Hewitt was a hero and a brave soldier... He was a loyal friend, and a formidable foe. He was single and alone. But he made one mistake. He met and befriended a hurt, lonely married woman.... Since the day their relationship became public he has become one of the most reviled men in history."
That part about him being the "one of the most reviled men in history" seems quite an exaggeration, but his reputation certainly took a hit when the news became public that he and Princess Diana were involved, which is quite amazing since Diana' s husband had been straying since the very first.
Thursday, July 28, 2011
Miscellaneous books written in Japanese
We have a selection of Japanese paperback books that can be found in our foreign languages book section. Since we currently don't have a volunteer who knows Japanese, we can't tell you more than that they're modern, probably novels, brand new and immaculate. Please look for the orange blog slip which will accompany these books. Happy reading!
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
The Vietnam War
Come and check out our military section for books on the Vietnam War. There are many hardcovers, and there are even more paperbacks. I have listed only a few.
Goodnight Saigon: The True Story of the US Marines' Last Days in Vietnam, by Charles Henderson (HC, 2005, $3)
Here is the fall of Saigon, as told from both sides of the conflict. "Included are never-before revealed accounts from people of every level... NVA and Viet Cong soldiers, U. S. Embassy personnel, guerrilla commanders, civilians, generals, double agents- and leaders of both sides including ... Gerald Ford and Gen. Tran Van Tra".
The Fall of Saigon, by David Butler ( HC, 1985, $2.50)
Written in 1985 by a journalist who was there, this book describes those last two months before the North Vietnamese Army reached the outskirts of Saigon, destroyed the airport, and left only helicopters to evacuate the capital.
Kiss the Boys Goodbye: How the United States betrayed Its Own POWs in Vietnam, by Monika Jensen-Stevenson (HC, 1990, $4)
Jensen-Stevenson, an Emmy winning producer of "60 Minutes", interviewed ex-marine Bobby Garwood. Garwood claimed to have escaped from Vietnam in 1979. He claimed to have seen countless Americans still in captivity. Our government said he was wrong and called him a traitor. This book is the result of her 5 year investigation.
The Living and the Dead: Robert McNamara and Five Lives of a Lost War, by Paul Hendrickson (HC, 1996,$3)
This is McNamara's biography,of his youth, of his years as secretary of defense, and of his life after resigning. Even after resigning he refused to speak out against the war, or to share his opinion that the war was unwinnable.
This is also a story of 5 people whose lives were changed by McNamara's decisions to not speak out. Hendrickson considers McNamara to have abused his power. What do you think?
These books are mainly on the new non-fiction table, but a few of them have been shelved.
Goodnight Saigon: The True Story of the US Marines' Last Days in Vietnam, by Charles Henderson (HC, 2005, $3)
Here is the fall of Saigon, as told from both sides of the conflict. "Included are never-before revealed accounts from people of every level... NVA and Viet Cong soldiers, U. S. Embassy personnel, guerrilla commanders, civilians, generals, double agents- and leaders of both sides including ... Gerald Ford and Gen. Tran Van Tra".
The Fall of Saigon, by David Butler ( HC, 1985, $2.50)
Written in 1985 by a journalist who was there, this book describes those last two months before the North Vietnamese Army reached the outskirts of Saigon, destroyed the airport, and left only helicopters to evacuate the capital.
Kiss the Boys Goodbye: How the United States betrayed Its Own POWs in Vietnam, by Monika Jensen-Stevenson (HC, 1990, $4)
Jensen-Stevenson, an Emmy winning producer of "60 Minutes", interviewed ex-marine Bobby Garwood. Garwood claimed to have escaped from Vietnam in 1979. He claimed to have seen countless Americans still in captivity. Our government said he was wrong and called him a traitor. This book is the result of her 5 year investigation.
The Living and the Dead: Robert McNamara and Five Lives of a Lost War, by Paul Hendrickson (HC, 1996,$3)
This is McNamara's biography,of his youth, of his years as secretary of defense, and of his life after resigning. Even after resigning he refused to speak out against the war, or to share his opinion that the war was unwinnable.
This is also a story of 5 people whose lives were changed by McNamara's decisions to not speak out. Hendrickson considers McNamara to have abused his power. What do you think?
These books are mainly on the new non-fiction table, but a few of them have been shelved.
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
Steve Irwin, Lucille Ball, and "Dog" the Bounty Hunter
Well, isn't that a strange grouping! The only thing they have in common is that they were all on TV, and they all have biographies.
Steve and Me, by Terri Irwin ( HC, 2007, $2)
Terry Irwin was 27 when she went on vacation to Australia and met Steve Irwin. A year later they were married, and taking a crocodile-trapping honeymoon. "Terry Irwin portrays her husband as he really was- a devoted family man, a fervently dedicated environmentalist, a modest bloke who spoke to millions on behalf of those who could not speak for themselves."
Crocodile Man, we miss you.
The "I Love Lucy" Book, by Bart Andrews ( TPB, 1985, 423 pages, $2.75)
Here is anything AND everything you ever wanted to know about the show: exclusive interviews, rare photos, a detailed synopses of every episode, plus an exhaustive index of "Lucy" references. Wow!
You Can Run But You Can't Hide, by Duane "Dog" Chapman (HC, 2002, $3)
Read this book if you want to know about Chapman's hunts, but Chapman wasn't always a bounty hunter. More interesting to me was how he started out- as a gang member, an addict, and as a prison inmate for 18 months. "Against all odds, Dog turned his life around and went from ex-con to American icon in the process. This is his story."
Steve and Me, by Terri Irwin ( HC, 2007, $2)
Terry Irwin was 27 when she went on vacation to Australia and met Steve Irwin. A year later they were married, and taking a crocodile-trapping honeymoon. "Terry Irwin portrays her husband as he really was- a devoted family man, a fervently dedicated environmentalist, a modest bloke who spoke to millions on behalf of those who could not speak for themselves."
Crocodile Man, we miss you.
The "I Love Lucy" Book, by Bart Andrews ( TPB, 1985, 423 pages, $2.75)
Here is anything AND everything you ever wanted to know about the show: exclusive interviews, rare photos, a detailed synopses of every episode, plus an exhaustive index of "Lucy" references. Wow!
You Can Run But You Can't Hide, by Duane "Dog" Chapman (HC, 2002, $3)
Read this book if you want to know about Chapman's hunts, but Chapman wasn't always a bounty hunter. More interesting to me was how he started out- as a gang member, an addict, and as a prison inmate for 18 months. "Against all odds, Dog turned his life around and went from ex-con to American icon in the process. This is his story."
The Naval Guide to Ships and Aircraft of the U.S. Fleet
The Naval Institute Guide to the Ships and Aircraft of the U. S. Fleet (16th edition), by Norman Polmar (oversized HC with fine DJ, 1997, 581 pages, $5, which is 1/3 the price on the internet)
This book has got it all, ships, subs, and planes, plus information on organization of the Navy, DOD, Naval Reserve, and the Coast Guard. Polmar talks about both the new naval programs, and the ships and units being taken out of service. This is one fine book. Look for it in the military history section, on the top shelf.
This book has got it all, ships, subs, and planes, plus information on organization of the Navy, DOD, Naval Reserve, and the Coast Guard. Polmar talks about both the new naval programs, and the ships and units being taken out of service. This is one fine book. Look for it in the military history section, on the top shelf.
Monday, July 25, 2011
Canada
We don't get a lot of books on Canada, so when we do it is time to celebrate, or at least to blog.
In a Canadian Garden, photographed by Freeman Patterson (oversized HC, $3.50)
I'm not much interested in gardens, but this book might change that. The gardens pictured here are truly lush. This is a book you can sit with, and just feel the day's stresses fade away.
A History of the Original Peoples of Northern Canada, by Keith J. Crowe (TPB, 1974, $2)
Crowe specifically writes to share with southern Canadians the history of native Canadians. Presented from their point of view, he starts a discussion at a time when natives were just beginning to take back their power.
The Story of the "Nancy" and other Eighteen-Twelvers, by C. H. J. Snider ( HC, 1926, $4, which is 1/3 of the listed internet price.)
"Stirring stories of thrilling adventures on the Great Lakes and other inland waters during the war of 1812. Romantic incidents, courageous exploits, weird and mysterious happenings...A record of the heroic bravery of undaunted patriots, that will appeal alike to Canadians young and old."
Only one of this book's chapters is about the Nancy. Nancy was a ship built for the fur trade, converted during the war to a carrier of American prisoners and British supplies, sunk by American schooners, became the origins of a sandbar, which eventually formed an island. The boat itself vanished, but was found again in 1924 by a dentist on holiday. Once she was rediscovered, locals remembered the old stories of treasure hidden inside her. From then on it was a race to find any artifacts left on her.
Look for these books in the Canadian section.
In a Canadian Garden, photographed by Freeman Patterson (oversized HC, $3.50)
I'm not much interested in gardens, but this book might change that. The gardens pictured here are truly lush. This is a book you can sit with, and just feel the day's stresses fade away.
A History of the Original Peoples of Northern Canada, by Keith J. Crowe (TPB, 1974, $2)
Crowe specifically writes to share with southern Canadians the history of native Canadians. Presented from their point of view, he starts a discussion at a time when natives were just beginning to take back their power.
The Story of the "Nancy" and other Eighteen-Twelvers, by C. H. J. Snider ( HC, 1926, $4, which is 1/3 of the listed internet price.)
"Stirring stories of thrilling adventures on the Great Lakes and other inland waters during the war of 1812. Romantic incidents, courageous exploits, weird and mysterious happenings...A record of the heroic bravery of undaunted patriots, that will appeal alike to Canadians young and old."
Only one of this book's chapters is about the Nancy. Nancy was a ship built for the fur trade, converted during the war to a carrier of American prisoners and British supplies, sunk by American schooners, became the origins of a sandbar, which eventually formed an island. The boat itself vanished, but was found again in 1924 by a dentist on holiday. Once she was rediscovered, locals remembered the old stories of treasure hidden inside her. From then on it was a race to find any artifacts left on her.
Look for these books in the Canadian section.
Gardens, more gardens, and even more gardens!
Just before we moved the store we received a wonderful donation of garden books, and I've just found them again! Sorry for the long wait.
First off, the books on small gardens-
The Small Garden: Making the Most of a Small Garden, by David Squire (oversized HC, $3.50)
The Small Garden Book: From Backyards to Window Boxes, The Complete Guide to Transforming Any Small Urban or Rural Outdoor Space Into a Stylish Garden, by John Brookes ( oversized, $2) **SOLD**
Creating Small Gardens, by Roy Strong (oversized HC, $2)
Then books on other kinds of gardens-
The Naturalist's Garden, by John Feltwell (oversized HC, $2.50)
English Herb Gardens, by Guy Cooper (HC, $2.25)
Gardens of the South, published by Southern Accents (ovesized HC, $3)
Finally, a funny book-
The Lazy Indoor Gardener: How to Take Care of Your House Plants with the Least Possible Effort, by Roberta Pliner (HC, $1) This could be written for me, except I 'm not lazy, just forgetful. How about you?
Look for them in the garden section.
First off, the books on small gardens-
The Small Garden: Making the Most of a Small Garden, by David Squire (oversized HC, $3.50)
The Small Garden Book: From Backyards to Window Boxes, The Complete Guide to Transforming Any Small Urban or Rural Outdoor Space Into a Stylish Garden, by John Brookes ( oversized, $2) **SOLD**
Creating Small Gardens, by Roy Strong (oversized HC, $2)
Then books on other kinds of gardens-
The Naturalist's Garden, by John Feltwell (oversized HC, $2.50)
English Herb Gardens, by Guy Cooper (HC, $2.25)
Gardens of the South, published by Southern Accents (ovesized HC, $3)
Finally, a funny book-
The Lazy Indoor Gardener: How to Take Care of Your House Plants with the Least Possible Effort, by Roberta Pliner (HC, $1) This could be written for me, except I 'm not lazy, just forgetful. How about you?
Look for them in the garden section.
Wine Appreciation, by Vine
Wine Appreciation: A Comprehensive User's Guide to the World's Wines and Vineyards, by Richard P. Vine (oversized HC, 1988, 679 pages, $5)
"Vine begins at the very root of his subject, discussing the origin and microbiology of wine, then proceeds to detailed consideration of how wine is grown and made, how we perceive wine through our senses of taste, sight, and small and how we can best select, serve, and enjoy wines." (Then for those people like me who know nothing about wines, there is a 36 page glossary.) This is a beautiful book, filled with photos, lists, and drawings. Come and partake of this feast. You can find it in the beverages section of Cookbooks.
PS: Yes, the author's real last name is Vine! I just bet he has had to put up with a lot of jokes over the years.
"Vine begins at the very root of his subject, discussing the origin and microbiology of wine, then proceeds to detailed consideration of how wine is grown and made, how we perceive wine through our senses of taste, sight, and small and how we can best select, serve, and enjoy wines." (Then for those people like me who know nothing about wines, there is a 36 page glossary.) This is a beautiful book, filled with photos, lists, and drawings. Come and partake of this feast. You can find it in the beverages section of Cookbooks.
PS: Yes, the author's real last name is Vine! I just bet he has had to put up with a lot of jokes over the years.
Secrets of the Cold War... revealed!
The Cold War is over, the Soviet Empire gone, and some of the secrets of the time are no longer secrets.
Khrushchev Remembers: The Glasnost Tapes, translated and edited by Jerrold L. Schecter (HC, 1990, $3) **SOLD**
After his fall from power, Khrushchev was kept outside Moscow under virtual house arrest. Khrushchev's son recalls in his own memoirs, how his father "fumed over his relegation to oblivion, and how he taped his side of the story so that it would be available if ever anyone was willing, and permitted, to listen." The tapes were smuggled out of Russia to be translated and published in the West. Revealed here is how important the Rosenbergs were to the Soviet atomic bomb project, and that Castro, in the middle of the Cuban missile crisis, pushed Russia to launch a nuclear attack on the United States.
Scorpion Down- Sunk by the Soviets, Buried by the Pentagon: The Untold Story of the USS Scorpion, by Ed Offley (HC, 2007, $3)
Hot torpedo, hydraulic problem or Soviet attack... 47 years later the debate goes on.
The Cold War: A Military History, by David Miller (HC, 1998, 476 pages, $3.50)
Mayday: Eisenhower, Khrushchev and the U-2 Affair, by Michael R. Beschloss (HC, 1986, $3)
In 1960, two weeks before a vital summit meeting between Eisenhower and Khrushchev, Gary Powers "flew a U-2 spy plane deep into Soviet airspace and was shot down. Amazingly... Powers and his incriminating equipment survived and were captured." Why did this happen? How did it happen? A historian at the Smithsonian investigated and wrote this book.
Operation Solo:The FBI's Man in the Kremlin, by John Barron (HC, 1996, $3)
Morris Childs was the second-ranking man of the US Communist Party. Many, many times he traveled to the Soviet Union, China, and Cuba. He was trusted by Khrushchev, Brezhnev, Andropov, Mao, and Castro. Needless to say they did not know that he was an agent of the FBI! Sometimes the adage is true- truth is stranger than fiction!
"The Target Is Destroyed": What Really Happened to Flight 007 and What America Knew About It, by Seymour M. Hersh (HC, 1986, $2.50)
In 1983 a Korean civilian jet, caring 269 passengers and crew, was supposed to fly from Anchorage to Seoul. It was off course almost from the start, but by the time it reached what they thought was Japan, the plane was actually flying over Russian airspace, and headed directly toward two Russian air bases. How did the Koreans get so lost, and why did the Russians shoot down an obviously civilian airplane? This is the report of a Pulitzer winning journalist. Note this book was written only three years after the event. Did more information come out since?
******I have left the best for last:
Mutiny: The Inside Story of the True Events That Inspired The Hunt For Red October- From the Soviet Naval Hero Who Was There, by David Hagberg (HC, 2008, $3.25)
In 1975 most of this ship's crew mutinied, locked all the officers below deck, and proceeded "to send a message to the Soviet people that the Communist government was corrupt, and major changes were needed. That message never reached a single person". The Soviets were trying to destroy the ship when the ship's captain finally got back control of his ship. The Soviets managed to cover up the incident, with the exception of a student US Navel officer's obscure report. Several years later the report was read by an insurance agent. That insurance agent no longer has to sell insurance.
Look for these books on the non-fiction table.
Khrushchev Remembers: The Glasnost Tapes, translated and edited by Jerrold L. Schecter (HC, 1990, $3) **SOLD**
After his fall from power, Khrushchev was kept outside Moscow under virtual house arrest. Khrushchev's son recalls in his own memoirs, how his father "fumed over his relegation to oblivion, and how he taped his side of the story so that it would be available if ever anyone was willing, and permitted, to listen." The tapes were smuggled out of Russia to be translated and published in the West. Revealed here is how important the Rosenbergs were to the Soviet atomic bomb project, and that Castro, in the middle of the Cuban missile crisis, pushed Russia to launch a nuclear attack on the United States.
Scorpion Down- Sunk by the Soviets, Buried by the Pentagon: The Untold Story of the USS Scorpion, by Ed Offley (HC, 2007, $3)
Hot torpedo, hydraulic problem or Soviet attack... 47 years later the debate goes on.
The Cold War: A Military History, by David Miller (HC, 1998, 476 pages, $3.50)
Mayday: Eisenhower, Khrushchev and the U-2 Affair, by Michael R. Beschloss (HC, 1986, $3)
In 1960, two weeks before a vital summit meeting between Eisenhower and Khrushchev, Gary Powers "flew a U-2 spy plane deep into Soviet airspace and was shot down. Amazingly... Powers and his incriminating equipment survived and were captured." Why did this happen? How did it happen? A historian at the Smithsonian investigated and wrote this book.
Operation Solo:The FBI's Man in the Kremlin, by John Barron (HC, 1996, $3)
Morris Childs was the second-ranking man of the US Communist Party. Many, many times he traveled to the Soviet Union, China, and Cuba. He was trusted by Khrushchev, Brezhnev, Andropov, Mao, and Castro. Needless to say they did not know that he was an agent of the FBI! Sometimes the adage is true- truth is stranger than fiction!
"The Target Is Destroyed": What Really Happened to Flight 007 and What America Knew About It, by Seymour M. Hersh (HC, 1986, $2.50)
In 1983 a Korean civilian jet, caring 269 passengers and crew, was supposed to fly from Anchorage to Seoul. It was off course almost from the start, but by the time it reached what they thought was Japan, the plane was actually flying over Russian airspace, and headed directly toward two Russian air bases. How did the Koreans get so lost, and why did the Russians shoot down an obviously civilian airplane? This is the report of a Pulitzer winning journalist. Note this book was written only three years after the event. Did more information come out since?
******I have left the best for last:
Mutiny: The Inside Story of the True Events That Inspired The Hunt For Red October- From the Soviet Naval Hero Who Was There, by David Hagberg (HC, 2008, $3.25)
In 1975 most of this ship's crew mutinied, locked all the officers below deck, and proceeded "to send a message to the Soviet people that the Communist government was corrupt, and major changes were needed. That message never reached a single person". The Soviets were trying to destroy the ship when the ship's captain finally got back control of his ship. The Soviets managed to cover up the incident, with the exception of a student US Navel officer's obscure report. Several years later the report was read by an insurance agent. That insurance agent no longer has to sell insurance.
Look for these books on the non-fiction table.
Saturday, July 23, 2011
Fighter jets and their pilots!
Eye of the Viper: The Making of an F-16 Pilot, by Peter Aleshire (HC, 2004, $3)
Only the best get to train at Luke Air Force Base. The course is six months long, and costs $2 million. The F-16s make huge demands on their pilots, but give back to most a rush of joy and freedom. The F-16 has"never lost a dogfight and has helped crush every air defense system it has faced". These are the stories of the trainers and the students who fly these $35 million jets.
Going Downtown: The War Against Hanoi and Washington, by Jack Broughton ( HC, 1988, $2.50)
Going Downtown was the pilot's term for air raids against "downtown" (or Hanoi). Missiles , anti-aircraft fire, and awful weather were only part of the dangers. Missions drawn up by bureaucrats, politically motivated restrictions on shooting, and the over reliance on technology made, in Broughton's words, " Washington an enemy as formidable as Hanoi."
Tex Johnston: Jet-Age Test Pilot, by A. M. Johnson (TPB, no year stated, $2.50)
He first flew for free in a plane that had landed in a neighbor's field. His career as a pilot started with biplanes and barnstorming for an aerial circus. He was 19, brave, and ready to take risks. Later as a US jet test pilot he brought meticulous safety standards to his field (except when he barrel rolled the Boeing 707 prototype!) In the 1960's he worked for Boeing on it's contract with NASA to build Saturn booster rockets. In 1975, at age 61, he was still chief test pilot for Stanley Aviation. What a life!
*****This one is of local interest ! (Unlike the other books in this blog, this one is still on the new non-ficion table.)
**SOLD**
One Foot on the Ground: A Pilot's Memoirs of Aviators and Aviation, by Paul Roxin, (TPB, autographed, 2004, $3)
Roxin was an air traffic communications officer for the fore-runner of the FAA, a civilian pilot trainer during WWII, and the founder of the Geriatric Pilots Association. All this started when he saw a biplane go by No. 26 school in Rochester. His other love was music, and he founded the Brighton Symphony Orchestra. Wow!
Fast Movers: Jet Pilots and the Vietnam Experience, by John Darrell Sherwood (HC, 1999 $2.50)
Sherwood writes a social history of 14 pilots, some of them famous, some not. They flew all kinds of jets. Sometimes they crashed. Ejection seats saved lives, but not without injuries, both burns and broken bones. Plus, if you landed someplace you didn't want to, you might be looking at long years as a POW.
Eject! The Complete History of US Aircraft Escape Systems, by Jim Tuttle (HC, 2002, $3)
Included here are over 100 photos of ejection seats. There are parachutes, manual ejection seats, automatic ejection seats, upward and downward ejection seats, and semi- ejection seats. Then come the just plain weird ones- jettisonable noses, propeller removers, escape slides, escape baffles or airstream deflectors. Do those last ones freak you out as much as they do me?
Air Warriors: The Inside Story of the Making of a Navy Pilot, by Douglas C. Waller (HC, 1998, $3)
Aleshire tells the story of becoming an air force pilot. This book tells it from the Navy pilot's point of view, which is different from either a sailor's view or an Air Force pilot's point of view. Navy pilots take a dim view of all those slow moving ships. Navy pilots also take a dim view of Air Force pilots, because Air Force pilots "don't land on a 55-foot rocking airstrip" when they come home. They have a point.
Flying the Edge: The Making of Navy Test Pilots, by George C. Wilson (HC, 1992, $3)
Navy pilots tested the Curtis biplane in 1911. Now they test jets and helicopters. Sometimes accidents happen, and pilots die or are hurt. Sometimes everything works perfectly. Wilson talks about both, as well as the assaults on women at the Tailhook Convention of 1991.
Look for these books in the military history section.
Only the best get to train at Luke Air Force Base. The course is six months long, and costs $2 million. The F-16s make huge demands on their pilots, but give back to most a rush of joy and freedom. The F-16 has"never lost a dogfight and has helped crush every air defense system it has faced". These are the stories of the trainers and the students who fly these $35 million jets.
Going Downtown: The War Against Hanoi and Washington, by Jack Broughton ( HC, 1988, $2.50)
Going Downtown was the pilot's term for air raids against "downtown" (or Hanoi). Missiles , anti-aircraft fire, and awful weather were only part of the dangers. Missions drawn up by bureaucrats, politically motivated restrictions on shooting, and the over reliance on technology made, in Broughton's words, " Washington an enemy as formidable as Hanoi."
Tex Johnston: Jet-Age Test Pilot, by A. M. Johnson (TPB, no year stated, $2.50)
He first flew for free in a plane that had landed in a neighbor's field. His career as a pilot started with biplanes and barnstorming for an aerial circus. He was 19, brave, and ready to take risks. Later as a US jet test pilot he brought meticulous safety standards to his field (except when he barrel rolled the Boeing 707 prototype!) In the 1960's he worked for Boeing on it's contract with NASA to build Saturn booster rockets. In 1975, at age 61, he was still chief test pilot for Stanley Aviation. What a life!
*****This one is of local interest ! (Unlike the other books in this blog, this one is still on the new non-ficion table.)
**SOLD**
One Foot on the Ground: A Pilot's Memoirs of Aviators and Aviation, by Paul Roxin, (TPB, autographed, 2004, $3)
Roxin was an air traffic communications officer for the fore-runner of the FAA, a civilian pilot trainer during WWII, and the founder of the Geriatric Pilots Association. All this started when he saw a biplane go by No. 26 school in Rochester. His other love was music, and he founded the Brighton Symphony Orchestra. Wow!
Fast Movers: Jet Pilots and the Vietnam Experience, by John Darrell Sherwood (HC, 1999 $2.50)
Sherwood writes a social history of 14 pilots, some of them famous, some not. They flew all kinds of jets. Sometimes they crashed. Ejection seats saved lives, but not without injuries, both burns and broken bones. Plus, if you landed someplace you didn't want to, you might be looking at long years as a POW.
Eject! The Complete History of US Aircraft Escape Systems, by Jim Tuttle (HC, 2002, $3)
Included here are over 100 photos of ejection seats. There are parachutes, manual ejection seats, automatic ejection seats, upward and downward ejection seats, and semi- ejection seats. Then come the just plain weird ones- jettisonable noses, propeller removers, escape slides, escape baffles or airstream deflectors. Do those last ones freak you out as much as they do me?
Air Warriors: The Inside Story of the Making of a Navy Pilot, by Douglas C. Waller (HC, 1998, $3)
Aleshire tells the story of becoming an air force pilot. This book tells it from the Navy pilot's point of view, which is different from either a sailor's view or an Air Force pilot's point of view. Navy pilots take a dim view of all those slow moving ships. Navy pilots also take a dim view of Air Force pilots, because Air Force pilots "don't land on a 55-foot rocking airstrip" when they come home. They have a point.
Flying the Edge: The Making of Navy Test Pilots, by George C. Wilson (HC, 1992, $3)
Navy pilots tested the Curtis biplane in 1911. Now they test jets and helicopters. Sometimes accidents happen, and pilots die or are hurt. Sometimes everything works perfectly. Wilson talks about both, as well as the assaults on women at the Tailhook Convention of 1991.
Look for these books in the military history section.
Friday, July 22, 2011
Tasha Tudor
Tasha Tudor:The Direction of Her Dreams, A Bio-Bibliography, by Wm John Hare (oversized, HC with jacket, 1999, 559 pages, $9)
Tasha Tudor was an illustrator and author of some of this nation's most beloved children's books. "This scholarly and comprehensive bibliography not only catalogs all of Tudor's works, it also lists the works of her equally talented daughters... and her husband."
Tasha Tudor was an illustrator and author of some of this nation's most beloved children's books. "This scholarly and comprehensive bibliography not only catalogs all of Tudor's works, it also lists the works of her equally talented daughters... and her husband."
People Who Report the News...
3 biographies:
Audition: A Memoir, by Barbara Walters (HC, 2008, $4)
Here is the story of how she made it to the top of a male-dominated industry. Note both the front and end papers are filled with names (in small print) of the people she has interviewed. They go on and on forever. .
This Just In: What I Couldn't Tell You On TV, by Bob Schieffer (HC, 1993, $3)
Peace, War and Politics: An Eyewitness Account, by Jack Anderson (HC, 1999, $3)
Anderson's father wanted him to be a farmer. Says Anderson, "I lasted an inglorious two weeks- long enough for me to conclude, at twelve years of age, that my future was at the typewriter." Four decades later, even after his face had been on the cover of Time, and he had won the Pulitzer Prize, Anderson's father was still upset his son was a writer. Other people, though, respected and even feared him, as he used his newspaper columns to expose "fraud, waste, and abuse".
Look for these books in the biography section.
.
Audition: A Memoir, by Barbara Walters (HC, 2008, $4)
Here is the story of how she made it to the top of a male-dominated industry. Note both the front and end papers are filled with names (in small print) of the people she has interviewed. They go on and on forever. .
This Just In: What I Couldn't Tell You On TV, by Bob Schieffer (HC, 1993, $3)
Peace, War and Politics: An Eyewitness Account, by Jack Anderson (HC, 1999, $3)
Anderson's father wanted him to be a farmer. Says Anderson, "I lasted an inglorious two weeks- long enough for me to conclude, at twelve years of age, that my future was at the typewriter." Four decades later, even after his face had been on the cover of Time, and he had won the Pulitzer Prize, Anderson's father was still upset his son was a writer. Other people, though, respected and even feared him, as he used his newspaper columns to expose "fraud, waste, and abuse".
Look for these books in the biography section.
.
Robert Coles' "Children of Crisis" (Volumes 1- 5)
Robert Coles, Children of Crisis (HC, 1967- 1977, 5 volumes for $20)
These books on children of the poor won the 1973 Pulitzer Prize. Not only does he present a scholarly work based on research and interviews, he also writes passionately about economic, social and racial injustices. Indeed, his intent was more to listen than to interview children. He wanted to know what they think, hope, worry about, and expect.
Volume I: A Study of Courage and Fear
How can children survive the danger, anger, and fear of living in the south when integration comes?
Volume II: Migrants, Sharecroppers, Mountaineers
Here are the stories of the migrants who travel up and down the east coast, the sharecroppers of the south, and the mountain people whose only choice may be to mine coal..
Volume III: The South Goes North
Coles listens to the stories of the poor who leave the South and Appalachia to find new lives and identities in the North, only to end up in city ghettos. "Many talk of returning to their rural origins, but few do."
Volume IV: Eskimos, Chicanos, Indians
Here are the children of the Eskimos, the Pueblo and Hopi territory, and the Rio Grande Valley.
Volume V Privileged Ones
During his interviews with American poor, many suggested he "go talk to the well off ones- their kids", so he did.
Look for this set on the floor under the psychology and sociology sections in the back room.
These books on children of the poor won the 1973 Pulitzer Prize. Not only does he present a scholarly work based on research and interviews, he also writes passionately about economic, social and racial injustices. Indeed, his intent was more to listen than to interview children. He wanted to know what they think, hope, worry about, and expect.
Volume I: A Study of Courage and Fear
How can children survive the danger, anger, and fear of living in the south when integration comes?
Volume II: Migrants, Sharecroppers, Mountaineers
Here are the stories of the migrants who travel up and down the east coast, the sharecroppers of the south, and the mountain people whose only choice may be to mine coal..
Volume III: The South Goes North
Coles listens to the stories of the poor who leave the South and Appalachia to find new lives and identities in the North, only to end up in city ghettos. "Many talk of returning to their rural origins, but few do."
Volume IV: Eskimos, Chicanos, Indians
Here are the children of the Eskimos, the Pueblo and Hopi territory, and the Rio Grande Valley.
Volume V Privileged Ones
During his interviews with American poor, many suggested he "go talk to the well off ones- their kids", so he did.
Look for this set on the floor under the psychology and sociology sections in the back room.
Thursday, July 21, 2011
Pope John II, Gerald Ford, Harry S. Truman, and Sean Connery
Biographies that struck me as interesting:
Man of the Century, the Life and Times of Pope John Paul II, by Jonathan Kwitny (HC, 1997, 754 pages, $2.50 as it has some staining of the end papers)
Learn how the "Polish Pope" came to be elected pope, as well as his role in the fall of the Soviet Empire. Included here is a partial reprinting of the pope's first book. 250 copies of this underground book "were hand-printed in Poland at mortal risk to the author , publishers, and readers."
Time and Chance: Gerald Ford's Appointment with History, by James Cannon (TPB, 1998, 496 pages, $2.50)
Did you know that Ford was the only president not to be elected? I had forgotten that Vice President Agnew had been forced to resign. At the time, 1973, Ford was feeling disappointed that he would never be Speaker of the House. He was tired of traveling, and tired of politics, and planned to soon go into private practice. Instead Ford was nominated to be VP, voted in by the Senate, and confirmed by the House. As he and his wife Betty were getting ready to move into the VP residence, Alexander Haig warned him to expect to go to the White House. Even after all this, historians treat Ford poorly for his decision to pardon Nixon. Read this book and make up your own mind.
Plain Speaking: An Oral Biography of Harry S. Truman, by Merle Miller (HC, 1974, $1)
The classic biography of Truman, written from months of interviews with Truman, 20 years after he left the White House. Truman's presidency has been re-evaluated in the last twenty years. Do you think Ford's reputation ever will be?
On a lighter note-
Sean Connery, by John Parker (HC, 1993, $2.50)
When he became 007, he informed the producers how the part should be played. When he was 60 he was voted "the sexiest man alive". He is both a complex human and a complex actor. Read his life's story here.
These books can be found in the biography section.
Man of the Century, the Life and Times of Pope John Paul II, by Jonathan Kwitny (HC, 1997, 754 pages, $2.50 as it has some staining of the end papers)
Learn how the "Polish Pope" came to be elected pope, as well as his role in the fall of the Soviet Empire. Included here is a partial reprinting of the pope's first book. 250 copies of this underground book "were hand-printed in Poland at mortal risk to the author , publishers, and readers."
Time and Chance: Gerald Ford's Appointment with History, by James Cannon (TPB, 1998, 496 pages, $2.50)
Did you know that Ford was the only president not to be elected? I had forgotten that Vice President Agnew had been forced to resign. At the time, 1973, Ford was feeling disappointed that he would never be Speaker of the House. He was tired of traveling, and tired of politics, and planned to soon go into private practice. Instead Ford was nominated to be VP, voted in by the Senate, and confirmed by the House. As he and his wife Betty were getting ready to move into the VP residence, Alexander Haig warned him to expect to go to the White House. Even after all this, historians treat Ford poorly for his decision to pardon Nixon. Read this book and make up your own mind.
Plain Speaking: An Oral Biography of Harry S. Truman, by Merle Miller (HC, 1974, $1)
The classic biography of Truman, written from months of interviews with Truman, 20 years after he left the White House. Truman's presidency has been re-evaluated in the last twenty years. Do you think Ford's reputation ever will be?
On a lighter note-
Sean Connery, by John Parker (HC, 1993, $2.50)
When he became 007, he informed the producers how the part should be played. When he was 60 he was voted "the sexiest man alive". He is both a complex human and a complex actor. Read his life's story here.
These books can be found in the biography section.
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
Britain and Ireland **SOLD**
Discovering Britain and Ireland, published by the National Geographic Society (over- sized, HC, 1985, $3)
I love over-sized National Geo. books. They are filled with lots of info, and when I get tired of reading, I can look at all those wonderful color pictures. Included here are maps, one which comes with the book, and two other that the donator included gratis. This copy of D. B. and I. is in the greatest condition, with a swell looking cover, green with gold decoration.
Can you tell that I really like this book? My favorite section describes how to thatch a roof. Thatch roofs of straw can last for up to 20 years! Thatched roofs of reed last even longer, sometimes up to 80 years!!! Longevity depends on the quality of workmanship and the amount of precipitation the roofs are exposed to. Thatched roofs have gotten a lot more expensive since the use of chemical fertilizers, which weaken wheat stalks, and mechanical harvesters, which can't cut thatch. Come and read all the other stuff in this book. (Note, the section on thatch takes only two pages, so there is room for lots of other stuff.)
Find the book on the new non-fiction table.
I love over-sized National Geo. books. They are filled with lots of info, and when I get tired of reading, I can look at all those wonderful color pictures. Included here are maps, one which comes with the book, and two other that the donator included gratis. This copy of D. B. and I. is in the greatest condition, with a swell looking cover, green with gold decoration.
Can you tell that I really like this book? My favorite section describes how to thatch a roof. Thatch roofs of straw can last for up to 20 years! Thatched roofs of reed last even longer, sometimes up to 80 years!!! Longevity depends on the quality of workmanship and the amount of precipitation the roofs are exposed to. Thatched roofs have gotten a lot more expensive since the use of chemical fertilizers, which weaken wheat stalks, and mechanical harvesters, which can't cut thatch. Come and read all the other stuff in this book. (Note, the section on thatch takes only two pages, so there is room for lots of other stuff.)
Find the book on the new non-fiction table.
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
Julie Taymor
Julie Taymor: Playing with Fire, by Eileen Blumenthal and Julie Taymor (Updated and Expanded Edition) (oversized HC, 1999, $8)
This is some book! "Julie Taymor is one of the most imaginative and provocative directors and designers working in the performing arts." Her Lion King won six Tony Awards, including two for her direction and costume designs. Read here of her studies of mime, puppetry, and mask making. Enjoy the incredible number of photos and sketches, as well as her own notes on the creation and challenges of each production.
Look for this book in the art section.
This is some book! "Julie Taymor is one of the most imaginative and provocative directors and designers working in the performing arts." Her Lion King won six Tony Awards, including two for her direction and costume designs. Read here of her studies of mime, puppetry, and mask making. Enjoy the incredible number of photos and sketches, as well as her own notes on the creation and challenges of each production.
Look for this book in the art section.
Eisenhower and Tommy Franks
Eisenhower, by Geoffrey Perret (HC, 1999, 685 pages, $3.50)
Perret was able to use many unpublished Eisenhower letters and diaries. This is Eisenhower not just in WWII and Korea, but also during the Cold War, the civil rights movement, McCarthyism, the U-2 crisis and Vietnam. Perret claims to have used the fresh sources to resolve many of the varied speculations regarding Kay Summersby, Field Marshal Montgomery, Columbia University, and Nixon. (Of course, any writer wanting to sell a book claims to have definitive answers.)
American Soldier, by General Tommy Franks, Commander in Chief, U. S. Central Command (HC, 2004, 590 pages, $3.50)
We know his name from when he was Commander in Chief of the US Central Comnmand from 2000 to 2003. Originally from Oklahoma, he graduated from Artillery School in 1967, and went on to be awarded with, among others, three Purple Hearts and three Bronze Stars. Whether or not you think the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan were heroic victories of liberation, his achievements warrant study and respect.
Look for these books in the biography section.
Perret was able to use many unpublished Eisenhower letters and diaries. This is Eisenhower not just in WWII and Korea, but also during the Cold War, the civil rights movement, McCarthyism, the U-2 crisis and Vietnam. Perret claims to have used the fresh sources to resolve many of the varied speculations regarding Kay Summersby, Field Marshal Montgomery, Columbia University, and Nixon. (Of course, any writer wanting to sell a book claims to have definitive answers.)
American Soldier, by General Tommy Franks, Commander in Chief, U. S. Central Command (HC, 2004, 590 pages, $3.50)
We know his name from when he was Commander in Chief of the US Central Comnmand from 2000 to 2003. Originally from Oklahoma, he graduated from Artillery School in 1967, and went on to be awarded with, among others, three Purple Hearts and three Bronze Stars. Whether or not you think the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan were heroic victories of liberation, his achievements warrant study and respect.
Look for these books in the biography section.
Monday, July 18, 2011
About China
China Wakes: The Struggle for the Soul of a Rising Power, by Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl Wudunn (HC, 1994, $3)
Written by the Pulitzer Prize-winning Beijing correspondents of the NY Times, this book contains not only their reports on the country and it's people, but also how they found the stories to report. "Attracted by China's potential for greatness and repelled by its propensity for cruelty, [they] struggle to reconcile" the two.
Beijing Jeep: The Short, Unhappy Romance of American Business in China, by Jim Mann (HC,1989,$3)
China opens it's doors to the West in the late 1970's. and businesses salivate at the thought of selling to all those people! Then Tiananmen Square happens, and businesses start to leave. Specifically, this is the story of how American Motors starts to build Jeeps in China. All does not go well. So here we are 22 years later asking the same questions. How can Western businesses not go to China? What about home grown Chinese capitalists? A lot of people much smarter than me are pondering this.
From the point of view of Chinese missionaries of 1915-
The Jubilee Story of the China Inland Mission, by Marshall Broomhall (HC, 1933, $1.50)
A Great Wall: Six Presidents and China: An Investigative History, by Patrick Tyler (SC, 2000, $2.50)
Tyler talks to U.S. Presidents and Secretaries of State, he talks to Chinese leaders, and he reads 15,000 pages of newly declassified documents. This award winning book illuminates "a relationship usually shrouded in secrecy, miscommunication, rivalry, fascination and fear. "
The Tiananmen Papers: The Chinese Leadership's Decision to Use Force Against Their Own People- in Their Own Words, compiled by Zhang Liang (HC, 2001, 513 pages, $3 )
These are the internal government and Communist Party documents which show how and who made the decisions to fire the pro-reform Party secretary, to declare martial law, and finally to send in troops to clear the Square. Not all of the Chinese government officials wanted to order in the army. Some wanted to continue to talk with the students. The final decisions, though, were made by the eight "Elders", who had no "official" government power.
Written by the Pulitzer Prize-winning Beijing correspondents of the NY Times, this book contains not only their reports on the country and it's people, but also how they found the stories to report. "Attracted by China's potential for greatness and repelled by its propensity for cruelty, [they] struggle to reconcile" the two.
Beijing Jeep: The Short, Unhappy Romance of American Business in China, by Jim Mann (HC,1989,$3)
China opens it's doors to the West in the late 1970's. and businesses salivate at the thought of selling to all those people! Then Tiananmen Square happens, and businesses start to leave. Specifically, this is the story of how American Motors starts to build Jeeps in China. All does not go well. So here we are 22 years later asking the same questions. How can Western businesses not go to China? What about home grown Chinese capitalists? A lot of people much smarter than me are pondering this.
From the point of view of Chinese missionaries of 1915-
The Jubilee Story of the China Inland Mission, by Marshall Broomhall (HC, 1933, $1.50)
A Great Wall: Six Presidents and China: An Investigative History, by Patrick Tyler (SC, 2000, $2.50)
Tyler talks to U.S. Presidents and Secretaries of State, he talks to Chinese leaders, and he reads 15,000 pages of newly declassified documents. This award winning book illuminates "a relationship usually shrouded in secrecy, miscommunication, rivalry, fascination and fear. "
The Tiananmen Papers: The Chinese Leadership's Decision to Use Force Against Their Own People- in Their Own Words, compiled by Zhang Liang (HC, 2001, 513 pages, $3 )
These are the internal government and Communist Party documents which show how and who made the decisions to fire the pro-reform Party secretary, to declare martial law, and finally to send in troops to clear the Square. Not all of the Chinese government officials wanted to order in the army. Some wanted to continue to talk with the students. The final decisions, though, were made by the eight "Elders", who had no "official" government power.
Sunday, July 17, 2011
Prisons
New Jack: Guarding Sing Sing, by Ted Conover (HC, 2000,$3)
A "new jack" is a new prison guard. Conover, a journalist, goes undercover as a guard at Sing Sing. He "dramatizes the conflict between the necessity to isolate criminals and the dehumanization- of guards as well as inmates- that almost inevitably takes place behind bars." Added to that, he has to keep who he is not just from the prisoners, but also from his fellow guards.
Iron House: Stories from the Yard, by Jerome Washington (TPB, 1994, $1.75)
Attica was Washington's home for 15 years. He filed and won a historic First Amendment lawsuit in defense of his right to write. Eventually he would be freed, and the charges against him dropped. This is his story, but also the story of the others at Attica.
Just added 7/18
The I Chong: Meditations from the Joint, by Tommy Chong, "of the Legendary Comedy Duo Cheech and Chong" (HC, 2006, $2)
In 2003 The DEA raided Chong's home as part of a sting.. "As a result of the raid... and the Bush administration's determination to make an example out of the "Pope of Pot" , he was sentenced to nine months in prison. Thus starts his spiritual, physical and political journey. Is an experience in federal prison the same as an experience in Sing Sing or Attica? I doubt it. But probably bad enough.
A "new jack" is a new prison guard. Conover, a journalist, goes undercover as a guard at Sing Sing. He "dramatizes the conflict between the necessity to isolate criminals and the dehumanization- of guards as well as inmates- that almost inevitably takes place behind bars." Added to that, he has to keep who he is not just from the prisoners, but also from his fellow guards.
Iron House: Stories from the Yard, by Jerome Washington (TPB, 1994, $1.75)
Attica was Washington's home for 15 years. He filed and won a historic First Amendment lawsuit in defense of his right to write. Eventually he would be freed, and the charges against him dropped. This is his story, but also the story of the others at Attica.
Just added 7/18
The I Chong: Meditations from the Joint, by Tommy Chong, "of the Legendary Comedy Duo Cheech and Chong" (HC, 2006, $2)
In 2003 The DEA raided Chong's home as part of a sting.. "As a result of the raid... and the Bush administration's determination to make an example out of the "Pope of Pot" , he was sentenced to nine months in prison. Thus starts his spiritual, physical and political journey. Is an experience in federal prison the same as an experience in Sing Sing or Attica? I doubt it. But probably bad enough.
More Feds and criminals
Contract Killer: The Explosive Story of the Mafia's Most Notorious Hit Man Donald "Tony the Greek" Frankos, as told to William Hoffman (HC, 1992, $3)
He says he knows where Jimmy Hoffa is buried. What do you think?
Puppetmaster:The Secret Life of J. Edgar Hoover, by Richard Hack (HC, 2004, $3)
Hero, America's greatest lawman, and bringer of justice, or criminal, ally of the Mafia, and secret homosexual? Was he one or the other, or was he both? We may never know for sure, but we do know he was a survivor. Even after many attempts to oust him from office he was still in power, and the one of the most feared people in the country.
The Bureau: The Secret History of the FBI, by Ronald Kessler (HC, 2002, $2.50)
Diplomatic Crime: True Stories of Crimes Committed by People Who Live Above the Law, by Chuck Ashman (PB, 1988, $1)
Rapist, kidnappers, even killers, all free to go their merry way because they are are members of the diplomatic corps. Read about it here.
(My own example- a loud party in 1974, police called, shots fired, with partiers and lawmen of all sorts running around with guns out and helicopters zooming overhead. When the next day came, no charges would ever be filed. The party was being held by a diplomat's son. No one was killed that night, but even if someone had been, they all had immunity. At least that is what was whispered around the complex.)
He says he knows where Jimmy Hoffa is buried. What do you think?
Puppetmaster:The Secret Life of J. Edgar Hoover, by Richard Hack (HC, 2004, $3)
Hero, America's greatest lawman, and bringer of justice, or criminal, ally of the Mafia, and secret homosexual? Was he one or the other, or was he both? We may never know for sure, but we do know he was a survivor. Even after many attempts to oust him from office he was still in power, and the one of the most feared people in the country.
The Bureau: The Secret History of the FBI, by Ronald Kessler (HC, 2002, $2.50)
Diplomatic Crime: True Stories of Crimes Committed by People Who Live Above the Law, by Chuck Ashman (PB, 1988, $1)
Rapist, kidnappers, even killers, all free to go their merry way because they are are members of the diplomatic corps. Read about it here.
(My own example- a loud party in 1974, police called, shots fired, with partiers and lawmen of all sorts running around with guns out and helicopters zooming overhead. When the next day came, no charges would ever be filed. The party was being held by a diplomat's son. No one was killed that night, but even if someone had been, they all had immunity. At least that is what was whispered around the complex.)
Friday, July 15, 2011
The US Military in Vietnam
Amidst all those just contributed military books are a lot of books on the Vietnam War. Some of the books are hardcovers, but most are paperbacks. Look for them in the military history section. The HC are $3 or less, the PB $1.50 and below, depending on their condition. If you are interested in that time period, either because you lived it, or because you weren't born yet but want to know what happened, then come down and check these out in the military history section.
Spies, the real ones, not the ones on TV.
Yes, I love to watch Covert Affairs every week, but the spies in these books are real.
**SOLD**
Spy Wars: Moles, Mysteries, and Deadly Games, by Tennent H. Bagley (HC, 2007, $3)
Bagley was the CIA's chief of Soviet bloc counter-intelligence in 1964 when KGB officer Yuri Nosenko defected. Was his information on Lee Harvey Oswald's stay in Russia true, or a KGB deception? This is the story of the CIA and KGB spy wars as told by an insider,
The U.S. Intelligence Community, by Jeffrey T. Richelson (TPB, 1985, $2)
Read here "what intelligence is, who it is done by, and how it is perpetuated, interpreted, and used". More than 30 organizations made up the intelligence community in 1985. Richelson uses The Freedom of Information Act, interviews, and research to gather together the thirty year tale of this secret community.
Why Spy? Espionage in an Age of Uncertainty, by Frederick P. Hitz, former Inspector General of the CIA (small TPB, 2007, $1.50 )
Which agency does what? What do we need from the intelligence community? How can they recruit spies to infiltrate Islamic fundamentalist groups? Who would want to be a spy in the first place? The cold war is over, and 9/11 happened. How has the world of the spy changed?
The Secret History of the CIA, by Joseph J. Trento (HC, 2001, 542 pages, $2.50)
The CIA was founded to battle the Soviets during the Cold War. Things did not always go as planned.
The Assassination Business:A History of State-Sponsored Murder, by Richard Belfiend (TPB, 2005, $1.50)
Belfiend has investigated everything from the death of Princess Diana, to the first human case of mad cow disease. (The man certainly has diverse interests!) This is his report on assassinations ordered by the heads of countries, ours included. "For terrorist now, the weapons of choice are the bullet and the bomb; for first-world states it is the laser-guided missile, remote and deadly." The newspapers are full of reports of terrorists and bombs. This is a report on the killing done by the other side.
The Center of the Storm: My Years at the CIA, by George Tenet (HC, 2007, 549 pages, $3)
Tenet was Director of the CIA from 1997 to 2004. Wow, those are years no one will soon forget! What would it have been like to have had his job? I had enough problems just getting myself through those times!
Look for these books on the new non-fiction table.
**SOLD**
Spy Wars: Moles, Mysteries, and Deadly Games, by Tennent H. Bagley (HC, 2007, $3)
Bagley was the CIA's chief of Soviet bloc counter-intelligence in 1964 when KGB officer Yuri Nosenko defected. Was his information on Lee Harvey Oswald's stay in Russia true, or a KGB deception? This is the story of the CIA and KGB spy wars as told by an insider,
The U.S. Intelligence Community, by Jeffrey T. Richelson (TPB, 1985, $2)
Read here "what intelligence is, who it is done by, and how it is perpetuated, interpreted, and used". More than 30 organizations made up the intelligence community in 1985. Richelson uses The Freedom of Information Act, interviews, and research to gather together the thirty year tale of this secret community.
Why Spy? Espionage in an Age of Uncertainty, by Frederick P. Hitz, former Inspector General of the CIA (small TPB, 2007, $1.50 )
Which agency does what? What do we need from the intelligence community? How can they recruit spies to infiltrate Islamic fundamentalist groups? Who would want to be a spy in the first place? The cold war is over, and 9/11 happened. How has the world of the spy changed?
The Secret History of the CIA, by Joseph J. Trento (HC, 2001, 542 pages, $2.50)
The CIA was founded to battle the Soviets during the Cold War. Things did not always go as planned.
The Assassination Business:A History of State-Sponsored Murder, by Richard Belfiend (TPB, 2005, $1.50)
Belfiend has investigated everything from the death of Princess Diana, to the first human case of mad cow disease. (The man certainly has diverse interests!) This is his report on assassinations ordered by the heads of countries, ours included. "For terrorist now, the weapons of choice are the bullet and the bomb; for first-world states it is the laser-guided missile, remote and deadly." The newspapers are full of reports of terrorists and bombs. This is a report on the killing done by the other side.
The Center of the Storm: My Years at the CIA, by George Tenet (HC, 2007, 549 pages, $3)
Tenet was Director of the CIA from 1997 to 2004. Wow, those are years no one will soon forget! What would it have been like to have had his job? I had enough problems just getting myself through those times!
Look for these books on the new non-fiction table.
Thursday, July 14, 2011
Those who report the news...
Those who report the news sometimes ARE the news.
A Reporter's Life, by Walter Cronkite (HC, 1996, $3) -- SOLD
"Anchorman " as a term was originally coined to describe Walter Cronkite. He started "reporting" the news when at age three he ran down the street shouting the news of President Harding's death. When he was six he started selling papers, and his mother worried. In high school, shin splints kept him from the track team, so he became the campus newspaper's sports editor. This started a career that took him from Nuremberg to the Kennedy assassination. In his spare time he loved to race cars. Now that was the time for his mother to really worry! Come read his story.
Among Those Present: A Reporter's View of Twenty-five Years in Washington, by Nancy Dickerson (HC, 1976, $2.50)
Nancy Dickerson, educated in a Wisconsin convent, was hired to work for the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, JUST when Sen. McCarthy started to attack it. Nancy, welcome to the ugliness of the real world! Later she would move to CBS and television reporting, eventually breaking many of the huge gender barriers of the time.
Fat Man in a Middle Seat: Forty Years of Covering Politics, by Jack W. Germond (HC, 1999, $3)
Germond reported on them all, Rockefeller, Nixon, McCarthy and McGovern, as well as Carter, Reagan and Bill Clinton, but it is the other stuff he writes about that makes this book special. Read about the real life of a reporter, sitting in the middle seat of a red-eye flight from LA, the "countless late nights in bars, rides on campaign planes, and off-the-record briefings and strategy sessions- the real stuff of politics".
Out of Thin Air: The Brief Wonderful Life of Network News, by Reuven Frank, the former president of NBC News ( HC, 1991, $3)
"When Reuven Frank signed on as a news writer for NBC-TV in 1950, network television was less than two years old. No one from NBC's radio news staff wanted the job- TV news wasn't expected to last." Frank goes on to bring the news intimately into America's living rooms, to pair Huntley with Brinkley, and to win seven Emmys.
Maxine Cheshire, Reporter, by Maxine Cheshire (HC, 1978, ex-lib., $1)
"Maxine Cheshire wanted to be a lawyer when she grew up; her father wanted her to be a Southern bell. Instead, she became an award-winning journalist for the Washington Post, [and] twice nominated for the Pulitzer Prize."
Look for these books on the new non-fiction table.
(this blog will be continued....)
A Reporter's Life, by Walter Cronkite (HC, 1996, $3) -- SOLD
"Anchorman " as a term was originally coined to describe Walter Cronkite. He started "reporting" the news when at age three he ran down the street shouting the news of President Harding's death. When he was six he started selling papers, and his mother worried. In high school, shin splints kept him from the track team, so he became the campus newspaper's sports editor. This started a career that took him from Nuremberg to the Kennedy assassination. In his spare time he loved to race cars. Now that was the time for his mother to really worry! Come read his story.
Among Those Present: A Reporter's View of Twenty-five Years in Washington, by Nancy Dickerson (HC, 1976, $2.50)
Nancy Dickerson, educated in a Wisconsin convent, was hired to work for the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, JUST when Sen. McCarthy started to attack it. Nancy, welcome to the ugliness of the real world! Later she would move to CBS and television reporting, eventually breaking many of the huge gender barriers of the time.
Fat Man in a Middle Seat: Forty Years of Covering Politics, by Jack W. Germond (HC, 1999, $3)
Germond reported on them all, Rockefeller, Nixon, McCarthy and McGovern, as well as Carter, Reagan and Bill Clinton, but it is the other stuff he writes about that makes this book special. Read about the real life of a reporter, sitting in the middle seat of a red-eye flight from LA, the "countless late nights in bars, rides on campaign planes, and off-the-record briefings and strategy sessions- the real stuff of politics".
Out of Thin Air: The Brief Wonderful Life of Network News, by Reuven Frank, the former president of NBC News ( HC, 1991, $3)
"When Reuven Frank signed on as a news writer for NBC-TV in 1950, network television was less than two years old. No one from NBC's radio news staff wanted the job- TV news wasn't expected to last." Frank goes on to bring the news intimately into America's living rooms, to pair Huntley with Brinkley, and to win seven Emmys.
Maxine Cheshire, Reporter, by Maxine Cheshire (HC, 1978, ex-lib., $1)
"Maxine Cheshire wanted to be a lawyer when she grew up; her father wanted her to be a Southern bell. Instead, she became an award-winning journalist for the Washington Post, [and] twice nominated for the Pulitzer Prize."
Look for these books on the new non-fiction table.
(this blog will be continued....)
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
The Rolling Stones
Old Gods Almost Dead: The 40 year Odyssey of the Rolling Stones, by Stephen Davis (HC, 2001, 588 pages, $3)
Davis has followed the band for three decades. He writes both about their music and their private lives. He calls his book a "celebration of the Rolling Stones as an often courageous, often foolish gang of artists."
-SOLD-
Blown Away: The Rolling Stones and the Death of the Sixties, by A. E. Hotchner (HC, 1990, $3)
Four months after the joyful experience of Woodstock came the Rolling Stones' free concert at the Altamont Speedway. Only months before Brian Jones has been found dead at the bottom of his swimming pool. Janice is dead. Jimmy is dead . Sharon Tate is dead. The Vietnam War is killing and killing, both soldiers and civilians. Specifically this is the story of the days leading up to Brian Jones' death, but it is also the story of the band, and of those terrible and crazy times.
--SOLD--
According to the Rolling Stones, edited by Dora Loewensteirn. (TPB, 2003, $2.50) The editor is the daughter of the Stones' business manager, and has been part of the Stones family for nearly all her life. Here the Stones "tell the history of the band the way they see it, and the way they remember it".
-SOLD-
Mick Jagger, Everybody's Lucifer, by Tony Scaduto (HC, 1974, $1.50)
Look for these books in the music section.
Davis has followed the band for three decades. He writes both about their music and their private lives. He calls his book a "celebration of the Rolling Stones as an often courageous, often foolish gang of artists."
-SOLD-
Blown Away: The Rolling Stones and the Death of the Sixties, by A. E. Hotchner (HC, 1990, $3)
Four months after the joyful experience of Woodstock came the Rolling Stones' free concert at the Altamont Speedway. Only months before Brian Jones has been found dead at the bottom of his swimming pool. Janice is dead. Jimmy is dead . Sharon Tate is dead. The Vietnam War is killing and killing, both soldiers and civilians. Specifically this is the story of the days leading up to Brian Jones' death, but it is also the story of the band, and of those terrible and crazy times.
--SOLD--
According to the Rolling Stones, edited by Dora Loewensteirn. (TPB, 2003, $2.50) The editor is the daughter of the Stones' business manager, and has been part of the Stones family for nearly all her life. Here the Stones "tell the history of the band the way they see it, and the way they remember it".
-SOLD-
Mick Jagger, Everybody's Lucifer, by Tony Scaduto (HC, 1974, $1.50)
Look for these books in the music section.
Non-fiction: Cops, Feds, and Crooks
Our collection is varied, both HC and PB.
The ones I think are the best:
Blue Blood, by Edward Conlon (HC, 2004, 562 pages, $3)
Conlon is fourth-generation NYPD. This is not only his story, but also the story of three other generations of cops.
Cop Without a Badge: the Extraordinary Undercover Life of Kevin Maher, by Charles Kipps (SC, 1996, $2.50)
"Having been arrested for Grand Theft Auto at the age of sixteen, his felony conviction prevents him from being what he always wanted to be: a police officer." So instead he becomes a confidential informant for the NYPD, the FBI and others.
A G-Man's Journal: A Legendary Career Inside the FBI- From the Kennedy Assassination to the Oklahoma City Bombings, by Oliver "Buck" Revell (PB, 1998, $1.25)
Not just a FBI agent, he was also the senior FBI representative to the National Security Council, so his career also included directing international operations. Watergate, the Iran hostage crisis, and the Gulf War, he was there for all. He tells what went right, and what went wrong. Learn his take on the Waco tragedy , the first WTC bombing, and the bombings at Oklahoma City.
Dead Reckoning: The New Science of Catching Killers, by Michael Baden, M.D. (TPB, 2001, $1.50)
Baden was the chief medical examiner of NYC for more than 25 years.
Gangsters and Goodfellas: the Mob, Witness Protection and Life on the Run, by Henry Hill (HC, 2004, $2)
For over 20 years Hill was a powerful member of the Lucchese crime family. Then came his arrest in 1980, followed by his giving testimony against fifty major criminals. He enters the Witness Protection Program, relocating often, and giving the US Marshals chronic headaches. Fast forwarding to 1989 and his life is made into the movie GoodFellas by Martin Scorsese, for which Hill gets a check for $480,000. Only in America.
The Big House: Life Inside A Supermax Security Prison, by Warden James H. Bruton (HC, 2004, $2)
35 years in the field of corrections with 5 years as the warden at a Minnesota Correctional Facility, this man tells about things you would rather not know about, but probably should.
The ones I think are the best:
Blue Blood, by Edward Conlon (HC, 2004, 562 pages, $3)
Conlon is fourth-generation NYPD. This is not only his story, but also the story of three other generations of cops.
Cop Without a Badge: the Extraordinary Undercover Life of Kevin Maher, by Charles Kipps (SC, 1996, $2.50)
"Having been arrested for Grand Theft Auto at the age of sixteen, his felony conviction prevents him from being what he always wanted to be: a police officer." So instead he becomes a confidential informant for the NYPD, the FBI and others.
A G-Man's Journal: A Legendary Career Inside the FBI- From the Kennedy Assassination to the Oklahoma City Bombings, by Oliver "Buck" Revell (PB, 1998, $1.25)
Not just a FBI agent, he was also the senior FBI representative to the National Security Council, so his career also included directing international operations. Watergate, the Iran hostage crisis, and the Gulf War, he was there for all. He tells what went right, and what went wrong. Learn his take on the Waco tragedy , the first WTC bombing, and the bombings at Oklahoma City.
Dead Reckoning: The New Science of Catching Killers, by Michael Baden, M.D. (TPB, 2001, $1.50)
Baden was the chief medical examiner of NYC for more than 25 years.
Gangsters and Goodfellas: the Mob, Witness Protection and Life on the Run, by Henry Hill (HC, 2004, $2)
For over 20 years Hill was a powerful member of the Lucchese crime family. Then came his arrest in 1980, followed by his giving testimony against fifty major criminals. He enters the Witness Protection Program, relocating often, and giving the US Marshals chronic headaches. Fast forwarding to 1989 and his life is made into the movie GoodFellas by Martin Scorsese, for which Hill gets a check for $480,000. Only in America.
The Big House: Life Inside A Supermax Security Prison, by Warden James H. Bruton (HC, 2004, $2)
35 years in the field of corrections with 5 years as the warden at a Minnesota Correctional Facility, this man tells about things you would rather not know about, but probably should.
Most of our new military donations have been priced.
We have gobs and gobs (and gobs!) of military fiction. Look for the HC in the HC fiction section. (Actually they are stacked on the floor, as there is no place for them on the shelves.) The military PB are on the floor in the PB fiction section, but they have their own box. Come and say hello! (Especially if you like submarines,or fighter jets, or ships, or.... )
Also there is a fair amount of spy stuff. It is separate from the rest, mostly under the new fiction table.
Also there is a fair amount of spy stuff. It is separate from the rest, mostly under the new fiction table.
Swimming in YA fiction!
Someone kindly donated some great YA fiction, both HC, TPB and PB. Specific treasures are listed below, but there are a lot of others new to the YA fiction section. Come and take a look!
C. S. Lewis
2 PB, each for $.50.
4 TPB, in nice condition for $1 each.
Look for them in the YA fiction section
4 TPB, in nice condition for $1 each.
Look for them in the YA fiction section
Caroline B. Cooney
11 PB by Cooney:
3 vampires, and 8 general, priced from $.75 to$3, depending on condition.
Look for them also in the YA fiction
3 vampires, and 8 general, priced from $.75 to$3, depending on condition.
Look for them also in the YA fiction
Lemony Snicket's "A Series of Unfortunate Events"
Here are 8 of 9 of the "A Series of Unfortunate Events". (We are missing #4) (PS, just found a second #6)
These cute HC books, in fine condition, tell the adventures of the three Baudclaire orphans. Each costs you only $2! Buy one or buy them all.
We also have Lemony Snicket: The Unauthorized Autobiography, with an introduction by Daniel Handler (No author is listed.) "The elusive author provides a glimpse into his mysterious and sometimes confusing life, using fanciful letters, diary entries, and other miscellaneous documents as well as photographs and illustrations." This is the description the LOC gives in the front of this strange book. Make of it what you will, both the description and the book. (SC, $2.)
All these books can be found in the YA fiction section.
These cute HC books, in fine condition, tell the adventures of the three Baudclaire orphans. Each costs you only $2! Buy one or buy them all.
We also have Lemony Snicket: The Unauthorized Autobiography, with an introduction by Daniel Handler (No author is listed.) "The elusive author provides a glimpse into his mysterious and sometimes confusing life, using fanciful letters, diary entries, and other miscellaneous documents as well as photographs and illustrations." This is the description the LOC gives in the front of this strange book. Make of it what you will, both the description and the book. (SC, $2.)
All these books can be found in the YA fiction section.
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
Nuclear Weapons, Nuclear War
Part of the military contribution just mentioned :
The Making of the Atomic Bomb, by Richard Rhodes (Winner of the 1987 National Book Award) (HC, 1986, 886 pages, $4)
Atomic Audit: The Costs and Consequences of U.S. Nuclear Weapons since 1940, edited by Stephen I. Schwartz (SC, 1998, 680 pages, $3)
Peace is a Three-Edged Sword, by Lloyd Mallan (HC, 1964, ex-lib, $1)
'It was 5 a.m.... Suddenly lights on a signal board indicated that something had gone wrong with... the two giant radar stations designed to detect enemy missiles high across the Arctic wastes... For slightly more than four minutes war seemed possible. Then... communications ... were resumed." The author writes this book to show that the checks and counter checks "make it all but impossible for a full-scale war to be started by accident, madness or hysteria".
(Oh, really?)
Morality and the Bomb: An Ethical Assessment of Nuclear Deterrence, by David Fisher (HC, 1985, 136 pages, $1)
The Dead Hand: The Untold Story of the Cold War Arms Race and It's Dangerous Legacy, by David E. Hoffman (HC, 2009, 575 pages,$2)
"The suspense filled story of the people who sought to brake the speeding locomotive of the arms race, then rushed to secure the nuclear and biological weapons left behind by the collapse of the Soviet Union."
Look for these books in the military history section.
The Making of the Atomic Bomb, by Richard Rhodes (Winner of the 1987 National Book Award) (HC, 1986, 886 pages, $4)
Atomic Audit: The Costs and Consequences of U.S. Nuclear Weapons since 1940, edited by Stephen I. Schwartz (SC, 1998, 680 pages, $3)
Peace is a Three-Edged Sword, by Lloyd Mallan (HC, 1964, ex-lib, $1)
'It was 5 a.m.... Suddenly lights on a signal board indicated that something had gone wrong with... the two giant radar stations designed to detect enemy missiles high across the Arctic wastes... For slightly more than four minutes war seemed possible. Then... communications ... were resumed." The author writes this book to show that the checks and counter checks "make it all but impossible for a full-scale war to be started by accident, madness or hysteria".
(Oh, really?)
Morality and the Bomb: An Ethical Assessment of Nuclear Deterrence, by David Fisher (HC, 1985, 136 pages, $1)
The Dead Hand: The Untold Story of the Cold War Arms Race and It's Dangerous Legacy, by David E. Hoffman (HC, 2009, 575 pages,$2)
"The suspense filled story of the people who sought to brake the speeding locomotive of the arms race, then rushed to secure the nuclear and biological weapons left behind by the collapse of the Soviet Union."
Look for these books in the military history section.
"This Fabulous Century"
This Fabulous Century, edited by Time-Life Books (HC, set of 6 for $15)
Actually, we have moved on to another century, but these books were printed back in 1968 and 1971. There are six volumes, each dedicated to a decade. Each is easy to read and filled with large pictures, some in color. Cool stuff. (Can one still say that these days?) Look for these under the new NF table.
Actually, we have moved on to another century, but these books were printed back in 1968 and 1971. There are six volumes, each dedicated to a decade. Each is easy to read and filled with large pictures, some in color. Cool stuff. (Can one still say that these days?) Look for these under the new NF table.
Just plain good news!
Our A/C is working fine, so we're now the COOL place to shop. And the Nature section has achieved a "natural" order. See you soon!
Friday, July 8, 2011
Good news, other news
The good news: no more need to be a good sport about our Sports and Young Adults sections. Now all cleaned up, which also gives the bonus of making the Sci-Fi/Fantasy section easily accessible.
The other news: we're now literally "the hot place to shop" as our A/C is down for the count with no repair person in sight until... Monday? So wear your cool clothes to come get our cool deals!
The other news: we're now literally "the hot place to shop" as our A/C is down for the count with no repair person in sight until... Monday? So wear your cool clothes to come get our cool deals!
Thursday, July 7, 2011
All the Way with LBJ
Six perspectives on Johnson:
The Years of Lyndon Johnson: Master of the State, Robert A. Caro (HC, 1167 pages, 2002, $4) **SOLD**
LBJ's 12 years in the US Senate ran from 1949-1960. He became the youngest Majority Leader, and after only a single term! This is the story of how Johnson "mastered the Senate as no political leader before him has ever done."
Commander in Chief: How Truman, Johnson, and Bush Turned a Presidential Power into a Threat to America's Future, by Geoffrey Perret (HC, 2007, $2.50)
In Perret's view we should have learned from earlier wars to limit the powers of the commander in chief. What do you think?
Lyndon Johnson and Vietnam: The Unmaking of a President, by Herbert Y. Schandler (SC, 1977, $2)
The Tet offensive in 1968 was the turning point of the Vietnam War, causing a reassessment of our goals in Vietnam. This reassessment brought about the end of LBJ's hope for a second term, and the withdrawal of American troops from Vietnam. This book examines the events that led up to the day when LBJ announced that he would not seek re-election.
Reaching For Glory: Lyndon Johnson's Secret White House Tapes, 1964- 1965, by Michael Beschloss (HC, 2001, $2.50)
Lyndon Johnson kept "Tapes" too? So Nixon wasn't the only one. I had forgotten that bit of Watergate. Beschloss presents LBJ as a "frightened, lonely, driven, suspicious man." Read how he dealt with Goldwater, Robert Kennedy, US Senators that opposed the war, right-wing fanatics, J. Edgar Hoover, George Wallace, and Martin Luther King.
LBJ: A Life, Irwin Unger, ( SC, 1999, 586 pages, $3)
This one volume biography "provides an intimate look at the private man- and the political animal." (Unger won the Pulitzer Prize in 1965.)
SOLD
Flawed Giant: Lyndon Johnson and His Times 1961- 1973, Robert Dallek (HC, 1998, 754 pages, $3.50)
Dallek portrays Johnson as a man "riddled with contradictions", of "towering intensity and anguished insecurity". As did Beschloss (see above), Dallek used the newly released tapes as reference, as well as interviews with Lady Bird and Johnson's press secretary, Bill Moyer.
Look for these books in the biography section.
The Years of Lyndon Johnson: Master of the State, Robert A. Caro (HC, 1167 pages, 2002, $4) **SOLD**
LBJ's 12 years in the US Senate ran from 1949-1960. He became the youngest Majority Leader, and after only a single term! This is the story of how Johnson "mastered the Senate as no political leader before him has ever done."
Commander in Chief: How Truman, Johnson, and Bush Turned a Presidential Power into a Threat to America's Future, by Geoffrey Perret (HC, 2007, $2.50)
In Perret's view we should have learned from earlier wars to limit the powers of the commander in chief. What do you think?
Lyndon Johnson and Vietnam: The Unmaking of a President, by Herbert Y. Schandler (SC, 1977, $2)
The Tet offensive in 1968 was the turning point of the Vietnam War, causing a reassessment of our goals in Vietnam. This reassessment brought about the end of LBJ's hope for a second term, and the withdrawal of American troops from Vietnam. This book examines the events that led up to the day when LBJ announced that he would not seek re-election.
Reaching For Glory: Lyndon Johnson's Secret White House Tapes, 1964- 1965, by Michael Beschloss (HC, 2001, $2.50)
Lyndon Johnson kept "Tapes" too? So Nixon wasn't the only one. I had forgotten that bit of Watergate. Beschloss presents LBJ as a "frightened, lonely, driven, suspicious man." Read how he dealt with Goldwater, Robert Kennedy, US Senators that opposed the war, right-wing fanatics, J. Edgar Hoover, George Wallace, and Martin Luther King.
LBJ: A Life, Irwin Unger, ( SC, 1999, 586 pages, $3)
This one volume biography "provides an intimate look at the private man- and the political animal." (Unger won the Pulitzer Prize in 1965.)
SOLD
Flawed Giant: Lyndon Johnson and His Times 1961- 1973, Robert Dallek (HC, 1998, 754 pages, $3.50)
Dallek portrays Johnson as a man "riddled with contradictions", of "towering intensity and anguished insecurity". As did Beschloss (see above), Dallek used the newly released tapes as reference, as well as interviews with Lady Bird and Johnson's press secretary, Bill Moyer.
Look for these books in the biography section.
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
Essays on detective fiction
Clues: A Journal of Detection, edited by Pat Browne
12 copies of this biannual journal on detective fiction, dated from 1986 to 1995. (Some dates are missing. but except for 1991 all years are represented.) You can find them in the mystery section, each for $3, which is 1/4 the listed internet price.
12 copies of this biannual journal on detective fiction, dated from 1986 to 1995. (Some dates are missing. but except for 1991 all years are represented.) You can find them in the mystery section, each for $3, which is 1/4 the listed internet price.
Sunday, July 3, 2011
Jewish immigrants, Jewish history
The World History of the Jewish People, Volume 7, The Herodian Period, by Michael Avi-Yonah ( HC, 402 pages, 1975, $3)
SOLD - The American Jew: A Reappraisal, edited by Oscar I. Janowsky (HC, 1964, $2.50) Janowsky asks, "Who and what is an American Jew?" (as well as how do you fit the answers into less than 500 pages). Do the authors' writings that he includes answer the question? How are they wrong? When are they right? And how has the answer changed after almost 50 years?
Send These To Me: Jews and other Immigrants in Urban America, by John Higham (SC, 1975, $2)
Higham grew up in Queens with most of his friends being children of immigrants. Ever since, he has reflected on the immigrant's clash and connections with their new home. His work specifically targets the immigrant Jewish community, but he also talks more generally. This is the journey of America's push toward assimilation in the 1950's, to the strengthening of ethnic identities in the 1970's, to what Higham hopes will be a future of "increasing ability to tolerate ambiguity." 35 years later aren't we still asking the same questions, and hoping the same hopes?
SOLD - Blood to Remember: American Poets on the Holocaust, edited by Charles Fishman (HC, 1991, $2.50) SOLD
Fishman wants us to remember "history's darkest child" by listening to the voices of American poets.
The House on Garibaldi Street: The First Full Account of the Capture of Adolf Eichmann, Told by the Former Head of Israel's Secret Service, by Isser Harel (HC, 1975, $3)
How did they find him? This is the story, but not a Hollywood one. There are delays and problems, small and large. The "heroes" are "touchingly human, so vulnerable to fear, despair, and ultimately exultation." From the planning stage, to the first tentative identification (by a blind man!), to the flight back to Israel, this is a story of justice found.
SOLD - The American Jew: A Reappraisal, edited by Oscar I. Janowsky (HC, 1964, $2.50) Janowsky asks, "Who and what is an American Jew?" (as well as how do you fit the answers into less than 500 pages). Do the authors' writings that he includes answer the question? How are they wrong? When are they right? And how has the answer changed after almost 50 years?
Send These To Me: Jews and other Immigrants in Urban America, by John Higham (SC, 1975, $2)
Higham grew up in Queens with most of his friends being children of immigrants. Ever since, he has reflected on the immigrant's clash and connections with their new home. His work specifically targets the immigrant Jewish community, but he also talks more generally. This is the journey of America's push toward assimilation in the 1950's, to the strengthening of ethnic identities in the 1970's, to what Higham hopes will be a future of "increasing ability to tolerate ambiguity." 35 years later aren't we still asking the same questions, and hoping the same hopes?
SOLD - Blood to Remember: American Poets on the Holocaust, edited by Charles Fishman (HC, 1991, $2.50) SOLD
Fishman wants us to remember "history's darkest child" by listening to the voices of American poets.
The House on Garibaldi Street: The First Full Account of the Capture of Adolf Eichmann, Told by the Former Head of Israel's Secret Service, by Isser Harel (HC, 1975, $3)
How did they find him? This is the story, but not a Hollywood one. There are delays and problems, small and large. The "heroes" are "touchingly human, so vulnerable to fear, despair, and ultimately exultation." From the planning stage, to the first tentative identification (by a blind man!), to the flight back to Israel, this is a story of justice found.
Countries of Europe, a medley
England:
The First Elizabeth, by Carolly Erickson (SC, 1983, $2)
Victoria's Daughters, by Jerrold M. Packard (SC, 1998, $3)
SOLD
.France:
The French Revolution: From its Origins to 1793, by Georges Lefebvre (HC, 1962, $2)
The French Revolution: From its From 1793 to 1799, by Georges Lefebvre (HC, 1964, binding is weak, $1)
Russia (Is Russia in Europe, Asia, or both?):
The Bolsheviks Come to Power: The Revolution of 1917 in Petrograd, by Alexander Rabinowitch (HC, 1976, $2.50)
SOLD-
Sweden:
Sweden: The Nation's History, by Franklin D. Scott (HC, 1977, $3)
The First Elizabeth, by Carolly Erickson (SC, 1983, $2)
Victoria's Daughters, by Jerrold M. Packard (SC, 1998, $3)
SOLD
.France:
The French Revolution: From its Origins to 1793, by Georges Lefebvre (HC, 1962, $2)
The French Revolution: From its From 1793 to 1799, by Georges Lefebvre (HC, 1964, binding is weak, $1)
Russia (Is Russia in Europe, Asia, or both?):
The Bolsheviks Come to Power: The Revolution of 1917 in Petrograd, by Alexander Rabinowitch (HC, 1976, $2.50)
SOLD-
Sweden:
Sweden: The Nation's History, by Franklin D. Scott (HC, 1977, $3)
Horse racing in Canada
The Plate: A Royal Tradition, by Louis E. Cauz (SC, oversize, 301 pages, 1984, $3- which is 1/3 the internet price)
I thought this book was all about silver cups or something, but it turns out to be about the Queen's Cup, an Ontario horse race. The first record of Canadian horse racing was 1797 in old Niagara. The first organized meet was around 1840. The first Plate race was held in 1860. As time went by, many a newspaper article was written, but no one bothered to gather the information together until Cauz came on the scene. He was first a journalist, then got the racing bug and worked for a breeding stable. Then it was back to journalism for him. His research sent him in search not only of The Plate, but also of the history of a changing Canada. Look for it on the New NF table.
I thought this book was all about silver cups or something, but it turns out to be about the Queen's Cup, an Ontario horse race. The first record of Canadian horse racing was 1797 in old Niagara. The first organized meet was around 1840. The first Plate race was held in 1860. As time went by, many a newspaper article was written, but no one bothered to gather the information together until Cauz came on the scene. He was first a journalist, then got the racing bug and worked for a breeding stable. Then it was back to journalism for him. His research sent him in search not only of The Plate, but also of the history of a changing Canada. Look for it on the New NF table.
Take a Trip to Africa with George Eastman -SOLD-
Chronicles of a Second African Trip, by George Eastman (HC with case, fine condition, 1987, $8)
This collection of Eastman's 1928 African trip includes 36 photos. Included is an introduction by Kenneth Cameron. His comparisons of the worlds of Livingston and Eastman are telling. Livingston found abundant game. Eastman had problems finding anything at all to shoot. Livingston traveled through a land controlled by the indigenous populations. Eastman had to rely on the British colonial government and was denied contact with native Africans outside colonial society. So Eastman learned nothing of the people whose land he was visiting. Find this book in the local section
This collection of Eastman's 1928 African trip includes 36 photos. Included is an introduction by Kenneth Cameron. His comparisons of the worlds of Livingston and Eastman are telling. Livingston found abundant game. Eastman had problems finding anything at all to shoot. Livingston traveled through a land controlled by the indigenous populations. Eastman had to rely on the British colonial government and was denied contact with native Africans outside colonial society. So Eastman learned nothing of the people whose land he was visiting. Find this book in the local section
Saturday, July 2, 2011
And now for something completely different, BEATRIX POTTER!
Here are 8 hardcover Beatrix Potters just waiting for you to take them home!
The Tale of Squirrel Nutkin
The Tale of Tom Kitten
The Tale of Flopsy Bunnies
The Tale of Benjamin Bunny
The Tale of Timmy Tiptoes
The Tale of Jeremy Fisher
The Tale of Jemima Puddle-Duck
and the one we all love,
The Tale of Peter Rabbit
Look for them in the children's section (even if you are not buying them for a child) at $2 each. Enjoy!!!!!!!
The Tale of Squirrel Nutkin
The Tale of Tom Kitten
The Tale of Flopsy Bunnies
The Tale of Benjamin Bunny
The Tale of Timmy Tiptoes
The Tale of Jeremy Fisher
The Tale of Jemima Puddle-Duck
and the one we all love,
The Tale of Peter Rabbit
Look for them in the children's section (even if you are not buying them for a child) at $2 each. Enjoy!!!!!!!
Michelangelo
SOLD-
The Complete Work of Michelangelo, forward by Mario Salmi ( HC, no date given, printed in Italy, $10)
This an incredible over sized 596 page wonder! There may be a few paintings, sculptures, drawings or whatever that are not in this book, but I doubt there are many. What a beautiful book, with many, many photos and drawings, and 32 color plates! If you like Michelangelo, this is the book to have. It is also the book to have if you would like to learn about him.
Look for it in the art section.
The Complete Work of Michelangelo, forward by Mario Salmi ( HC, no date given, printed in Italy, $10)
This an incredible over sized 596 page wonder! There may be a few paintings, sculptures, drawings or whatever that are not in this book, but I doubt there are many. What a beautiful book, with many, many photos and drawings, and 32 color plates! If you like Michelangelo, this is the book to have. It is also the book to have if you would like to learn about him.
Look for it in the art section.
A motley group, to say the least !
There is absolutely no category these books fit into, except for non-fiction, and that I thought them interesting. find them on the new NF table.
SOLD
The Encyclopedia of War Journalism: 1807-2010, by Mitchel P. Roth (HC, 2010, 634 pages, ex-library, but looks unopened, $4.50)
"Correspondents, Photographers, Media and Technology from the Napoleonic Wars to the War in Afghanistan. Includes Biographies, Primary Documents and Photographs, Timeline, Bibliography"
SOLD-
"Thirty Years in Hell" or from "Darkness to Light", by "Ex-Priest Bernard Fresenborg "who for thirty long years tread the slippery and deceitful path of abhorrent Catholicism, but who to-day stands at the Vatican's door, with the torch of Protestant wisdom,and denounces Popery with a tongue livid with the power of a living God. "(HC, ? early 1900's, binding is weak, pages are brown, $2) Wow, I guess he doesn't think highly of Catholics. I do hope we have moved past this kind of thinking. Way past. Still, to not know the past is to repeat it.
Gifts Of Power: The Writings of Rebecca Jackson, Black Visionary, Shaker Eldress, by Hean McMahon (HC with DJ, 1981 $4.50, which is 1/3 of the internet price, ex-library only in that there is a card holder on the front of the DJ.)
Jackson was the sister of a prominent clergyman in the African Methodist Episcopal Church, but after a spiritual awakening at 35 she began preaching a radical Shaker doctrine. She walked away from everything and everyone she knew to found a Shaker community in Philidelphia. What a brave woman!
Deliver Us From Evil: the Fantastic Experiences of a Navy Doctor Among the Terrorized Vietnam Victims of the Communists, by Thomas A. Dooley, MD. (HC with DJ, 1961 edition, $2.50, which is 1/3 the internet price)
At age 27 Dooley found himself building and managing huge refugee camps to care for those fleeing communist North Vietnam in 1954. He and the US navy managed to get over 600,000 to freedom in Saigon. He writes the book to tell his fellow Americans to learn from this experience. Did we learn? What did we learn? What do we think now? This is one of those books to ponder on.
SOLD 31 Days: The Crisis that Gave Us the Government We Have Today, by Barry Werth (HC with DJ, 2006, $3)
For those of us who remember, and those of us who do not, this is the story of the days after Richard Nixon's resignation. Gerald Ford and his staff were taking over a country torn apart. Whether you agree with his decisions or not, this is a book to read.
Lastly, histories of two countries always in the news these days:
Ancient Iraq, by Georges Roux (HC,964, $3)
The Heritage of Persia, by Richard N. Frye (HC, 1963, $2.50)
SOLD
The Encyclopedia of War Journalism: 1807-2010, by Mitchel P. Roth (HC, 2010, 634 pages, ex-library, but looks unopened, $4.50)
"Correspondents, Photographers, Media and Technology from the Napoleonic Wars to the War in Afghanistan. Includes Biographies, Primary Documents and Photographs, Timeline, Bibliography"
SOLD-
"Thirty Years in Hell" or from "Darkness to Light", by "Ex-Priest Bernard Fresenborg "who for thirty long years tread the slippery and deceitful path of abhorrent Catholicism, but who to-day stands at the Vatican's door, with the torch of Protestant wisdom,and denounces Popery with a tongue livid with the power of a living God. "(HC, ? early 1900's, binding is weak, pages are brown, $2) Wow, I guess he doesn't think highly of Catholics. I do hope we have moved past this kind of thinking. Way past. Still, to not know the past is to repeat it.
Gifts Of Power: The Writings of Rebecca Jackson, Black Visionary, Shaker Eldress, by Hean McMahon (HC with DJ, 1981 $4.50, which is 1/3 of the internet price, ex-library only in that there is a card holder on the front of the DJ.)
Jackson was the sister of a prominent clergyman in the African Methodist Episcopal Church, but after a spiritual awakening at 35 she began preaching a radical Shaker doctrine. She walked away from everything and everyone she knew to found a Shaker community in Philidelphia. What a brave woman!
Deliver Us From Evil: the Fantastic Experiences of a Navy Doctor Among the Terrorized Vietnam Victims of the Communists, by Thomas A. Dooley, MD. (HC with DJ, 1961 edition, $2.50, which is 1/3 the internet price)
At age 27 Dooley found himself building and managing huge refugee camps to care for those fleeing communist North Vietnam in 1954. He and the US navy managed to get over 600,000 to freedom in Saigon. He writes the book to tell his fellow Americans to learn from this experience. Did we learn? What did we learn? What do we think now? This is one of those books to ponder on.
SOLD 31 Days: The Crisis that Gave Us the Government We Have Today, by Barry Werth (HC with DJ, 2006, $3)
For those of us who remember, and those of us who do not, this is the story of the days after Richard Nixon's resignation. Gerald Ford and his staff were taking over a country torn apart. Whether you agree with his decisions or not, this is a book to read.
Lastly, histories of two countries always in the news these days:
Ancient Iraq, by Georges Roux (HC,964, $3)
The Heritage of Persia, by Richard N. Frye (HC, 1963, $2.50)
Germany, Germans, and books in German
First, the books in German:
We have lots, all under the donation drop-off table. They still have to be priced, but come and look, then make us an offer.
Second, Germany and Germans:
(to be found in the German section of world history):
A History of Modern Germany, 1840-1945, by Hajo Holborn (HC, 1969, 818+ pages, ex-library, $2.50)
The Decline of Bismarck's European Order: Franco-Russian Relations, 1875-1890, by George F. Kennan (HC, 1979, 466 pages, ex-library, $3) This one is more about French and Russian relations, but I stuck it in anyway.
The German Democratic Republic: The Search for Identity, by Henry Krisch (HC, 1985, ex-library but in great shape, $2)
This the story of a land whose existence would be "doomed" to be reborn after communism fell. Here we are just before the fall, and before the glory of the rebirth. With hindsight we can feel confident of communism"s fall, but at the time few people had any idea of what was to come.
The History of the Nazi Party: 1933-1945, by Dietrich Orlow (HC, 1973, 538 pages, ex-library, $2.50)
Orlow talks about his problems in writing this book. The amount of history to cover was too huge for just one book, and most of the official Nazi papers were burned by the Riech treasurer before he gave himself over to the allies. Still, many of the mass welfare organization's papers that document the Nazi social control are still available but still unread.
SOLD: The German Empire: 1871-1918, by Hans-Ulrich Wehler (TPB, original printing 1985, this reprint 1993, NOT ex-library, $1.50)
This critical "revisionist' view of the Bismarck Empire "created quite a stir" when it was first published.
We have lots, all under the donation drop-off table. They still have to be priced, but come and look, then make us an offer.
Second, Germany and Germans:
(to be found in the German section of world history):
A History of Modern Germany, 1840-1945, by Hajo Holborn (HC, 1969, 818+ pages, ex-library, $2.50)
The Decline of Bismarck's European Order: Franco-Russian Relations, 1875-1890, by George F. Kennan (HC, 1979, 466 pages, ex-library, $3) This one is more about French and Russian relations, but I stuck it in anyway.
The German Democratic Republic: The Search for Identity, by Henry Krisch (HC, 1985, ex-library but in great shape, $2)
This the story of a land whose existence would be "doomed" to be reborn after communism fell. Here we are just before the fall, and before the glory of the rebirth. With hindsight we can feel confident of communism"s fall, but at the time few people had any idea of what was to come.
The History of the Nazi Party: 1933-1945, by Dietrich Orlow (HC, 1973, 538 pages, ex-library, $2.50)
Orlow talks about his problems in writing this book. The amount of history to cover was too huge for just one book, and most of the official Nazi papers were burned by the Riech treasurer before he gave himself over to the allies. Still, many of the mass welfare organization's papers that document the Nazi social control are still available but still unread.
SOLD: The German Empire: 1871-1918, by Hans-Ulrich Wehler (TPB, original printing 1985, this reprint 1993, NOT ex-library, $1.50)
This critical "revisionist' view of the Bismarck Empire "created quite a stir" when it was first published.
Friday, July 1, 2011
Education, reading, and children
Gosh, where do I begin... This last donation includes a massive number of books on both the teaching of children to read, as well as children's literature itself. Some of these books are older, some newer, some general, some not so general.
There are too many titles to mention by name, so just come and take a look for yourself. They are in the education section, and priced from $1 to $4.
There are too many titles to mention by name, so just come and take a look for yourself. They are in the education section, and priced from $1 to $4.
Vampires, don't you just love them!
Welcome to July, my friends. If you are feeling sad and lonely , here are two books to help you feel better:
Vampires: Encounters With the Undead, by David J. Skal (TPB, 2001, 585 pages, $4)
In the words of the author, you will encounter in this book "historical vampires, folkloric vampires, Hollywood vampires... vampires in therapy, vampire families, gay and lesbian vampires and just about every other permutation imaginable."
(Enough said.)
SOLD-
Breaking Dawn: Special Edition, by Stephinie Meyer (HC, 2008, 757+ pages, $4)
This special edition includes the Breaking Dawn Concert Series DVD (August 2008) featuring Blue October's Justin Furstenfeld. Note, the "full-color poster of Bella and Edward" seems to be missing. Oh well.
(None of these names means anything to me, but hey, I am always the last to figure out the important things of life.)
These vampires can be found sitting with our other vampires.
Vampires: Encounters With the Undead, by David J. Skal (TPB, 2001, 585 pages, $4)
In the words of the author, you will encounter in this book "historical vampires, folkloric vampires, Hollywood vampires... vampires in therapy, vampire families, gay and lesbian vampires and just about every other permutation imaginable."
(Enough said.)
SOLD-
Breaking Dawn: Special Edition, by Stephinie Meyer (HC, 2008, 757+ pages, $4)
This special edition includes the Breaking Dawn Concert Series DVD (August 2008) featuring Blue October's Justin Furstenfeld. Note, the "full-color poster of Bella and Edward" seems to be missing. Oh well.
(None of these names means anything to me, but hey, I am always the last to figure out the important things of life.)
These vampires can be found sitting with our other vampires.
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