BHE (10): Book Hunting in Vegas – Second of Two Parts

Last week, I posted about my book hunting expedition in Las Vegas and I promised a second part this week, as I share with you some of my book buys from a few thrift stores in Sin City. While I am technically back in Singapore for over a week now, here are some of my book buys while in the States.

Savers Las Vegas

Location: 2620 South Decatur Boulevard, Southwest Las Vegas

This place made me such a happy happy happy girl. Picture books are priced at 69 cents and chapter books at 99 cents. The hard cover books are slightly more expensive at 1.99 but we still had a 30% discount on top of the discounted price (with my cousin’s military ID), plus there’s a ‘buy 4 books get 1 free’ thing going on – so we did get everything for virtually nothing. I was prepared to be disappointed with the selections (I mean, it’s a thrift store, after all), but boy oh boy, there were some pretty awesome titles as you can see below:

I made sure that I combed through all of the shelves to find some great bargains and wonderful titles. I bought quite a lot as you can see in my basket here:

I am just fortunate that my husband is the understanding sort and he values and respects my passion for these babies – we worried about the shipping later. Here are my book finds:

Let’s begin with poetry: Falling Up by Shel Silverstein, Ogden Nash’s Zoo with illustrations by Etienne Delessert and this charming book Life is Just a Chair of Bowlies by Mary Engelbreit.

Mitsumasa Anno! Oh my gosh: Anno’s Medieval World and Anno’s Journey.

Amazing titles at 69 cents (plus 30% discount), how can I possibly resist: A House is a house for me by Mary Ann Hoberman and illustrated by Betty Fraser; The Fool of the World and the Flying Ship: A Russian Tale by Arthur Ransome and illustrated by Uri Shulevitz; A Pocket Full of Kisses by Audrey Penn and illustrated by Barbara Leonard Gibson; Amelia’s Family Ties by Marissa Moss; My Name is Yoon by Helen Recorvits and Pictures by Gabi Swiatkowska; and Animals should definitely not wear clothing by Judi Barrett and drawn by Ron Barrett.

I have a growing collection of Madonna’s children’s books (simply because I adore Madonna and I find her brilliant) and so I bought Mr. Peabody’s Apples; Fables by Arnold Lobel; More More More said the Baby by Vera B. Williams (recommended by Leonard Marcus during the recent AFCC in Singapore); and Tar Beach by Faith Ringgold (which was reviewed by Fats here).

Quite a number of titles here from favorite authors and illustrators: Home Place by Crescent Dragonwagon and illustrated by Jerry Pinkney; Rap-a-tap-tap: Here’s Bojangles – Think of That by Leo and Diane Dillon; Jerusalem, Shining Still by Karla Kuskin and illustrated by David Frampton; Let the Celebrations Begin! by the amazing Margaret Wild and Julie Vivas; The Empty Pot by Demi; and two books by Eric Carle: Rooster’s Off to see the World and Pancakes, Pancakes.

Of course I have to buy *a few* YA novels: Everything on a Waffle, a Newbery Honor book by Polly Horvath (which Fats reviewed some time ago); A Gathering of Days, a Newbery Medalist by Joan W. Blos; The Night Journey by Kathryn Lasky; Life and Times of Michael K. by J. M. Coetzee; A Jar of Dreams by Yoshiko Uchida; Buried Onions by Gary Soto; and Al Capone does my Shirts by Cennifer Choldenko – most of these books would fit our award-winning-books reading challenge (do sign up here if you haven’t already).

And the list grows longer: The Story of a Seagull and the Cat who taught her to Fly by Luis Sepulveda, translated from the Spanish by Margaret Sayers Peden and Illustrations by Chris Sheban. Island of the Aunts by Eva Ibbotson; P. S. Longer Letter Later by Paula Danziger and S. Ann M. Martin; two Judy Moody books: Judy Moody Predicts the Future and Judy Moody Declares Independence by Megan McDonald and illustrated by Peter Reynolds; Deep and Dark and Dangerous by Mary Lee Hahn; and The Color of My Words by Lynn Joseph.

We throw in a few adult novels into the mix: The Shipping News by Annie Proulx; Paradise by Toni Morrison; Twice 22 – The Golden Apples of the Sun and A Medicine for Melancholy by Ray Bradbury; and Anne Tyler’s The Amateur Marriage.

I was also very happy to have found Dragonology: The Complete Book of Dragons by Ernest Drake and Dugald Steer for 1.99 (recall that this does not include the 30% discount as yet)

Since I am a sucker for fairy tales, I was intrigued by this book A True Fairy Story by Daphne Charters. The Big Bratty Book of Bart Simpson was handpicked by my ten year old daughter.

The Seashore Book by Charlotte Zolotow and pictures by Wendell Minor, Emma Kate by the amazing Patricia Polacco, Henry’s Freedom Box: A True Story from the Underground Railroad by Ellen Levine and Kadir Nelson, Brave Margaret: An Irish Adventure by Robert D. San Souci and Sally Wern Comport, The Saga of Shakespeare Pintlewood and the Great Silver Fountain Pen by James H. Keman and illustrated by Christopher Raschka, When Jessie Came Across the Sea by Amy Hest and Illustrated by PJ Lynch, Eric Carle’s A House for Hermit Crab, and Art from Her Heart: Folk Artist Clementine Hunter by Kathy Whitehead and Shane W. Evans.

To Every Thing There is a Season by Leo and Diane Dillon, Many Moons by James Thurber and Louis Slobodkin, four Jan Brett books: Who’s that Knocking on Christmas Eve?, Daisy Comes Home, Honey… Honey… Lion, The Mitten. May I Bring a Friend? By Beatrice Schenk de Regniers and Illustrated by Beni Montresor, and The Little House: Her Story by Virginia Lee Burton.

A Bad Case of Stripes by David Shannon, Awful Ogre’s Awful Day by Jack Prelutsky and Paul Zelinsky, Wild About Books by Judy Sierra and pictures by Marc Brown, Make Way for Ducklings by Robert McCloskey, A Boy Wants a Dinosaur by Hiawyn Oram and Satoshi Kitamura, The Mouse Writer: A Story by Ethan Johnson and Illustrated by Jon Cannell, Phoebe’s Revolt by Natalie Babbitt, and It’s a Big World, Charlie Brown by Charles M. Schulz.

 Leepike Ridge by N.D. Wilson, Space Station Seventh Grade by Jerry Spinelli, A Wolf at the Door and other Retold Fairy Stories edited by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling.

 March by Geraldine Brooks and A War of Gifts: An Ender Story by Orson Scott Card.

***Amazing Book Finds***

This happens to be my amazing book find from this store: Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats by T. S. Eliot and Drawings by Edward Gorey. I am a huge Gorey and TS Eliot fan, and to find this book lying unloved at 69 cents – I literally gave a screech when I saw it!

Where else can you find Brothers by Yin and Chris Soentpiet for 99 cents? Kate Greenaway’s Marigold Garden is also a great find also for 99 cents.

Featured YA finds are by Gregory Maguire with his Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister and Karen Hesse’s Witness, a novel in verse.

Savers Number 2

Location: 1100 East Charleston Boulevard, Las Vegas

We decided not to push through with our plan to visit San Diego, thus, we missed our visit to their Book Off branch there as well. To make up for it, husband decided to drive me to other nearby Savers branches here in Las Vegas, so we visited this place in East Charleston and here are my book buys:

Ted by Tony Diterlizzi; Once a Lullaby pictures by Anita Lobel and written by B. P. Nichol; The Paper Boy by Dav Pilkey (been hearing a lot about this book); One Monday Morning by Uri Shulevitz; El Secreto de la Biblioteca or Library’s Secret by Ana Galan and illustrated by Rodrigo Luj; Everybody Needs a Rock by Byrd Baylor with Pictures by Peter Parnall; and The Boats on the River by Marjorie Flack and pictures by Jay Hyde Barnum.

I was also happy to have discovered another author/illustrator through Jan Brett: Gingerbread Baby and The Hat. I also bought Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak as a gift to our 4 year old boy here in Las Vegas; Goldilocks and The Three Bears as retold by James Marshall; How Much is a Million? by David M. Schwartz and Pictures by Steven Kellogg; The Forbidden Door by Marilee Heyer; and Bill Pickett Rodeo-Ridin’ Cowboy by Andrea D. Pinkney and Brian Pinkney.

Mister Seahorse by Eric Carle, Knuffle Bunny Too: A Case of Mistaken Identity by Mo Willems, From Bad to Worse: Silly Tales in Verse by Geraldine Richelson and Pictures by Claude Lapoint, Mr. Rabbit and the Lovely Present by Charlotte Zolotow and pictures by Maurice Sendak; Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown and Pictures by Clement Hurd (as recommended by our amazing Keynote Speaker during the recent AFCC, Leonard Marcus (see here); Hildilid’s Night by Cheli Duran Ryan and Arnold Lobel, and my only YA fiction find: The Merlin Conspiracy by Diana Wynne Jones.

Savers 3

Location: 3121 North Rancho Drive, Las Vegas

I was very happy to have scored more Jan Brett titles with Berlioz the Bear and Hedgie’s Surprise. Other books that I bought include If you’re afraid of the dark remember the night rainbow by Cooper Edens, The Rabbit and the Turtle by Eric Carle, Fly Away Home by Eve Bunting and Illustrated by Ronald Himler, and another Anno book! Anno’s Mysterious Multiplying Jar by Masaichiro Anno and Mitsumasa Anno.

Pig Tales: Stories that Twist (simply because I love fractured fairy tales) by Henrik Drescher (Cover Artist/Illustrator), Harry Allard (Author), Dick Gackenbach (Author), Cecile Schoberle (Author),Steven Kellogg (author); Leo Lionni Favorites: Six Classic Stories by Leo Lionni; Hank Zipzer: Day of the Iguana by Henry Winkler and Lin Oliver; The Red Rose Box by Brenda Woods; and ttfn by Lauren Myracle.

Goodwill, Las Vegas

Location: 3345 East Tropicana Avenue, Las Vegas, NV

If you think that Goodwill only has used clothes, think again, here are my book finds:

***Amazing Book Find Number 2***

Since I already bought Dragonology as could be seen above, I was pleased to have discovered another book from the series: Wizardology: The Book of the Secrets of Merlin by Dugald Steer.

Saving the World by Julia Alvarez, Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Do It Yourself Book by Jeff Kinney, Just Juice by Karen Hesse, Smoke and Mirrors by Neil Gaiman, The Time Paradox by Eoin Colfer, and Guys Write for Guys Guys Read as edited by the amazing Jon Scieszka.

Whew! That’s about it for my book hunt escapade in Las Vegas. How about you, dear friends? What books found their way in your hands this week?