Booking Across . . . America?

Well, despite the fact that this blog is titled "Booking Across Connecticut," I'm including an out-of-state book sale, just because I can. As I mentioned in my last post, I was in Easton, Pennsylvania, visiting my sister-in-law and her family, during the Columbus Day Weekend, and the American Association of University Women held their 50th annual book sale in Allentown, PA. When Saturday morning rolled around, my sister-in-law went to a soccer game with her son, and my husband and stepkids were still recovering from our nearly five-hour drive from the night before, so I took our car and my Mapquest directions (that I'd conveniently printed out back in CT, hmmm) and set out on my own.

The ride proved fairly easy, although the sale location itself was a little hidden--I'd say it called for better signage. Turns out that Allentown is the (now former) world headquarters of the Mack Trucking Company, which I hadn't realized when "Mack Street," and the "Mack Pool House" were referenced in the sale ad. Yes, "Pool House." Apparently new this year, this had to be one of the most creative book sale sites I've ever been to: a concrete building that serves as locker room, snack bar, and other indoor space to an outdoor municipal pool.

(Years ago I wrote a poem about a Jacuzzi full of books, based on an offhand remark from a guy I went to grad school with. I just loved the concept, and as I think of it now, I regret slightly that the actual pool itself couldn't be filled with books for the sale--but it was an outdoor pool, and a rainy morning. Wouldn't have worked.)

Anyway, this was advertised as a BIG sale, and a pretty big sale it was. The Pool House consisted of at least seven rooms (or odd-shaped hallway spaces), and pretty much every one of them was in use. I don't know if there were more rooms than the ones I saw--I suspect not, because if they could have spread out more, they should have. The aforementioned odd-shaped hallways, in particular, were not the best browsing conditions--too-tight aisles, with not enough space for folks to wedge past each other comfortably. I gave the end of the fiction section a pass because of this--just couldn't get comfy. (Maybe in the future, save those odd shapes for less popular sections, and move the fiction into its own room?) An amusing factor: what I believe to be cement shower stalls in one of the locker rooms were used as library stalls for a few smaller sections. I was in the women's issues section for a while, which was actually kind of homey because no one besides me could fit in there to look, so I took my sweet time.

I don't know for sure if the damp day exacerbated this, but the combination of pool-house mold and old books did play some havoc on my allergies. I'm usually careful to take my pills before going to a sale, because mold and dust are triggers and they're quite often encountered in these situations, but this one seemed a bit stronger than most.

Something I've started to notice about book sales in general: they often fall into a pretty strong distinction between sales that have a lot of older books (and I'm not talking used-and-rare, but more like lots of trade paperbacks from the 60s and 70s, old hardback library discards, mom and grandma cookbooks, etc.) and sales that have a lot of newer books collected from an active community. Simsbury seemed more like the latter; Manchester, the former. I think I had expected the latter from the AAUW, for some reason--university women, stands to reason you'd get a lot of active readers and a really broad range of books. Didn't really seem that way, and I'm not sure why (the AAUW is aging, maybe? That end of the state is more blue-collar, despite the abundance of colleges?). Anyway, the largest room was definitely that dedicated to old paperbacks, which is seldom my first target to search; also lots of hardback mystery and horror, also not a high priority. Much of the nonfiction also seemed older (although I should give some props to the women's studies section--maybe THAT'S the AAUW influence!). CD and video choice was minimal (lots of classical/instrumental CDs, but not particularly good quality). I do give props to the sorting--most of the fiction sections were roughly alphabetical, which isn't common but is usually appreciated. The children's section was pretty good for school-age readers but a little skimpy for small children, although I did find a few good picks (mostly in the "special"--i.e., more than $1--section). I did like the little kids' book displays--in boxes, on low shelves (boards on bricks?) that were readily accessible to kids but not too hard on adults' creaky knees.

Prices were pretty good. I forewent the most recent Janet Evanovich (guilty pleasure) because it cost $5--I guess I'll just have to keep waiting for it at a library. I bought six books for myself and about ten for the teacher library, and spent under $20, which is satisfactory, especially as the proceeds go to a good cause: scholarships for women returning to college after a hiatus.

Thus endeth my first foray into the rest of the country for used-book sales--maybe more in the future, but for now, I'm ready to get back into Connecticut.

Best Finds: Several cute books of kids' poetry and songs (notably, by Jack Prelutsky, who's becoming my husband's favorite poet for children, possibly even surpassing Silverstein). A nice kids' astronomy book with accompanying CD-ROM (although this one not only lists Pluto as a planet but also lists a couple other tiny "new" planets named Krista and Smiley, which I can only assume got demoted along with Pluto; I suppose it's worth keeping just for curiosity's sake, as I'm kind of sorry that there isn't a planet named Smiley anymore). Good hardback copies of Look Me in the Eye by John Elder Robison and Born on a Blue Day by Daniel Tammet--I guess autism-spectrum disorders are the theme of the day.