Helpful advice for surviving this month’s onslaught of used paperbacks
By Margaret Bauer
It’s sweltering out there—time for a trip to the local Borders for an iced mocha and a few hours trawling the freezer-like aisles, right? Well, you could do that—or you could check out the Jewish Community Center’s 41st Annual Used Book Sale (August 12–19) or the 29th Annual YMCA Book Fair (August 24–29). That’s 70 years of book selling between them—and they both have air conditioning.
But look wise, book buyers. Whether you’re spending your hard-earned dosh with the yidlach or the goyim (or both!) this month, evaluate your purchases carefully. Those dozens of books you buy for just cents on the dollar today will be stacked on your bedside table tomorrow—so peruse our list of do’s and don’ts before you go.
Don’t
- Snag those stacks of only slightly water-damaged Harlequin novels. Sure, it’s a deal—but while those three boxes of 25-cent romances promise hours of bodice-ripping guilty pleasure, you’ll break your back (even if not the bank) getting them home.
- Pick up Volumes M, L and Q-R of a 22-volume encyclopedia set from 1985. We know and you know you’re never going to start, much less finish, that World Book–découpaged dinette set or Dan Quayle–themed dartboard you envisioned when you stumbled upon these tomes—so let’s just end the fantasy right there.
- Even think about that dog-eared first edition of Finnegans Wake, Sons and Lovers or any other widely unread “classic.” It may be going for $5 now, but that smudged purple crayon on page 108 says you’ll never sell it for more than 50 cents—tops. (And you’ll still never read it.)
Do
- Start your graphic novel collection. Graphic novels exist at that weird nexus where comics, personal narrative and fiction meet—and they’re just getting hot. Names to look for: Jeffrey Brown (Clumsy, Unlikely); Marjane Satrapi (Embroideries, Persepolis); and, of course, Robert Crumb (works too numerous to mention).
- Read last century’s greatest self-help titles. Games People Play. Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. I’m OK, You’re OK. You’ve seen references to these once best-selling staples of ’70s and ’80s pop psychology. Now you can see what all the fuss was about.
- Score some early Christmas or Hannukah swag. As the book mega-stores would be quick to point out, it’s never too early to start thinking about the holidays. Your loved ones will thank you in four months’ time.
