Books everywhere!

It's been raining here in Hell for two straight days, which is a bit of a shock to us all. I mean, really raining hard. How weird. So today the little woman and I went to the Volunteer Non-profit Service Association Annual Book Sale, the proceeds of which benefit the Arizona Friends of Foster Children Foundation, Literacy Volunteers of Maricopa County, and Toby House, Inc. The sale was held at the Fairgrounds inside a football-field-sized warehouse, and it was crazy. We made out like bandits, although not as well as we could have done before we were both unemployed. For $83, this is what we got:

(Books marked with an asterisk were selected by my lovely wife.)
1.*The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing (1999) by Melissa Bank: Total chick book. I can barely read the summary on the back without puking.
2.The Sultans (1973) by Noel Barber: I love the Ottoman Empire, so this looks fun. And I just noticed -- there's a topless chick on the cover!
3.*The Sharp Teeth of Love (1997) by Doris Betts: My wife, the chick. Hence, many chick books.
4.Firebrand (1987) by Marion Zimmer Bradley: A retelling of the Trojan War, starring Kassandra. I read it a long time ago, and liked it a lot.
5.*Killing Time (2000) by Caleb Carr: I like all of Carr's books, so I'm looking forward to reading this.
6.*Girl with a Pearl Earring (1999) by Tracy Chevalier: I actually might read this. Holland in the 1660s is cool.
7.*Falling Angels (2001) by Tracy Chevalier: No real desire to read this.
8.Freedom at Midnight (1975) by Larry Collins and Dominique LaPierre: Book about Indian independence in 1947. These two wrote about the battle for Israeli independence, and I liked it, so I'm looking forward to this.
9.The Lost World and The Poison Belt (1912 and 1913) by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle: Never read them. I like Sherlock Holmes stories, though!
10.Drums Along the Mohawk (1936) by Walter D. Edmonds: The movie is interesting, so I assume the book will be too.
11.The Assassination Chronicles (1992) by Edward Jay Epstein: Because you can never know too much about Kennedy's murder!
12.*Like Water for Chocolate (1989) by Laura Esquirel: We saw this movie, and I recall it was kind of depressing. No desire to read this.
13.The 6 Messiahs (1995) by Mark Frost: A thriller starring Conan Doyle! How could you go wrong?
14.*Revenge (2000) by Stephen Fry: Apparently, this is a retelling of The Count of Monte Cristo. Fry's Making History was a good book, and he was cool as Oscar Wilde in the movie.
15.*The Book of Ruth (1988) by Jane Hamilton: She quotes Peter Cetera in this book. I kid you not.
16.Lost Horizon (1933) by James Hilton: Adventures in Shangri-La!
17.The Spy Who Came in From the Cold (1963) By John Le Carre: I've never read it. Oh, the shame!
18.*The Middle Heart (1996) by Bette Bao Lord: Chick book about China in the 1930s and '40s. I might actually read it.
19,20.Two volumes, seven novels by Robert Ludlum for $7! The Holcroft Covenant, The Matarese Circle, The Bourne Identity, The Scarlatti Inheritance, The Osterman Weekend, The Matlock Paper, The Gemini Contenders. If you haven't read any Ludlum, read The Gemini Contenders. His best book.
21.Queen Christina (1968) by Georgina Masson: Greta Garbo played the queen of Sweden dressed pretty much like a man, and I'm interested in learning more about her. Sweden used to be a world power, if you can believe it!
22.The Story of English (1986) by Robert McCrum, William Cran, and Robert McNeil: It's the companion book to the PBS series! That has to be exciting, right?
23.*Atonement (2001) by Ian McEwan: I've never read anything by McEwan, so I'll give this a whirl. Good call by the wife.
24.*The Nanny Diaries (2002) by Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus: Another chick book. I have no interest.
25.The Washing of the Spears: The Rise and Fall of the Zulu Nation (1965) by Donald Morris: Zulus are cool.
26.*My Dream of You (2001) by Nuala O'Faolain: A chick book. I enjoy few chick books.
27.*The Magician's Assistant (1997) by Ann Patchett: Novels with magicians are cool. I might actually read this.
28.*The Dante Club (2003) by Matthew Pearl: Good grad by the wife. I've been wanting to read this.
29.*The God of Small Things (1997) by Arundhati Roy: My wife likes books by Asian and Indian women. It's kind of cool. I, being a stupid white male, have no interest.
30.The Story of Atlantis and The Lost Lemuria (1896 and 1904) by W. Scott-Elliot: It's published by the Theosophical Publishing House. I can't wait to check it out.
31.Quo Vadis (1923) by Henryk Sienkiewicz: A classic. I just noticed, however, that's it's been edited and abridged by a modern guy. What did he leave out????
32.The Dark Angel (1953) by Mika Waltari: A novel of the fall of Constantinople. It better be good!
33.The Story of Masada (1969) by Yigael Yadin: I loved the Masada mini-series on television when I was but a lad. It's a fascinating story.

So what, say you? Well, you could say that about pretty much anything on this blog. But what a bargain for us! If you have any thoughts about these books, I'd be happy to hear them. Books Rule!