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My Favorite Thing About Spring – Library Sales!

Spring is here! And you know what that means?

Library sales!

I’m not sure about other parts of the country, but every spring, libraries throughout the Bay Area, and their sister organizations, Friends of the Library, hold huge book sales. The books are usually used and donated, but they’re very cheap. For instance, San Francisco’s sale at at the Festival Pavilion at Fort Mason, the mother library sale of them all with over 350,000 items, sells hardcover books for $3, paperbacks for $2, and audiobooks and DVDs for just $1. They also sell other reading paraphernalia, with all proceeds benefiting the library.

The sales usually last for a weekend, and many times the prices drop even lower right before the sale ends. I once showed up to a sale at the Montclair Library in Oakland 10 minutes before it ended and spent a whopping $5 total on two large grocery bags full of hardcover books.

I’ve probably purchased over 75 books from library sales, and maybe spent $50 in all for them. It’s a great way to start up or replenish your own personal library, and an even greater way to stock up on classic titles. The sales also include tons of children’s books so if you’re a teacher looking for more reading resources, or a parent who wants to shower their child with books, this is one of the least expensive ways to do so.

I spent $11.50 at the Albany Library sale for all of these last year.

Spent $11.50 for all of this at the Albany Library sale last year

A few tips:

  • These aren’t the type of sales for you if you’re looking for rare titles, but if you’re goal is to stock up on mainstream novels and non-fiction, you’ll find tons of copies.
  • Think of it as going to a flea market or yard sale. Even if you get 10-20 books, you’re not not likely to spend more than $20-$30.
  • Cash is best since many libraries do not accept credit cards (though a lot are catching up with the times).
  • If you see a title that is too damaged or used for your liking, keep looking. You’re bound to find more of the same title in better condition.
  • Though I tend to support library sales all over, the sales with the books in the best condition are usually those in suburban areas.
  • It’s similar to thrifting, so titles are rarely in any order other than by genre. Give yourself plenty of time to sort and sift. Browsing for ten minutes is not a good idea.
  • Bring your own reusable shopping bag (or in my case, bring six lol)
  • Bring a fellow bookworm with you, especially if you both have specific books that you’d like to find. It’s always best with an extra set of eyes.

My favorite Bay Area sales:

Albany – March 23, 10a-4p

San Francisco (Fort Mason) – April 3-7, 10a-6p

San Leandro  – April 6, 11a-4p

Walnut Creek – April 20th, May 4th, 10a-5p

Alameda – May 3-4, 9a-4p

 

For info about sales in your area, search your local library’s website, check out http://www.booksalefinder.com, or do a Google search for spring library sales in your city.

 

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Book Review: The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake by Aimee Bender

particular+sadness+of+lemon+cakeTalk about an emotional rollercoaster!

Aimee Bender’s writing is beautiful, but the story of little Rose Edelstein, who discovers right before her 8th birthday that whenever she eats, she can taste what the cook or food preparer or farmer is feeling: depression, anger, desperation, nervousness, happiness, delight; was rather heartbreaking. You really don’t want to eat your mother’s mashed potatoes, only to find out that she is restless and is fulfilling an emptiness by any means necessary. Not at 12 yrs old, you don’t.

Not only does Rose have to battle this strange, frightening condition that affects her every meal, she must also deal with a genius of an older brother who is also a weirdo and wants nothing to do with her, a restless mother who jumps from project to project and job to job, and a father who is physically home but mentally elsewhere, not quite  knowing how to fit into his household.

The writing in this novel is lovely, magical even. Bender made me want to reach through the page and hold Rose’s hand from grade school through young adulthood as she grappled with this strange and sometimes frightening condition, kept a secret from her family until they fall apart and she is left the strongest one standing.

I would recommend this to everyone, especially those interested in books with “Heroes” type characters.

Grade: A

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“The heat building up in the store between Goldie and Sam made Nan desire some kindling of her own…

 …Made her swallow hard to get rid of the saliva accumulating in her mouth as her attention turned to the man on the other side of the window and their eyes met through the window and he smiled at Nan and tipped his hat. He had the softest eyes she’d ever seen on a man, a sandy-toned complexion, a stevedore’s muscle-bound upper body that showed even through his suit-jacket, a good-quality seersucker. Plus he had black silky straight hair, meant she’d be spared the torture of the pressing comb should they be blessed to have a girl. She chided herself for letting her thoughts skip across seams that hadn’t been attached. Even as she felt such a swoon in her stomach that she had to put her hand to the counter to steady herself. Here were two signs at once, that this neighborhood might be getting ready to change over, that the man looking to help the change along, fine man, was outside smiling at her.

‘You courtin’?’ Goldie asked her then. ‘’Cause that Negro look like he could use some direction in life.’” pg. 38, Trading Dreams at Midnight by Diane McKinney-Whetstone

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Book Review: Hunting in Harlem by Mat Johnson

hunting

I judge books by their covers, so when I picked this up at the library, I almost put it back. I’m not here for the psychotic deranged eyes at the top. LOL But, Mat Johnson is a highly revered writer, hilarious on twitter, taught at VONA last year, and the book synopsis was intriguing, so I put my judging to the side.

The book was still crazy. As crazy as Mat intended it to be.

Three parolees, Cedric, Horus, and Bobby, are lured to Harlem to join Horizon Realty, run by former parole officer, now Congressman Marks and his side-kick, Lester (who from the description, seems to dress like Steve Harvey). Horizon is intent on revitalizing the once vibrant but now crumbling community. The ex-cons are expected to help new property owners move in, learn the ropes of real estate in Harlem, and eventually begin selling homes on their own. In turn, the man who does the best work will win a house in Harlem.

Sound too good to be true? Well, it is, and the men soon realize that winning the competition is not as easy as they thought it would be. Eventually, they notice certain Harlem residents, those who may tarnish the new Harlem image of clean, crime free neighborhoods, are being found dead every other day. The deaths are deemed accidental but, Cedric begins to think that something in the milk ain’t clean and is soon forced to grapple with his own involvement in the scandal.

I loved the book’s premise. Though it was humorous,  it had a lot of deep themes in it, notably gentrification (this time at the hands of bourgie Black folk), and the examination of the oft-times well-intentioned but out of touch middle class (who will do anything not to be lumped with in the same category as n****s).

Though it was a good novel overall, there were a few times when the story line lost me (especially when I was forced into Bobby or Cedric’s head), and during those times, I wanted the book to end quickly.

I’d recommend Hunting in Harlem to those  who enjoy gritty mysteries, and satirical views of Black life. I’m also pretty sure that men will enjoy Mat’s writing style.

Grade: C+

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Book Review: Is Marriage for White People by Richard Ralph Banks

March 4, 2013

Ever read a superbly engaging book that you didn’t want to put down even though almost every single page made you want to slit your wrists? Ralph Richard Banks tackles the question, “What are so many Black people single?” Statistics show that we’re the most unmarried race in the country, and Banks does a great job [...]

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“So now she stared at the pole of light and came to the realization that she couldn’t do it again…

February 28, 2013

…Couldn’t go through another tryst with a married man. In the best of times he’d provide her a furnished studio with a river view in a piano-lobby building; an allowance so that she could shop well, take all the courses she wanted, enjoy movies and music and books, surround herself with quality things… All she [...]

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Book Review: Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil by John Berendt

February 27, 2013

This book bore a hole into my TBR list for years. My mother ranted and raved about how much she enjoyed the movie forever and a day, but I still hadn’t seen it. When I realized it was based on a best-selling book, I promised myself I’d read the book first. Midnight in the Garden [...]

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Nothing has contributed more to the systematic mass incarceration rate of people of color in the United States than the War on Drugs.

February 26, 2013

  “Our focus is on the War on Drugs. The reason is simple: Convictions for drug offenses are the single most important cause of the explosion in incarceration rates in the United States. Drug offenses alone account for two-thirds of the rise in the federal inmate population and more than half of the rise in [...]

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Book Review: Catherine Carmier by Ernest J. Gaines

February 26, 2013

I’ve been an Ernest J. Gaines fanatic since I fell in love with his words when reading A Gathering of Old Men sometime in my early 20s. Since I’ve been on a mission to read a lot of the lesser known works by my favorite authors, I picked up Catherine Carmier, Gaines’ first published novel (1964). [...]

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“Love is divine only and difficult always. If you think it is easy you are a fool.”

February 13, 2013

“Love is divine only and difficult always. If you think it is easy you are a fool.” – Paradise, Toni Morrison As we approach the trillionth year that I have been single on Valentine’s Day, it is safe to say that I have mastered the “difficult always” description that Toni Morrison used to so brilliantly [...]

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