China Cat Books

why there is currently money in used books

2010-04-24T03:25:00.000-05:00

Taking a Second Look at the Nook - PCWorld: "One example of how e-reading could be a lot better: Every major e-reader on every platform remains surprisingly text-centric. Images are an afterthought when they're there at all, which means that a substantial percentage of the world's most interesting dead-tree books can't yet be replicated in electronic form form. The first e-reading software that fixes that is going to have a major competitive advantage for a while."

Bunch Of Phonies Mourn J.D. Salinger | The Onion - America's Finest News Source

2010-02-01T03:39:00.000-06:00

The Onion had a nice Salinger send off...

Bunch Of Phonies Mourn J.D. Salinger | The Onion - America's Finest News Source:

January 28, 2010 | Issue 46•04

"CORNISH, NH—In this big dramatic production that didn't do anyone any good (and was pretty embarrassing, really, if you think about it), thousands upon thousands of phonies across the country mourned the death of author J.D. Salinger, who was 91 years old for crying out loud. 'He had a real impact on the literary world and on millions of readers,' said hot-shot English professor David Clarke, who is just like the rest of them, and even works at one of those crumby schools that rich people send their kids to so they don't have to look at them for four years. 'There will never be another voice like his.' Which is exactly the lousy kind of goddamn thing that people say, because really it could mean lots of things, or nothing at all even, and it's just a perfect example of why you should never tell anybody anything."

What's in Salinger's safe? - Yahoo! News

2010-01-29T02:47:00.001-06:00

The full Yahoo News story follows, but the thought inspires a story idea...

book collector/ bookseller goes in search of papers, copies of the papers... mysteries ensue... the big score

rights, digital rights, book piracy.

chain of custody

burglary theft

What's in Salinger's safe? - Yahoo! News

NEW YORK – So what about the safe?

By HILLEL ITALIE, AP National Writer Hillel Italie, Ap National Writer – 30 mins ago

The death this week of J.D. Salinger ends one of literature's most mysterious lives and intensifies one of its greatest mysteries: Was the author of "The Catcher in the Rye" keeping a stack of finished, unpublished manuscripts in a safe in his house in Cornish, N.H? Are they masterpieces, curiosities or random scribbles?

And if there are publishable works, will the author's estate release them?

The Salinger camp isn't talking.

No comment, says his literary representative, Phyllis Westberg, of Harold Ober Associates Inc.

No plans for any new Salinger books, reports his publisher, Little, Brown & Co.

Marcia B. Paul, an attorney for Salinger when the author sued last year to stop publication of a "Catcher" sequel, would not get on the phone Thursday.

His son, Matt Salinger, referred questions about the safe to Westberg.

Stories about a possible Salinger trove have been around for a long time. In 1999, New Hampshire neighbor Jerry Burt said the author had told him years earlier that he had written at least 15 unpublished books kept locked in a safe at his home. A year earlier, author and former Salinger girlfriend Joyce Maynard had written that Salinger used to write daily and had at least two novels stored away.

Salinger, who died Wednesday at age 91, began publishing short stories in the 1940s and became a sensation in the 1950s after the release of "Catcher," a novel that helped drive the already wary author into near-total seclusion. His last book, "Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters and Seymour," came out in 1963 and his last published work of any kind, the short story "Hapworth 16, 1924," appeared in The New Yorker in 1965.

Jay McInerney, a young star in the 1980s thanks to the novel "Bright Lights, Big City," is not a fan of Hapworth and skeptical about the contents of the safe.

"I think there's probably a lot in there, but I'm not sure if it's necessarily what we hope it is," McInerney said Thursday. "`Hapworth' was not a traditional or terribly satisfying work of fiction. It was an insane epistolary monologue, virtually shapeless and formless. I have a feeling that his later work is in that vein."

Author-editor Gordon Lish, who in the 1970s wrote an anonymous story that convinced some readers it was a Salinger original, said he was "certain" that good work was locked up in Cornish. Novelist Curtis Sittenfeld, frequently compared to Salinger because of her novel "Prep," was simply enjoying the adventure.

"I can't wait to find out!" she said. "In our age of shameless self-promotion, it's extraordinary, and kind of great, to think of someone really and truly writing for writing's sake."

Some of the great works of literature have been published after the author's death, and even against the author's will, including such Franz Kafka novels as "The Trial" and "The Castle," which Kafka had requested be destroyed.

Because so little is known about what Salinger was doing, it's so easy to guess. McInernay said he has an old girlfriend who met Salinger and was told that the author was mostly writing about health and nutrition. Lish said Salinger told him back in the 1960s that he was still writing about the Glass family, featured in much of Salinger's work.

But the Salinger papers might exist only in our dreams, like the second volume of Nikolai Gogol's "Dead Souls," which the Russian author burned near the end of his life. The Salinger safe also could turn into a version of Henry James' novella "The Aspern Papers," in which the narrator's pursuit of a late poet's letters ends with his being told that they were destroyed.

Margaret Salinger, the author's daughter, wrote in a memoir published in 2000 that J.D. Salinger had a precise filing system for his papers: A red mark meant the book could be released "as is," should the author die. A blue mark meant that the manuscript had to be edited.

"There is a marvelous peace in not publishing," J.D. Salinger told The New York Times in 1974. "Publishing is a terrible invasion of my privacy. I like to write. I love to write. But I write just for myself and my own pleasure."

J. D. Salinger archive -- Contrariwise: Literary Tattoos

2010-01-29T01:38:00.000-06:00

J. D. Salinger archive -- Contrariwise: Literary Tattoos

Salinger passed. I wrote this on facebook earlier:

.... I heard it from you first before work. A sad day in the book world - I was the only one in the megabookstore who seemed aware today of his or of Howard Zinn's passing - made it all the sadder, but ironic and fitting at the same time.

"People never notice anything."

I mentioned it to my son when I got home and he asked if it "was a big day of mourning, all sad in the bookstore..."....

"hrmphf. no."

Listverse list of the top 10 American Short Story Writers

2010-01-18T12:57:00.000-06:00

10 Greatest American Short Story Writers - Listverse:

"I must confess, as much as I love British writers, the ones that I always come back to are American. America really has dominated modern English literature – not just in the pulp fiction arena but in serious literature as well. From the moment that America found its voice in the world of writing, it has had an incredibly significant presence. This list looks at ten of the masters of the short story genre from the USA.

10
Chuck Palahniuk
9
Washington Irving
8
Isaac Asimov
7
Ray Bradbury
6
Stephen King
5
J.D. Salinger
4
O. Henry
3
John Updike
2
F. Scott Fitzgerald
1
Edgar Allen Poe"

Some I've read, some not. The piece on Chuck Palahniuk claims the people have fainted upon hearing one of his shorts read aloud! I'll have to pick up "Haunted" soon.

The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost - Read Print

2010-01-14T00:27:00.000-06:00

The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost - Read Print: "The Road Not Taken

by Robert Frost

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I--
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference."

Feeling a bit curious about the other road right now, was nice to see this poem today. Did I choose the well worn path?

Marco.org - A lot of the people who read a bestselling novel,...

2010-01-09T00:09:00.000-06:00

Marco.org - A lot of the people who read a bestselling novel,...: "A lot of the people who read a bestselling novel, for example, do not read much other fiction. By contrast, the audience for an obscure novel is largely composed of people who read a lot. That means the least popular books are judged by people who have the highest standards, while the most popular are judged by people who literally do not know any better. An American who read just one book this year was disproportionately likely to have read ‘The Lost Symbol’, by Dan Brown. He almost certainly liked it.
— The Economist (via mudd up, peterwknox)"

25 Banned Books That You Should Read Today

2010-01-09T00:08:00.000-06:00

25 Banned Books That You Should Read Today: "25 Banned Books That You Should Read Today

This list summarizes 25 of the most controversial banned books and tells you where you can read them all online for free. Exercise your rights by reading at least one of these banned books today!"

#1 A Day No Pigs Would Die

Read an Excerpt from A Day No Pigs Would Die

This coming of age story by Robert Newton Peck is one of the all-time most challenged books. People just can't seem to get past the graphic description of animal butchery.

#2 American Psycho

Read an Excerpt of American Psycho

After writing a novel about a self-proclaimed serial killer, Bret Easton Ellis received a massive amount of hate mail and numerous death threats. In some countries, American Psycho cannot be purchased by anyone who is under 18.

#3 And Tango Makes Three

Read an Excerpt of And Tango Makes Three

Peter Parnell and Justin Richardson's picture book about two penguins enraged homophobes enough to be named the most challenged book of 2006.

#4 Annie on My Mind

Read an Excerpt of Annie on My Mind

A Kansas School Board was so eager to get this novel, which depicts a lesbian relationship between two teenagers, off the school shelves that they deliberately violated the First Amendment and went head-to-head with a judge.

#5 Bridge to Terabithia

Read an Excerpt of Bridge to Terabithia

Author Katherine Patterson is the daughter of missionaries and the wife of a minister, but that hasn't stopped people from saying that her book, Bridge to Terabithia promotes Satanism through references to magic.

#6 Candide

Read Candide for Free Online

U.S. Customs officials used to seize Voltaire's critically hailed satire. Apparently, they were not fans of his merciless take on religion, philosophy and government.

#7 Fallen Angels

Read an Excerpt of Fallen Angels

Walter Dean Myers' novel about a group of young American soldiers in the Vietnam War has incensed so many people that it earned a place on the American Library's Association's list of the most frequently challenged books.

#8 Fanny Hill

Read Fanny Hill for Free Online

The U.S Supreme Court did not clear 1749's Fanny Hill (also known as Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure) from obscenity charges until 1966. People complained about the book's blunt sexual descriptions and the way it parodied contemporary literature.

#9 Forever

Read an Excerpt of Forever

Judy Blume was one of the first authors to write candidly about a teenage girl who is sexually active, and she's been the subject of criticism ever since. Her book, Forever, is a constant target of religious and sexual abstinence groups who don't think teenagers should read about a girl who goes on 'the pill.'

#10 Frankenstein

Read Frankenstein for Free Online

Mary Shelley's classic book about a man obsessed with creating new life was banned in several countries for being indecent, objectionable and obscene.

#11 Harry Potter (The Entire Series)

Read an Excerpt from Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

Anti-witchcraft proponents everywhere hate the Harry Potter series with a passion. Their main complaints involve Harry's use of magic, but his nasty habit of standing up to authority figures does not go over well, either.

#12 I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings

Read an Excerpt of I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings

Maya Angelou's autobiography is one of the most challenged books ever. Controversial issues include drug abuse, profanity and a brutal rape scene.

#13 Lady Chatterley's Lover

Read Lady Chatterley's Lover for Free Online

D. H. Lawrence's 1928 novel was the subject of numerous obscenity trials in the UK, the U.S. and other countries up into the 1960s. Objections were raised about the book's explicit sex scenes and use of taboo four-letter words.

#14 Lord of the Flies

Read an Excerpt of Lord of the Flies

William Golding's bestselling novel, Lord of Flies, is considered to be one of the best English-language novels of the 1900s. Nevertheless, the book's stance on subjects of human nature has made it a frequent target of censors.

#15 Of Mice and Men

Read Of Mice and Men for Free Online

John Steinbeck's 1937 novella, Of Mice and Men, is another of the all-time most challenged books. People criticizing the book often cite offensive and vulgar language.

#16 Silas Marner

Read Silas Marner for Free Online

George Eliot's novel about a reclusive old man redeemed by an orphan girl he raises was controversial when it was first released and is still banned as far as some school districts are concerned.

#17 The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

Read Huckleberry Finn for Free Online

Mark Twain's classic tale about the journey of Huck and his friend Jim is yet another of the most challenged books ever.

#18 The Adventures of Tom Sawyer

Read Tom Sawyer for Free Online

Although this book isn't nearly as controversial as Twain's other novel, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Tom Sawyer has been barred frequently from schools and libraries alike.

#19 The Arabian Nights

Read Arabian Nights for Free Online

There are various versions of The Arabian Nights stories and most have been banned at one point or another. To this day there is still a law on the books to prevent the mailing of this book in the U.S.; however, the law is no longer enforced.

#20 The Catcher in the Rye

Read an Excerpt from The Catcher in the Rye

People have been banning J.D. Salinger's novel since its publication in 1951. The censorship stems from the book's profanity and anti-Christian sentiments.

#21 The Chocolate War

Read an Excerpt from The Chocolate War

People have been objecting and banning this book since its publication in 1974. Chief complaints involve the 200+ swear words that appear in the story and the scenes that depict violence and masturbation.

#22 The Color Purple

Read an Excerpt from The Color Purple

Alice Walker's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel has been challenged and banned around the world for its graphic violence and sexuality.

#23 The Giver

Read an Excerpt from The Giver

Also known by its nickname, 'the suicide book,' Lois Lowry's 1993 novel is the most commonly banned book in middle school libraries.

#24 The Fortunes and Misfortunes of the Famous Moll Flanders

Read Moll Flanders for Free Online

Daniel Defoe's 1722 novel of an irrepressible woman leading a desperate life was banned for lewdness and indecency. What's ironic about this is that Defoe left out the dirtiest of details to make sure he would stay out of jail once Moll Flanders was published.

#25 Ulysses

Read Ulysses for Free Online

Ulysses has been called the 20th century's best novel. It has also been called the most vulgar, obscene and blasphemous book ever to be banned in the U.S.

Rare Book Room

2010-01-09T00:05:00.000-06:00

Rare Book Room: "The 'Rare Book Room' site has been constructed as an educational site intended to allow the visitor to examine and read some of the great books of the world.

Over the last decade, a company called 'Octavo' digitally photographed some of the world ’s great books from some of the greatest libraries. These books were photographed at very high resolution (in some cases at over 200 megabytes per page).

This site contains all of the books (about 500) that have been digitized to date. These range over a wide variety of topics and rarity. The books are presented so that the viewer can examine all the pages in medium to medium-high resolution."

The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde

2010-01-08T14:12:00.003-06:00

The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde 2001
Signed First American Edition (signed "Jasper" on Title Page)
Like New in Mylar/Brodart cover

Jasper Fforde's The Eyre Affair, published in the U.S. in 2001 quickly became a cult classic. Part Mystery, part Science Fiction, The Eyre Affair is a funny alternate reality what if story. What if you could travel into and out of the words created by authors? What if Jane Eyre was kidnapped from the original manuscript? What if dodo birds never went extinct?

This first novel in a series of Thursday Next episodes created an interesting and hilarious world, comparable in ways to Douglas Adams in style, and quickly became one of my favorites.

This newly acquired copy is from our Private Library and is not for sale.

quotes about inspirational (page 1 of 130)

2009-12-08T03:03:00.000-06:00

quotes about inspirational (page 1 of 130): "Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.'
— Martin Luther King Jr."

Nice site, discusses books and has good lit related quotes.

The Book Seer

2009-12-08T02:59:00.000-06:00

The Book Seer

Enter title

Enter Author

Get suggested Reading

varied results

Brave New World by Aldous Huxley : chapter one

2009-12-08T02:42:00.000-06:00

Brave New World by Aldous Huxley : chapter one:

e-books be damned, there's literature out there for free on the net, you just gotta poke around!

"BRAVE NEW WORLD
by
Aldous Huxley
(1894-1963)

Chapter One

A SQUAT grey building of only thirty-four stories. Over the main entrance the words, CENTRAL LONDON HATCHERY AND CONDITIONING CENTRE, and, in a shield, the World State's motto, COMMUNITY, IDENTITY, STABILITY.

The enormous room on the ground floor faced towards the north. Cold for all the summer beyond the panes, for all the tropical heat of the room itself, a harsh thin light glared through the windows, hungrily seeking some draped lay figure, some pallid shape of academic goose-flesh, but finding only the glass and nickel and bleakly shining porcelain of a laboratory. Wintriness responded to wintriness. The overalls of the workers were white, their hands gloved with a pale corpse-coloured rubber. The light was frozen, dead, a ghost. Only from the yellow barrels of the microscopes did it borrow a certain rich and living substance, lying along the polished tubes like butter, streak after luscious streak in long recession down the work tables."

"And this," said the Director opening the door, "is the Fertilizing Room." "

The Modern Library | 100 Best | Novels

2009-12-08T02:26:00.000-06:00

The Modern Library | 100 Best | Novels

I remember when this list came out, nearly 10 years ago now. I read very little of the Board's list and quite a few of the Reader's List. That fact remains true a decade in books later.

Free Classic AudioBooks. Digital narration for the 21st Century

2009-12-08T02:13:00.001-06:00

Free Classic AudioBooks. Digital narration for the 21st Century: "More audiobooks on Page 2 and Page 3

The King James Bible

Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain

Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan
Treasure Island by R. L. Stevenson

Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll"

Now here's a great idea. Free public domain stories to listen to on your ipod or computer. This is going to be fun to play with.

Alice's Restaurant Cookbook by Alice May Brock

2009-11-17T01:31:00.003-06:00

Alice's Restaurant Cookbook by Alice May Brock 1969

First Edition Hardcover published by Random House.148 pages

Good Condition with shelfwear on the edges. Dust Jacket is in Fair condition. Includes paper record introduction by Arlo (remember Arlo?), still attached. Inscribed and bookplate by previous owner.

"You've heard the song, seen the movie - now eat her words!" - from the front jacket.

Alice's Restaurant Cookbook is a classic flashback to days when the music was good, the food was free to be itself, and cooking was not a celebrity event. Alice provides great cooking and life advice as well as humor and insight, as well as drawings and a bunch of old photos. This book is a treasure to read and own , even if you don't cook.

This book is from our private collection and not for sale. Copies are available out there at $35 and up.

Table of Contents:
1. You Can Get Anything you want... Etc.
2. In The Kitchen
3. You're the Cook
4. Equipment
5. Improvising and Making Do
6. What are You Going to Serve, Anyhow?
7. Impromptu vs. Planned Cooking
8. The Supply Cupboard
9. Herbs, Spices, And Seasonings
10. Foreign Cookery
11. About the Butcher
12. If You Worry About Your Weight
13. Convenience Foods
14. Comfort Foods
15. Wines and Liquors
16. What's Cooking
17. Garnishes and ecorations
18. Buffets: The Stand-up Dinner
19. How Much for How Many

Followed by 100 pages of Recipes

Farewell To Arms by Ernest Hemingway

2009-11-14T22:45:00.005-06:00

Farewell To Arms by Ernest Hemmingway 1979

Unstated Edition, PresumablyFirst, Unstated Date but appears to be 1979. Published by Franklin Library Copyrighted 1979 Franklin Mint

This beautiful edition of the masterful semi-autobiographical novel of WWI by Hemingway just begs to be read. This book is cloth bound with blind tooled leather spine and is adorned with gold lettering on the spine, gold dentelle on the spine, front, and back cover, and gold gilding on the head, foot, and fore-edges. It also features a silk ribbon bookmark, marbled endpapers, and stunning black and white ink wash illustrations by Bernard Fuchs.

The book is inscribed by previous owner, and appears to say "James: Enjoyed Love Mary" The book has definately been read at least once or twice, but is in Very Good condition. The corners are bumped and one corner has worn through the cloth, the edges have some very slight scuffing, but otherwise this book is in wonderful condition.

This book is for sale ($15), but not currently listed on any site (11/2009). We can create a private ebay listing for any interested parties. This book has potential to be included in our personal library and may be taken off market at any time.

The Lone Ranger Traps The Smugglers by Fran Striker

2009-11-13T12:09:00.004-06:00

The Lone Ranger Traps The Smugglers by Fran Striker 1941

Unstated Edition, Presumably First Edition Hardcover published by Grosset & Dunlap, 214 pages

Good condition showing edge-wear on the corners, slight soiling to its brown cover (missing original dust jacket), back end papers showing slight discoloration, I assume from the acid in the glue. The book shows a little bit of aging on the foot, head, and fore edges. Pages 82 to 87 have some soiling and damage from what looks to be a hand rolled cigarette being hurriedly crushed out between the pages. (The cigarette is no longer present, but the image of the teen boy trying not to get caught smoking in his bedroom is pretty vivid!)

While these old Lone Ranger pulps are not incredibly hard to find these days, it does provide a collector with a satisfying nostalgia to have one in your hand.

Here is a list of original Lone Ranger novels (from wikipedia):
• The Lone Ranger (1936)
• The Lone Ranger and the Mystery Ranch (1938)
• The Lone Ranger and the Gold Robbery (1939)
• The Lone Ranger and the Outlaw Stronghold (1939)
• The Lone Ranger and Tonto (1940)
• The Lone Ranger at the Haunted Gulch (1941)
• The Lone Ranger Traps the Smugglers (1941)
• The Lone Ranger Rides Again (1943)
• The Lone Ranger Rides North (1943)
• The Lone Ranger and the Silver Bullet (1948)
• The Lone Ranger on Powderhorn Trail (1949)
• The Lone Ranger in Wild Horse Canyon (1950)
• The Lone Ranger West of Maverick Pass (1951)
• The Lone Ranger on Gunsight Mesa (1952)
• The Lone Ranger and the Bitter Spring Feud (1953)
• The Lone Ranger and the Code of the West (1954)
• The Lone Ranger and Trouble on the Santa Fe (1955)
• The Lone Ranger on Red Butte Trail (1956)

This book is for sale ($10), but not currently listed on any site (11/2009). We can create a private ebay listing for any interested parties.

Mastering Witchcraft by Paul Huson

2009-11-12T01:32:00.000-06:00

Mastering Witchcraft: A Practical Guide for Witches, Warlocks, And Covens by Paul Huson 1970

First Edition Hardcover published by Putnam. 254 pages

Very Good condition w/ minor imperfections (red ink spot on inside front cover, small stain on pgs 31 and 35) Slight edge wear, but corners are still sharp. No Dust Jacket, front cover is embossed with a witches wheel of the year. A very nice edition of this book.

So I saw this book on ebay today with 2 sales above $150, so I felt I should pull the book off the shelf and give it a look. This book is not currently for sale, but from our private library. (of course nearly anything has its price!)

Paul Huson is an English born author who has written many books on the Occult, Magick, Tarot, and Paganism. This, his first book, is still in print today. The appeal, I think, is the quality of the 1970 edition. As I stated earlier, The all black hardcover is embossed on the front with a Witches Wheel of the Year, and also features the Title and Author printed in red on the spine.

There are many illustrations in the book, some hand drawn, giving it a "book of shadows" feel without playing up its kitsch.

Table of Contents:
Forward
Introduction
1 First Steps
2 Preliminary Preparations
3 Divination
4 Spells for Lovers
5 Countermagic and Protection
6 Vengeance and Attack
7 The Coven and How To Form One
Appendix 1 The Planetary Hours
Appendix 2 Glossary of Witch Words and Terms
Bibliography

define enviropunk

2009-10-28T14:22:00.001-05:00

enviropunk
fiction - pulp, noir, fantasy or sci fi style
in post industrial society, alt universe, or alt history
featuring change or difference in social order, customs, and/or mores where environmental issues, topics, and solutions are central
often, but not always featuring Utopian/ Dystopian settings

2009-10-28T00:48:00.000-05:00

enviro punk or enviropunk claimed 10/28/09
mike