The drag queens are the large black and white photo
When I visited Capitol Hill Books, a used bookstore in Denver, CO, I noticed a collage running down the entire side of a bookshelf. It was made up of all the things found in used books. My favorite was an 8 x 10 photo that at first glance is a group of 1940s “pin up” girls, but on closer look is a lineup of drag queens.
Joel Eis, owner of Rebound Bookstore, described in an interview some of the interesting items found in books in his store: a World War II book with a Dear John letter; stationary with the Union Army logo in a Civil War book; a coffee table book containing two huge marijuana leaves; a $100 bill (flip through the used books you buy, you could find lunch money); and, stacks of airline boarding passes (I use them as bookmarks when I travel, helps me to remember where the boarding pass is located).
In one of my book groups we’re reading the Rabbit series by John Updike. One of the members is a John Updike fanatic and owns almost all of his books, many of them she purchased used. She shared with us an old Book-of-the-Month Club summary of Rabbit Redux and a review from 1971 she found in a used copy of Rabbit Redux, it felt like opening a literary time capsule.
What have you found in a used book? We’d love to hear, leave a comment and share!
Tags: Colorado, Colorado bookstore, Denver, Denver bookstore, used books
-
I know a library book isn’t considered a real used book, but….One night, looking through gorgeous music manuscripts in the basement of Frost Library and Amherst College I found…yes…and ounce of dope in a sandwich bag!
-
Of course…I didn’t do anything with it….
-
What a terrific idea – creating a collage of items found in books! I am guilty of leaving items in books – airplane and train tickets (great book marks), museum passes, cool-looking stamps off of envelopes. Anything that makes for a different looking bookmark.
-
I often have the experience of finding relics of my own past in books I haven’t opened in a long time! The other day inside the front cover of Enemy Women I found a list of addresses written on a post-it note from when I moved to New York and was looking for an apartment. It’s been seven years and four cities since then!
-
there are mnay used books online and the price is cheap too but i wonder if the quality of it is good :’~
Reply
Recent Articles
-
Wonderful Video of What Happens in a Bookstore at Night
I’ve been in a bit of a posting slump, but I’m working my way out and what better way to start the new year than with this lovely stop action video, “The Joy of Books,” about what happens in Type bookstore at night. I can’t wait to visit Toronto just to stop by Type Books to [...]
-
Scrambling For A Last Minute Gift? Head To Your Local Bookstore!
Farhad Manjoo ignited the latest round of ‘will the local bookstore survive’ with his “Don’t Support Your Local Bookstore” tirade on Slate. (I couldn’t fail to notice that while Salon promotes a campaign to support local bookstores, Slate is bashing them.) Numerous responses Manjoo were published, twitter feeds with special hashtags popped up, and even [...]
-
57th Street Books – Chicago, IL
57th Street, the actual street, is perfect for the meandering bookworm. We started with lunch at the graffiti clad Medici Restaurant. Famous for its burgers and scribbled upon walls and furnishings, we filled the time waiting for our food by adding our own “tags” to the table top. More importantly, within blocks there are three [...]
-
Essay Challenge Recap
I coming in just under the wire this year, this challenge must be completed today!! The Essay Challenge over at Books and Movies is the only one I joined this year, even so, I didn’t keep up with it the way I have the past two years. Not that I haven’t read essays all year [...]
-
Salon says “Support Your Local Bookstore!”
In the latest pitch to keep bookstores alive and well, or at least breathing, Salon.com gave credit to indies for finding and promoting the latest excellent book most of us don’t know: An independent bookstore brings a lot to a city or a town: a showroom for the latest literary releases, an auditorium where authors [...]
-
Small Business Saturday – Shop at Local Businesses on November 26th!
Actually shop at them as much as possible, they are the engine that drives your local economy. But, let’s give the little guys a leg up in the middle of Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Drop by a local business, chat with a real person, and contribute to your neighborhood economy by purchasing a Christmas [...]
-
Which authors would you invite to Thanksgiving dinner?
Taking a riff from NPR’s story last week about which deceased composers Miles Hoffman would invite to Thanksgiving dinner, I pondered the same question for authors and asked quite a few friends. Here are the guidelines: which dead authors would you invite to Thanksgiving dinner? Which author would you invite to give a reading Thanksgiving [...]
-
Breaking Dawn – Part 1 Opens Today
One of the pleasures of having a teenage daughter is the opportunity to share silly, girlly experiences. While I understand all of the criticism about the Twilght series, and agree with some, as I’ve written before, I’ve enjoyed the ride. Even more, I’m grateful for the opportunity to share the sheer reading fun with my daughter. [...]
-
Abbey Books & Gifts – Valyermo, CA
I spent just over 24 hours last week at St. Andrews Abbey. I’m not Catholic, but I enjoy joining the monks in the Daily Office. For those of you new to that term (and that would’ve been me a couple of years ago), it’s the practice of pausing at several set times through out the [...]
-
Alexander Book Co. – San Francisco, CA
Alexander Book Co. is a traditional independent bookstore tucked around a corner in downtown San Francisco. Wedged between office towers and the Academy of Arts complex, it’s a cozy respite from steel, glass, and marble. The store even smells like good books waiting to be discovered. The first time I tried to visit the store, [...]
5 comments
Comments feed for this article
Trackback link: http://www.bookstorepeople.com/2009/03/what-have-you-found-in-a-used-book/trackback/