McHuston Booksellers

Rare, Collectible, & Otherwise

Tag: paperback (Page 5 of 40)

Out with Old! In with New!

January 2, 2016 /

Happy New Year!

We’re shuffling 2015 off to the history books and welcoming in a brand-new year, free of dents, door dings, scuffs, tangles, and creases.

No “places” on it yet.

That’s a line from the thrift shop and yard sale lexicon.

Buyer holding up a bric-a-brac vase: How much for this? It has a place on it.

Yard Sale vendor: A place? Where?

Buyer: Right here. Little spot there.

Vendor: Well, I had it marked a dollar. But I’ll knock off a quarter for the place.

Buyer: Oh. I just noticed – there are a couple more places on the bottom here. And another one here.

Vendor: Hmmm. Well, then. Just go ahead and take it. I guess we’re even.

tombstonePic

Plenty of newly-arrived books being sorted out to start the year in the bookshop. Including a couple with “places” and a couple that are interesting, but have been shuffled off to the “useless reference book” section.

Not a lot of calls for “Maidcraft” these days. The opening paragraph might help you understand why:


A cross section of bridge table conversation is enough to convince anyone that Maidcraft is one of the chief interests of the average woman. “Does your maid serve properly? – “My maid can’t seem to systemize her work.” – “Yes, my maid can cook, but she never gets anything on the table hot.” – “What my maid needs is a schedule for cleaning.” And then there’s always the woman who couldn’t play bridge because she was breaking in a new maid.

Like I said – not much demand for a book like this one. Maybe I can set it over on the shelf with the telegraph operator’s handbook.

And as we send 2015 off to the calendar afterlife, maybe an entry from the just-arrived book of “Comic Epitaphs from the Very Best Old Graveyards” is appropriate. This – from the tombstone of Mary Weary, Housewife:

DERE FRIENDS I AM GOING
WHERE WASHING AIN’T DONE
OR COOKING OR SEWING:
DON’T MOURN FOR ME NOW
OR WEEP FOR ME NEVER:
FOR I GO TO DO NOTHING
FOREVER AND EVER.

Hope there’s plenty of something going on for you and yours in the New Year!

Come visit!

McHuston

Booksellers & Irish Bistro
Rose District
122 South Main St. Broken Arrow, OK!

Buckets O’ Fun.

December 27, 2015 /

Books and water don’t mix well. The repair to the roof was made, but unfortunately, the success of that work isn’t known until it is tested by a good rain.

Well. We’re having a good rain.

The buckets and cans are situated and the floor is drying out. The spot where the water was coming in earlier might be plugged, but it seems to have moved a bit downstream. It’s lucky that the drips aren’t coming directly down on the bookshelves.

But.

There were some books displayed on the conference table that aren’t going to make it and some paperback westerns that were awaiting my attention will now be herded to the west – out to the dumpster.

aRoofDrip

I’m happy that several one-of-a-kind books that were in the immediate vicinity were spared. All in all, perhaps two dozen are headed to that great library in the sky.

Strangely, the torrential rain on Saturday stayed outside the building (or maybe it was just collecting itself for a later release). It does seem that when wind is added to the equation the water is more likely to find its way to the floor.

So, the trash cans and the mop bucket are called into service and those newspapers that I was supposed to drop at the recycling bin are working to sop up the standing water.

Don’t take it as whining on my part. I know there are plenty of folks who are having a tougher time with the weather this weekend. (I passed by two cars who went into the highway median ditch in separate accidents on Saturday, and the strange mixture of inclement weather across western Oklahoma and Texas has been a nightmare.)

Losing a few books isn’t fun for a book person. But I feel lucky enough as it is.

Glad I decided to come down and check on the bookshop on my Sunday off!

McHuston

Booksellers & Irish Bistro
Rose District
122 South Main St. Broken Arrow OK!

Goodbye, my children. Good buy.

December 19, 2015 /

Where do books come from, Daddy?

It wasn’t quite worded that way, but a visitor to the book shop wondered where I found the books that I offer for sale. (For those of you who haven’t yet stopped in, we offer a few new titles, but the majority of the inventory consists of well-kept used books.)

There isn’t a simple answer to the question, because they come from so many different sources.

girondists

The easy answer is – I have a book tree out back and harvest a few every morning. Of course, THAT’S a load of blarney (but I’ve come close to having that one believed…)

The truth is: I spend time looking for books that I feel someone might like to own, and I wind up haunting garage sales, book fairs, thrift stores, and roadside turnouts. There are some folks who bring in books for credit on a trade account, and later use that credit to buy books to take home. On the rare occasion, I’ve accepted donations from people who are moving or (mistakenly) think they have too many books at home.

I answered today’s questioner much the same way, and mentioned that I occasionally buy books at auction.

The thing about auctions – you can make a bid and you may, or may not, be the buyer. I’ve placed bids on any number of books that went to others with deeper pockets. I placed a bid on an 1853 first edition Charles Dickens which – Surprise! – wound up being the winning number. Then I had to pay for it. I’m happy to own it. Love to drag it out to show people.

It’s fun to bid on beautiful books, even when you don’t become the owner.

girondists2

Then, there is that thing they call “buyer’s remorse.” I don’t call it that. For me, it’s more “buyer’s What-Was-I-Thinking?” That was the situation with an 1863 history of the French Revolution. A four-volume set bound in calfskin leather and marbled paper. Solid hinges. Only the slightest aging to the paper. Beauties, the lot of them.

Written entirely in French.

What was I thinking, buying such a set?

Obviously, I was taken by the quality of the books, thinking “What a nice set that would be to own.” And – suddenly – I was the owner.

No remorse here, but I was resigned to the fact that I was going to have the books laid in the coffin with me, so I could read them in the hereafter – where hopefully my French will be much improved. Then, a lunch guest joked about a discount on books for anyone who ordered from the menu.

I’m always versatile.

Told him with a grin that I could work something out – especially on orders over a hundred dollars. “Does that include lunch?” he wanted to know.

Began to sense that he wasn’t just joking around. He wasn’t. He pointed out the French Revolution set, written in French, bound in calfskin and marbled paper and published in 1863.

His wife is a French teacher.

Well!

I have mentioned to any number of folks, only half-jokingly, that the books here are like orphan children placed in my care until I can find them a good and deserving home. And what better home for the French-speaking children than the library of a French teacher?

Their place on the shelf in the front of the shop is still vacant and may be for a day or two. It can serve to remind me that – in the purchase of a beautiful set of antique books – there is no regret that is not offset by the satisfaction of giving them over to someone who will appreciate them just as much.

Au revoir, mes enfants…

We’ll be here early in the holiday week, so

Come visit!

McHuston

Booksellers & Irish Bistro
Rose District
122 South Main St. Broken Arrow OK!

« Older posts Newer posts »

© 2024 McHuston Booksellers

Theme by Anders Noren — Up ↑