Books

Books: A Memoir

Larry McMurtry

Amazon Price: $16.32 List Price: $24.00 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Simon & Schuster Amazon Marketplace: 41 new & used starting at $14.68

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Subjects -> Biographies & Memoirs -> Arts & Literature -> Authors
Subjects -> Biographies & Memoirs -> General
Subjects -> Biographies & Memoirs -> Memoirs

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 15 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Amazon Best of the Month, July 2008: It wasn't enough for Pulitzer Prize-winning author Larry McMurtry to become one of the most prolific, bestselling, and beloved of American writers. Besides writing nearly forty books, including the Pultizer Prize-winning novel Lonesome Dove, he has emerged as one this nation's greatest bookmen. In Books: A Memoir, McMurtry shares with readers his lifelong passion and dogged pursuit of books. In short, gem-like chapters, he paints a fascinating picture of the landscape of American book culture and book selling over a 50-year period. The story is as dusty, musty and crusty as any of McMurtry's fictionalized Westerns, and filled with characters who seem like they stepped out of central casting. Whether you love McMurtry, books, bookstores or a combination thereof, you'll find something to love in Books: A Memoir. Settle in with a cuppa coffee and let McMurtry kindle your passion for physical books. --Lauren Nemroff

Book Finds, 3rd Edition: How to Find, Buy, and Sell Used and Rare Books

Ian C. Ellis

Amazon Price: $10.85 List Price: $15.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Perigee Trade Amazon Marketplace: 36 new & used starting at $8.75

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Subjects -> Home & Garden -> Antiques & Collectibles -> Books
Subjects -> Home & Garden -> Antiques & Collectibles -> General
Subjects -> Literature & Fiction -> Books & Reading -> Antiquarian & Rare Books

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 48 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

PROBABLY WORTH FOUR STARS, BUT....... 3 out of 5 stars.
11 of 12 people found this review helpful.

I have enjoyed this work and have indeed found parts of it to be quite useful. I have been collecting, buying, selling and trading books for quite a number of years now, and did indeed pick up some good information and hints from this particular book. It does have it's flaws though. The first, and most major, is that it simply does not address the internet as it should. So much of the information found in this book is simply outdated due to that fact. Now granted, once you have the actual book in hand, then this work becomes more useful. But finding the book is a whole different ball game than it was just a few years ago. The second problem with the book is that we all simply do not live on the East Coast of the United States and specifically, New York City. Pity, I know, but that is just a fact. Third, the author can come across as being just a bit stuffy at times, which, at best, is a bit annoying.

The negative being said, this is quite a good work to get yourself started. The author does give some great information as to the anatomy of a book, what to look for, what to avoid when purchasing or selling. This is valuable information. The chapters alone that discuss the various conditions of books and what it does to their price is probably worth the price of the book alone.

Overall, I do recommend this one, but with some reservations. There are a lot of resources out there now, and the reader, collector, seller needs to be aware of them all. This is not an easy business, and is probably not as easy as the author would make it seem.

Editorial Review:

An updated edition of the essential insider's resource.

For the experienced collector or someone embarking on a new hobby, this newly revised and updated edition of Book Finds reveals the secrets of locating rare and valuable books. Includes information on first editions and reader's copies, auctions and catalogs, avoiding costly and common beginner mistakes, strategies of professional "book scouts," and buying and selling on the Internet.

The Archimedes Codex: How a Medieval Prayer Book Is Revealing the True Genius of Antiquity's Greatest Scientist

Reviel Netz, William Noel

Amazon Price: $18.15 List Price: $27.50 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Da Capo Press Amazon Marketplace: 57 new & used starting at $6.24

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Subjects -> History -> Ancient -> Greece
Subjects -> History -> Europe -> General
Subjects -> History -> Europe -> Greece -> General

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 14 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

At a Christie’s auction in October 1998, a battered medieval manuscript sold for two million dollars to an anonymous bidder, who then turned it over to the Walters Art Museum in Baltimore for further study. The manuscript was a palimpsest-a book made from an earlier codex whose script had been scraped off and the pages used again. Behind the script of the thirteenth-century monk’s prayer book, the palimpsest revealed the faint writing of a much older, tenth-century manuscript. Part archaeological detective story, part science, and part history, The Archimedes Codex tells the extraordinary story of this lost manuscript, from its tenth-century creation in Constantinople to the auction block at Christie’s, and how a team of scholars used the latest imaging technology to reveal and decipher the original text. What they found was the earliest surviving manuscript by Archimedes (287 b.c.-212 b.c.), the greatest mathematician of antiquity-a manuscript that revealed, for the first time, the full range of his mathematical genius, which was two thousand years ahead of modern science.

Bushido : Legacies of the Japanese Tattoo

Takahiro Kitamura, Katie M. Kitamura

Amazon Price: $26.95 List Price: $29.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Schiffer Publishing Amazon Marketplace: 34 new & used starting at $20.47

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Subjects -> Arts & Photography -> Design & Decorative Arts -> Textile & Costume
Subjects -> Health, Mind & Body -> Beauty & Fashion -> General
Subjects -> Home & Garden -> Antiques & Collectibles -> Books

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 12 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Amazing Japanese Tattoo Art 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 2 people found this review helpful.

This book is a great reference for tattoo artists and other artists that enjoy the art of Japanese tattooing. It displays full page photographs (including close ups) so you can see the detail and subject matter quite well.

Quite impressive 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

Horioshi work speaks for itself and this book is an impressive tribute to it. The pictures are fantastic and it's very nice to see that the family business has its heritage assured.

Editorial Review:

This gorgeous book delves into the elusive world of traditional Japanese tattooing. The Samurai spirit, Bushido, is an integral component of Japanese tattooing that is traced through the imagery and interpersonal dynamics of this veiled subculture. The eloquent text is based largely on Takahiro Kitamuras experiences as client and student of the famed Japanese tattoo master, Horiyoshi III. Over 200 beautiful photos by Jai Tanju capture the breathtaking tattoo artistry of Horiyoshi III. Five original, unpublished prints by Horiyoshi III, like those in his acclaimed book, 100 Demons of Horiyoshi III, are included here. Bushido: Legacies of the Japanese Tattoo is certain to fascinate everyone with an interest in tattoo culture.

Decorating with Books (House Beautiful)

Marie Proeller Hueston

Amazon Price: $16.47 List Price: $24.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Hearst Amazon Marketplace: 39 new & used starting at $10.00

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Subjects -> Professional & Technical -> Architecture -> General
Subjects -> Home & Garden -> Antiques & Collectibles -> Books
Subjects -> Home & Garden -> Crafts & Hobbies -> General

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 8 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

From House Beautiful comes a worthy addition to any decorator's library--a stylish guide on making books a part of your home décor.

Opening the pages of a book can instantly carry you off to another world. But did you realize that, open or closed, books can also make your real world--your home--more fabulous? As legendary designer Billy Baldwin pointed out, they're “the best decoration,” capable of bringing incredible warmth, color, and character to a room. From grand bookcases in home libraries to casual stacks artfully arrayed on chairs, House Beautiful presents countless eye-catching ideas for displaying and arranging your hardcovers, paperbacks, encyclopedias, and even valuable first editions. Useful tips shed light on how to organize a large collection; situate bookcases in the room for the best effect; and make the most of books' appealing visual and tactile qualities. From traditional interpretations to contemporary visions--such as putting a book on a pedestal as an objet d'art--these concepts write a new page in design.
A Selection of the Homestyle Book Club.

Outwitting History: The Amazing Adventures of a Man Who Rescued a Million Yiddish Books

Aaron Lansky

Amazon Price: $11.16 List Price: $13.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Algonquin Books Amazon Marketplace: 81 new & used starting at $0.95

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Subjects -> History -> World -> Jewish -> General
Subjects -> Home & Garden -> Antiques & Collectibles -> Books
Subjects -> Home & Garden -> Antiques & Collectibles -> General

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 22 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

would have been a great 30-page essay 3 out of 5 stars.
3 of 9 people found this review helpful.

This is an interesting personal story about a guy doing something everyone else thought was stupid. It would have been a great 30-page essay for the Web, but in the world of commercial publishing a story needs to fit into a 5-page magazine article or be padded out to fill a 300-page book. This, then, is the padded version.

If you read between the lines of the padded version, what you learn is that this guy got books for free from people anxious to clear out their basements. Then he got Steven Spielberg to pay for the books to be digitized and got some other rich folks to give him $7 million so that he could build himself a nice office in central Massachusetts. Now he sells hardcopy reprints of these books, whose authors and publishers have all died, for $53 per copy from his Web site. It is an inspiring story of entrepreneurship perhaps, but given the digital copies and his non-profit organization's mission statement to distribute this material widely, one would rather have expected to see these books available for viewing/searching online.

Editorial Review:

In 1980, a twenty-three-year-old student named Aaron Lansky set out to rescue the world’s abandoned Yiddish books before it was too late. Twenty-five years and one and a half million books later, he’s still in the midst of a great adventure. Filled with poignant and often laugh-out-loud tales from Lansky’s travels across the country as he collected books from older Jewish immigrants—books their own children had no use for—Outwitting History also explores brilliant Yiddish writers and enables us to see how an almost-lost culture is the bridge between the Old World and the future.

The Codex Borgia: A Full-Color Restoration of the Ancient Mexican Manuscript

Gisele Diaz, Alan Rodgers

Amazon Price: $18.85 List Price: $20.95 Usually ships in 7 to 12 days By: Dover Publications Amazon Marketplace: 15 new & used starting at $10.00

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Subjects -> Arts & Photography -> Schools, Periods & Styles -> Prehistoric & Primitive
Subjects -> Arts & Photography -> History & Criticism -> Regional -> Native American
Subjects -> Arts & Photography -> Instructional & How-To -> General

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 8 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Excellent, and at this price... 5 out of 5 stars.
34 of 34 people found this review helpful.

This is a wonderful resouce for those interested in ancient Mexico. Full photographic facsimilies of these codices are hideously expensive, and really, most are not in great shape. After extensive research, we have here a great reproduction of what this important work looked like when it was "fresh off the presses." It is beautiful, and in comparison to Dover's similar Codex Nuttall, this work comes with a MUCH better introduction that explains more of the text, the context, and the ideology. Readers will be able to better understand some of the religious principles of the ancient Mexicans (and there is some debate whether this book was painted by Aztecs or Mixtecs, which I won't bore you with!). It shows gods, ceremonies, the calender, and other religious iconography which is interesting, and would be a revelation for more the artisticly inclined. The visuals are wonderfully presented and all in all this is an astonishing bargain. Those with even a casual interest in New World archaeology or art NEED to get this book.

Editorial Review:

First publication of remarkable repainting of outstanding Mexican codex — priceless original is in Vatican Library — thought to have originated in the Cholula area, ca. AD 1400. 76 large full-color plates show an astounding array of gods, kings, warriors, mythical creatures, and abstract designs. A work of rare power and beauty. Introduction.

2008 Comic Book Checklist & Price Guide (Comic Book Checklist and Price Guide)

Maggie Thompson, Brent Frankenhoff, Peter Bickford

Amazon Price: $13.59 List Price: $19.99 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Krause Publications Amazon Marketplace: 35 new & used starting at $5.06

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Subjects -> Comics & Graphic Novels -> Cartooning
Subjects -> Comics & Graphic Novels -> History & Price Guides
Subjects -> Entertainment -> Humor -> Satire

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 2 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

MY PRICE GUIDE OF CHOICE 5 out of 5 stars.
13 of 13 people found this review helpful.

I've been very vocal in my support for the Comic Buyer's Guide Comic Book Checklist & Price Guide. To me it is the comic book price guide of choice over the Overstreet guide for a number of reasons. First, the CBG guide is not weighted down by literally hundreds of pages of advertisements like the Overstreet guide is. I mean, what is the point of endless pages of ads for comic dealers and shops anyway? Who buys mail order with eBay around?

Secondly, the CBG guide is not filled with dozens of pages of market reports from dealers around the country. Yes, at one time I found these market reports to be very valuable. But again, this we in the pre-eBay/Internet days. If I want to know what a certain book has been selling for, I can just search completed auctions on ebay or other auction sites. It's no longer useful to me to read what a dealer in Podunk, Idaho sold a Hulk #181 for.

Lastly, while concentrating its efforts only comics from the Silver Age to the present, the CBG guide is able to provide much more information about individual issues. True, the Overstreet Guide does go back to the Golden Age but at a cost of condensing it's information so tightly and with such a small font, it's almost unreadable. I much prefer the CBG guides where each issue of a title is listed individually, rather than as a range of issues. This allows the guide to provide more information such as notable events as origins, first appearances, and the issue's artist, as well as noting the month and year of each issue.

The CBG price guide provides only the near mint price for each issue but comes with a detailed, full color grading guide that explains how to calculate the prices for books that are less than near mint. Like the Overstreet, literally hundreds of cover pictures are included in the book's 808 pages. This is my price guide of choice. It is all meat without any of the Overstreet fat.

REVIEWED BY TIM JANSON

Editorial Review:

Comic books are being promoted by noted organizations including American Library Association and many educators as a tool for engaging young readers

Features a new full-color 8-page grading guide

From jaw-dropping original super hero art on the cover, to a wealth of identifying details and updated values inside, 2008 Comic Book Checklist & Price Guide is the number one tool for helping you assess the value of your collection, and track new additions you've added to it. As the only price guide to provide extensive coverage of more than 125,000 comics from 1961 to the present, the listings in this book, which include cover date, creator information and near mint prices, surpass other references. Plus, you gain access to 2,000 detailed photos to help with identifying items in your collection.

At Home with Books: How Booklovers Live with and Care for Their Libraries

Estelle Ellis, Caroline Seebohm

Amazon Price: $37.80 List Price: $60.00 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Clarkson Potter Amazon Marketplace: 60 new & used starting at $21.00

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Subjects -> Professional & Technical -> Architecture -> Interior Design -> General
Subjects -> Home & Garden -> Antiques & Collectibles -> Books
Subjects -> Home & Garden -> Interior Design -> General

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 37 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

For the bibliophile anxious to enhance the home library, At Home with Books presents both practical advice and divine inspiration. Chapters on starting a collection, organizing the library, and caring for books offer useful information on categorizing, editing, storage, and space-saving--"break down the books into categories by subject matter ... and compare their quantities to the available shelf space. If necessary, measure. Consider the book's height as well as its width. You may need to adjust your shelves to optimize your space." "Library Lighting," "The Art of the Bookshelf," and "Library Ladders" further encourage collectors to create a personal space suitable for its intended purpose, yet reflective of one's passion--"shelf lighting can draw attention to cherished objects and volumes; track lights can highlight certain areas of your room." Interspersed throughout these highly helpful chapters are interviews with noteworthy bibliophiles, including Keith Richards, Loren and Frances Rothschild, Bill Blass, and Paul Getty, whose "literary lairs"--ranging from the classic book-lined walls to books in the kitchen and the bathroom--are beautifully photographed, making At Home with Books not only a valuable resource for the dedicated collector, but a beautiful addition to any collection.

The Smithsonian Book of Books

Michael Olmert

Amazon Price: $32.97 List Price: $49.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Smithsonian Amazon Marketplace: 46 new & used starting at $10.52

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Subjects -> Arts & Photography -> Design & Decorative Arts -> Graphic Design -> Books
Subjects -> History -> Historical Study -> Reference
Subjects -> History -> World -> General

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 4 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Just How Special Books Were 5 out of 5 stars.
33 of 36 people found this review helpful.

The contemporary books we buy today fill many categories, and while they may be special for a variety of reasons, their mass production that condemns them to a comparatively brief life, also is the cause of how visually dismal they are.

There are some small private presses that still produce books as artisans, some even completely by hand, but the product is often well beyond the budgets of all but affluent collectors. Reading a work by Dickens is undeniably a thrill, but even Dickens believed his books were enhanced with imagery, so artists were part of his books, fellow craftsmen he chose to compliment his tales.

This book by Michael Olmert is for people who love books for not just what they contain, but the manner in which they were presented. Mr. Olmert also provides a very readable history of books from long before Guttenberg printed his Bible, from a time when a book was done by hand, every letter, every stitch.

This book presents some of the greatest rarities that have been preserved, so while you may covet a Book Of Hours, A Book Of Kells, or an illuminated page that rivals the art placed on canvas, your savings are safe. This is "The Smithsonian Book Of Books" so nobody can take any of these treasures home.

Mr. Olmert states, "The book is perhaps humankind's most powerful intellectual creation". A rather daring claim, but this book backs it well.

Editorial Review:

A feast for book lovers. (Publishers Weekly)