Annual Book Sale 2021: My Husband's Books

In September we went to the annual Planned Parenthood Book Sale.  The sale lasts about 10 days, and we visited the sale on five of those days. 

These are a few of the books my husband found at the sale. In addition to fiction (including mysteries), he focuses on books about history (especially English history), photography, architecture, and performing arts. 

Talking Pictures: With the People Who Made Them (1994) edited by Sylvia Shorris and Marion Abbott Bundy; introduction by Robert B. Altman

Review from Publisher's Weekly:

Featuring the unvarnished recollections of producers, directors, scriptwriters, film editors, camera operators, technicians and others, these 38 interviews provide a marvelous behind-the-scenes look at the creative alchemy that fueled Hollywood's golden age. Among the interviewees are assistant director Arthur Jacobson (Miracle on 34th Street), visual effects specialist Linwood Gale Dunn (Citizen Kane), producer Jack Cummings (Kiss Me Kate), Edward Bernds, soundman for Frank Capra's movies, composer Jule Styne and lyricist Sammy Cahn. Cameraman George Folsey explains how he brought the softness of muted light to black-and-white cinematography starring Claudette Colbert, Clark Gable and Joan Crawford. Screenwriter John Bright recalls tailoring the scripts that made James Cagney a star. The reminiscences of all are spiced with shoptalk, juicy anecdotes and candid glimpses of moguls like Darryl Zanuck, Irving Thalberg, Louis B. Mayer, Harry Cohn and David Selznick–the legendary names are ever-present.

Charters & Caldicott (1985) by Stella Bingham

The first appearance of Charters and Caldicott was in Alfred Hitchcock's The Lady Vanishes (1938). The characters were played by Naunton Wayne and Basil Radford. They were comic relief in that film, playing cricket enthusiasts who wanted to get home to England in time to see the results of a Test match. They were popular and appeared in three other films as the same characters. Later there was a 1985 BBC mystery series based on those characters. This novel is based on that series.

Looking for History in British Churches (1951) by M.D. Anderson

Description from the dust jacket of this edition:

English history from a new and fascinating angle—a book for all interested in religion, history, art and architecture...

For many years, the author's chief interest and delight have been the study of the visual records left in Britain's churches by invading races and social forces as a first-hand source of information on England's past. In this book, she shares her discoveries with her readers and reconstructs an enthralling and authentic picture of how men and women of an earlier day lived and worked and played.

The dust jacket of this book has a lovely illustration and there is a detailed map of the locations of churches on the endsheets (front and back).

Cat of Many Tails (1949) by Ellery Queen

Although I read a good many Ellery Queen mysteries when I was much younger, I haven't read any of them in decades so I don't know much about individual books. 

This is what I do know about Cat of Many Tails:

• This is book 20 of 35 books featuring Ellery Queen as the sleuth. It is set in New York and features Inspector Queen, his father, which I consider a plus.
• An early example of a serial killer novel, although not the first. 
• Considered by many to be one of the best books in the Ellery Queen series. 

Lord Malquist and Mr. Moon (1966) by Tom Stoppard

From the back of the Grove Press paperback:

Tom Stoppard's first novel, originally published in 1966 just before the premiere of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, is an uproarious fantasy set in modern London. The cast includes a penniless, dandified Malquist with a liveried coach; Malquist's Boswellian biographer, Moon, who frantically scribbles as a bomb ticks in his pocket; a couple of cowboys, one being named Jasper Jones; a lion who's banned from the Ritz; an Irishman on a donkey claiming to be the Risen Christ; and three irresistible women.

I believe this is his only novel.

The Silent Gondoliers (1983) by William Goldman 

From the back of the Del Rey paperback:

Once upon a time, the gondoliers of Venice possessed the finest voices in all the world. But, alas, few remember those days—and fewer still were ever blessed to hear such glorious singing. No one since has discovered the secret behind the sudden silence of the golden-voiced gondoliers. No one, it seems, but S. Morgenstern. Now Morgenstern recounts the sad and noble story of the ambitions, frustrations, and eventual triumph of Luigi, the gondolier with the gooney smile.

There are lovely drawings by Paul Giovanopoulos sprinkled throughout. Cover art by Sergio Martinez.

I borrowed this from my husband and read it for Novellas in November. I enjoyed it, although I found the middle portion to have very slow pacing. 

The Princess Bride: William Goldman

The Princess Bride, by William Goldman, is the second book I have read for the Once Upon a Time challenge. I think I must be the only person in the world who has not either watched the movie, The Princess Bride, or read the book. The book was published in 1973; the movie came out in 1987.

For the most part, The Princess Bride was a very enjoyable read. This is a story within a story, and it is very clever. The two stories are very different in tone. The story of the princess bride is a fairy tale with characters who are either very good or very bad, and frequent escapes from very difficult circumstances.On the title page of the edition I read, it is described as a "Tale of True Love and High Adventure." The framing story tells the reader how and why the author decided to abridge the very long and sometimes boring version of the The Princess Bride, as originally written by S. Morgenstern.

There were times when I found it difficult to believe that this was intended as a book for children. I don't know what Goldman's intentions were, but I know that many children do read it.  This story has a lot of violence, but that bothered me less than the elements of torture. Torture is something that bothers me in a novel, even a fantasy. Maybe as a child, I would have taken it less seriously. (Note that I am not in favor of limiting children's reading. My reading as a child was not monitored -- to my knowledge -- and I did not censor my son's reading.)

At Common Sense Media, in the section "What parents need to know", they describe the book in this way:

...this sharp-edged fairy tale is geared to tweens and older. The cliffhangers are more intense and some scenes are scarier than in the film version. You'll find truly evil villains, murder, swordfights, knives, blood, poisoning, kidnapping, torture, giant carnivorous rats and eels, and similar scary stuff.

I have read reviews and analyses that examine the post-modern elements of this book. I don't know enough about post-modern literature to comment on that with any intelligence. I enjoyed Goldman's framing story and his cynical and barbed comments more than the basic adventure story; yet at times he was too negative, and the comments took me out of the main story towards the end. I am sure that was intentional.

My overall opinion is that this is an interesting and entertaining story that can be enjoyed at many levels. And, yes, I am now going to watch the movie, sometime soon.