Book Haul: Two big sales in YYC

Every year, Calgary has two charity book sales in the same month, usually within a couple weekends of each other, and occasionally (as happened this year) overlapping on the same weekend. The first is the Servants Anonymous sale at Crossroads Market, and the second is the CBC Calgary Reads sale at the Calgary Curling Club. Last weekend I went to both of them.

I’ve been going to these things for years, not only because the books are cheap, but because I love old and unusual editions, and there’s always a chance to find a long-sought-after or unexpected title. This year was a fine haul, although I am being more selective than ever as it dawns on me that I actually have to read all of these some day.

Here’s my stack from last year. You should find some of these sales in your town, because they’re probably for a great cause. But don’t be surprised when you need a new bookshelf to hold everything you bring home.

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Absalom, Absalom! by William Faulkner
The Strange Death of Liberal England by George Dangerfield
The Trial by Franz Kafka
The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro
Surfacing by Margaret Atwood
Essais by Montaigne (vol. II, in French)
Collected Ghost Stories by M.R. James
Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe
Son of a Smaller Hero by Mordecai Richler
The Souls of Black Folk by W.E.B. DuBois
Survival by Margaret Atwood
Wonderful Life by Stephen Jay Gould
Booze by James H. Gray
Bluebeard’s Egg by Margaret Atwood
Calgary Cavalcade by Grant McEwan
The Oxford Illustrated History of Britain