Saturday, October 19, 2019

Annual Book Sale: My Husband's Books

September 20th was the first day of the Planned Parenthood book sale that we attend every year. We go multiple times, and I always get too many books. My husband and son are more restrained. But we look forward to it each year and we always find unexpected treasures.

In this post I am highlighting some of my husband's purchases at the book sale. He looks for books in many genres: photography, history, social histories, mysteries, science fiction, and more. These are some of the mysteries and social histories that he found.

To see a larger view of the covers, click on the images.


My husband found seven mysteries in British Library Crime Classics editions.  The four pictured here are Death on the Riviera, The Cheltenham Square Murder, and The Lake District Murder by John Bude  and Murder in Piccadilly  by Charles Kingston.

John Bude wrote thirty crime novels between 1935 and his death in 1957. He worked in the theatre as a producer and director. Six of his books have been reissued by the British Library, and my husband found copies of all of them. There is a very good overview of John Bude's mysteries at Promoting Crime Fiction.

At the New York Journal of Books, D. R. Meredith describes Murder in Piccadilly as "a humorous mystery that will entertain the modern reader as much as it did at the time of its original publication in 1936." See full review here.


The DKA Files series by Joe Gores features a group of investigators who work for Daniel Kearny Associates, a firm specializing in repossessions of vehicles whose owners have defaulted on their loan payments. The setting is in and around San Francisco. These two books, 32 Cadillacs and Contract Null and Void, are the 4th and 5th books in the series. I have read the first novel in the series, Dead Skip, and enjoyed it very much.


And we conclude with two social histories. I think both will be very interesting.

  • An Elegant Madness: High Society in Regency England by Venetia Murray covers upper-class life during the years 1780-1830. 
  • The English Country House Party by Phyllida Barstow English gives an account of country house entertaining, from the death of Prince Albert in 1861 to the outbreak of World War I.


12 comments:

col2910 said...

Joe Gores would be the two I would go for, but I already have them!

Kay said...

I know I'd enjoy attending that book sale. Love those and you never know what you might find! Enjoy!

Margot Kinberg said...

Your husband got some great books, Tracy! I like that collection, and I'm glad that he found some books. I hope he'll enjoy the classic crime fiction. I look forward to seeing your haul.

Rick Robinson said...

I love the British Library Crime Classics books, and have many of them, including 2 of those you show. I also love Gores, and have both of those. Good pick-ups, you two!

TracyK said...

Gores would be my top pick too, Col. I bought three hardback copies of standalone books by Joe Gores. It will be hard to decide... read more in the DKA Files series or try some of the standalone books.

TracyK said...

You would love it, Kay. There are so many mysteries I see something new each time we go during the sale. We always go on the last day because it is half price, and I discovered 5 books by an author I love that I had not noticed before.

TracyK said...

I think Glen has actually read more books from the British Library Crime Classics than I have, Margot, and he has had mixed reactions. But I have high hopes with these and I am hoping we both like them.

TracyK said...

We were very lucky to find these, Rick. I am looking forward to trying the books by John Bude and Charles Kingston. I have several of the Joe Gores' books, but these were really nice copies and inexpensive.

dfordoom said...

John Bude's mysteries are reasonably OK. I'd describe him as a pretty competent second-tier mystery writer.

TracyK said...

I think I will enjoy them for the setting, if nothing else, dfordoom, and I am hoping my husband will too. We both love the covers.

Bill Selnes said...

I hope your husband enjoys reading his choices. I do not think I would have picked up any of them. I find myself rarely reading classic mysteries.

TracyK said...

Thanks for that comment, Bill. I think he will like these books, and it is good that he can give them a try at such a reasonable price.