Big Bag of Books Day, Part Deux

People sometimes ask me, "Mary--how do you score so well at the public library booksales?" Actually, no one ever asks me that, and I always walk away bragging about my stellar hunting/gathering skills... and no one else seems to care. Phooey on all of you! When executed methodically, one bag for $10 can provide a reading list for the entire summer.

(What they ask me is: "Oh, did you run into Soandso?" No, I didn't. I was concentrating! Big bag of books day is not a time for socializing; it is a time for laser-like focus and reflexes of steel. That said, I did run into Maria. And I sent her away with The God of Small Things. I hope she likes it as much as I do.)

If anyone asked me, I would share my book booty strategy. The following applies to fiction and/or anthology only:

1. Scan, don't try to read every title. You'll make yourself dizzy! Skip right over the "brick books" (you know the ones--the cheap paperback size with the tiny print: think crappy romance novel) and go for the longer, skinnier ones. More often than not, these are newer and in better condition.

2. Look for authors you recognize, classics, and key words like "Booker" "Pulitzer" or "Oprah." You may debate the latter if you wish, but I contend that Oprah is no fool. I wouldn't go buy a book just because she told me so, but by golly I'll throw it in my bag. Skip anything that says "advance copy."

3. Lacking any of the above, testimonials indicate a reasonable chance of success. Kurt Vonnegut, good. John Updike, good. Times Literary Supplement, good. Margaret Atwood--gold.

4. Anthologies are tricky. Try not to think of it as a lifetime commitment. Yes, you are allowed to re-sell or give away the Norton Anthology of Whatever. Stick it in your bag if you want, but think about it--how often will you really read a book that weighs 5 lbs and uses 6 pt Times New Roman font? Moreover, your friends will hate you when it's time to help you move, and it takes up valuable bag space. I'm just sayin'.

5. If it's not in good condition or doesn't smell good, leave it alone. You won't want to read it. Really.

I have no plan of attack for biography or non-fiction. I'm sure they are both very nice sections, and I'd like to become better acquainted, but I just don't know where to start. Roosevelt? Katie Couric? Eminem? EEEEK! Run away!!

This year's Big Bag of Books, with rationale:

A Map of the World - Jane Hamilton (Oprah)
Gertrude and Claudius - John Updike (classic)
The Collector - John Fowles (author of The Magus)
Headlong - Michael Frayn (I think my dad likes him, w/support from Vonnegut)
House of Sand and Fog - Andre Dubus III (Oprah)
Edith Hamilton - Mythology (classic)
Bee Season - Myla Goldberg (Oprah) (I think)
The Plague Dogs - Richard Adams (author of Watership Down)
Open House - Elizabeth Berg (Oprah)
The Sun Also Rises - Hemmingway (classic)
The Beautiful & Damned - Fitzgerald (classic)
The Bluest Eye - Toni Morison (classic)
Lolita - Nabokov (classic)
A Private View - Anita Brookner (Booker author)
Aiding and Abetting - Muriel Spark (testimonial by Updike)
The 100 Best Poems of All Time ('cause I'm lame like that)
The Best America Non-Required Reading 2002 (score!!)
The Best America Poetry 1997 (again with the lameness)
Welcome to My Planet (Where English is Sometimes Spoken) - Shannon Olson (testimonial by Garrison Keillor and Melissa Bank)

Last year's Big Bag of Books selections can be found here.