We Want Your Used Books!

Yesterday the donations bin re-opened its big mouth! Think of it as the Friends of Reston Regional Library helping you with Spring Cleaning. With all this rain continuing through the weekend, you won't be going to soccer or baseball games. Instead, harvest your books and make shelf space at home! Then next week sometime when you're out anyway, drop them in the donation bin in the lobby. You can get a tax receipt from the circulation desk if you'd like one. (It is a good idea to count how many paperbacks and how many hardbacks you have BEFORE you put them into the bin).

Here are our donation guidelines:

We are happy to accept

• Up to two boxes of books per household per day
• DVDs, CDs, Books-on-tape/disc
• Encyclopedias published within the last 10 years or before 1970
• Only current magazines (last three months)
  The exceptions are:
  Any date for Architectural Digest, andSmithsonian
  Any date for food and recipe periodicals (Gourmet, Food & Wine, Martha Stewart,Southern Living, etc.)
  No National Geographic magazines although we will accept maps pulled from them
• Computer books published within last five years
• Textbooks published within last 10 years
• No videos except: Travel, Educational, Sets.

We no longer accept phonograph records.

All contributions are tax deductible to the extent allowed by law.

Your donations make the ultimate recycling system work -- so bring 'em in! 

THANK YOU!

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A Glimpse of the Future

Boatbuilding: A Complete Handbook of Wooden Boat Construction is a classic book for boat building enthusiasts. This copy looks unused, although the DJ shows a little shelf wear. It was published in 1980 and is one of many that Howard I. Chapelle published over the years of his life. It's $18.50 at Friends1.

Die Fledermaus by Johann Strauss II, as performed by the Philharmonia Orchestra and Chorus, directed by Herbert von Karajan with performances by Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, Nicolai Gedda 

and Rita Streich. Recorded in 1955, and digitally remastered for this CD format. It's $17 at Friends1. The slipcase shows a little wear, but otherwise fine. This is one of the series "Great Performances of the Century."

Mickey Mouse: My Life in Pictures is a 1997 pictorial autobiography of Mickey Mouse. This copy is a First Edition, and appears to not have been used. It is $75 at Friends1. It is the perfect gift for a collector.

These three books represent the quality of the books we will offer in less than three weeks at the Semi-Annual Used Book Sale. The rare and wonderful books of the Specials Room are the ones you really need to come on Friends Night to see.  Once you've joined us for Thursday night, it will be difficult to resist returning each day as we restock regularly, right up to the very end. To join us on Friends Night, you will need to have a current membership. If yours has lapsed, or you'd like to purchase one for the first time, please follow the 4th link down on the sidebar, or e-mail us!

SPRING 2009 SEMI-ANNUAL USED BOOK SALE

FRIENDS NIGHT - THURSDAY, APRIL 23, 6-8:30 P.M.

GENERAL PUBLIC

Friday, April 24, 10-5; Saturday April 25, 10-4:30;

 Sunday April 26, 12-3:30

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You Want Proof?

One of the categories of books that the Friends of Reston Regional Library offers at our Semi-Annual Used Book Sale is one called "Proofs". Also known as "Advanced Reader Copies" or "Advance Uncopyedited Manuscripts", these are books that are/were on their way to final publication. These Proofs or ARCS are sent out to various individuals and organizations for review or proofing. The value varies. For example, if you had received a proof of the first Harry Potter book, a collector would pay you a great deal of money for it. It's not quite having the original manuscript, but it is something unique and thus valuable. However, the vast majority of proofs are do not become best-sellers so the value is in the eye of the beholder. Many have a different cover that what ends up being published and some look like plain wrappers.

We have a number of proofs for the sale, and this is just a sample. Any of these is available by e-mailing us and there will be many more.

Change in the Weather is Mark McEwen's memoir about what happened to him surrounding the stroke he suffered, and how he fought his way back to health. With a forward by Bill Cosby. The actual book was published May 2008. This is an average size trade paperback.

Warren Buffett and the Interpretation of Financial Statements is by his former daughter in law, Mary Buffett, and David Clark. Together they captured Buffett's approach to understanding a company through it's financial statements which, if done well, should point investors to the companies 

worth putting money into. Buffett is the guru of investment and many people follow his methods. The published book came out in October 2008 and gets good reviews from Amazon customers, even in the wake of the economic meltdown. This is a small sized proof.

Also from October 2008 is the book, Billy, by Bill McKay & Ken Abraham. This is the biography of Billy Graham, the famous evangelist. The published book is available only in hardcover at this time. This is a classic example of a 'proof' -- it is spiral bound like a thesis rather than a completed book. The book's publication was timed to correspond with the movie, Billy: The Early Years that came out at the same time. This proof is 8.5 x 11 in this format.

Another large format proof is Carrie Fisher's memoir, Wishful Drinking. The hardcover was 

published in December 2008, so again, this is timely. This one is already priced, at $2. An example of proofs we have on hand includes:

Non-Fiction:

Earvin "Magic" Johnson, 32 Ways to Be a Champion In Business

John C. Bogle, Enough: The True Measures of Money, Business, and Life

Paul Auster, Hand to Mouth

Joyce Hoffman, On Their Own: Women Journalists and the American Experience in Vietnam

John Zogby, The Way We'll Be

Fiction:

Frank Beddor, The Looking Glass Wars

Bruce Olds, Raising Holy Hell

Julia Stuart, The Matchmaker of Perigord

Peter S. Beagle, The Unicorn Sonata

All these and more will be available at the Spring Semi-Annual Used Book Sale. Don't miss it!

SPRING 2009 SEMI-ANNUAL USED BOOK SALE

FRIENDS NIGHT - THURSDAY, APRIL 23, 6-8:30 P.M.

GENERAL PUBLIC

Friday, April 24, 10-5; Saturday April 25, 10-4:30;

 Sunday April 26, 12-3:30

/kw

C Sharp Is Not Just for Music

What the heck is C#? Other than a key in which one can play an instrument or sing, it is a programming language that Microsoft developed in order to work with the .NET applications. More on this at Wikipedia. As is often the case in our high-tech Reston corridor, we have a few books to offer that can help you tap into this language.

Essential C# 2.0 is part of the Microsoft.net Development Series and gets very good reviews from developers. It promises to cover the following:

• C# primitive data types, value types, reference types, type conversions, and arrays
  
• Operators and control flow, loops, conditional logic, and sequential programming
  
• Methods, parameters, exception handling, and structured programming
  
• Classes, inheritance, structures, interfaces, and object-oriented programming
  
• Well-formed types, operator overloading, namespaces, and garbage collection
  
• Generics, collections, and iterators
  
  
• Reflection, attributes, and declarative programming
  
• Threading, synchronization, and multi-threaded patterns
  
• Interoperability and unsafe code
  
• The Common Language Infrastructure that underlies C#

It's an unused paperback, appears to be brand new, $28 at RestonFriends1.

Design Patterns in C# is also available, also brand new, for $25. It is hard-back. It purports to be the "Gang of Four" application for C#. If that makes sense to you, and you are learning to write C# code, you probably want this book! Go to RestonFriends1 to see more.

Mastering C# Database Programming is also available, for $28 at RestonFriends1. Again, this gets high review marks from programmers and developers.

NOTE: If you are a current Friends member, e-mail us if you want a special price to purchase all three!

One of the common complaints about computer books and texts is that they're obsolete by the time they're published, and REALLY OLD by the time they reach a used book sale. We can't do anything about the publishing, but we can tell you that we have very high standards for what we offer in the area of computer books. Our donation guidelines prohibit accepting any computer text older than 5 years. So what you see on our table is about as current as you can get at a full-price bookstore. The big difference is that ours are A LOT cheaper. The vast majority of the software and hardware books we offer at the sale are under $5 each. Considering that the above books are $60 each retail, you can see that it is worth coming to the Spring Semi-Annual Used Book Sale!

SPRING 2009 SEMI-ANNUAL USED BOOK SALE

FRIENDS NIGHT - THURSDAY, APRIL 23, 6-8:30 P.M.

GENERAL PUBLIC

Friday, April 24, 10-5; Saturday April 25, 10-4:30;

 Sunday April 26, 12-3:30

/kw

Lighthouses and Packaging

Keepers of the Sea by Fred J. Maroon and Edward L. Beach is a book about the Trinity House yachts and tenders. Trinity House is the General Lighthouse Authority for much of Great Britain. This book showcases the people and vessels employed to further its aims. This is a deluxe edition, without the slipcase. It is signed by the authors. It is like new except for slight shelfwear on the front cover and a small scrape on the spine. It is $15 at Amazon1.

For a young graphic art student or professional, this book, Packaging Graphics and Design by Renee Phillips could be a most welcome holiday gift. Full of advice and instruction, this copy is as new -- apparently never read. It is available at our Amazon1 storefront for $19.50.

Remember a couple of things for your holiday shopping:

• Current Friends can get any of the books we display at Amazon1 or Amazon2 without paying shipping.
• You can become a current friend by becoming a member. Just e-mail us to find out how.
• The Holiday mini-sale begins in the New Books area of the Reston Regional Library on 3 December during regular library hours.
• All proceeds of these sales are used to support Reston Regional Library programs in particular, and Fairfax County Public Library programs in general.
• All books offered are donations to the library that were not needed for the collection.

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NO TURKEYS HERE!

That's right! If you come to the Friends of Reston Regional Library's Holiday Mini-Sale, you'll find super bargains and wonderful gift books -- but no turkeys! The books we save for the holiday sale are the 'jewels' of those that come in through the donation bin. Our elves work diligently with an eye for quality and giftability. So don't miss it -- December 3-8 in the New Books area at Reston Regional Library.

While you wait for the Holiday Sale to kick off, visit our Amazon1 site for these super books.

Americans is a series of photographs by Robert Frank. He took them while traveling across the country in 1955-56. The forward is by Jack Kerouac. Each of the photos stands alone as a testament to the time and place, but they also serve as a glimpse of the future. It is fun to look at them and see where we are today. Are we better or worse off for having lost some of the vignettes captured by Frank? This copy is $70 at Amazon1. It appears never to have been used. The dust jacket is perfect, although corner-clipped.

The mystery collector on your holiday list will be thrilled to receive this copy of Ursula Le Guin's The Left Hand of Darkness. A classic early science fiction winner of both the Nebula and Hugo awards; it appears never to have been read. There is slight soiling on the dust jacket, but it is now protected by mylar.  $70 at Amazon1.  A plot synopsis is on Wikipedia.

Current Friends of Reston Regional Library can e-mail us to purchase any of the books on our Amazon site, thus saving postage.

/kw

Holiday Hats, Everyone!

Time to put on your holiday hat, grab your holiday wish list, and think "SAVE MONEY" and "BUY GIFTS".  

In these times of economic stress you may be wondering how you'll be able to give gifts. The Friends of Reston Regional Library have an easy solution -- come to our Holiday Mini-Sale! We have been harvesting special books, gift books, holiday themed books, and generally books of a 'holiday gift giving quality' for months. Now YOU get the payoff!

In the New Books Area of the library, during regular library hours, December 3-8.

Note:  There will be a limit on the number of books per person in the first four hours of the sale. This is to enable everyone an opportunity to shop rather than one or two people cleaning us out! Please be gracious to our other patrons.

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Listen Up!

In these days of economic uncertainty, you need every bit of advice you can get! So strap on one of these audiobooks for your commute and listen up!

Grow Your Money gets high marks from reviewers, both ordinary people and those who claim to know something about finance. If you want a "back to basics" treatment or a gift for a novice, this is the book to get. Young college students will really benefit from this as they prepare to face a financial world that is a whole lot scarier than the one they grew up in. It's $16 on our Amazon1 site. It is unabridged.

Buffettology is read by Mary Buffett (former daughter-in-law to Warren). She is also the author of this compilation of information about how Warren invests. Available on our Amazon1 site for $14. It is abridged.  This book also gets good reviews, even in the abridged version. Ahh...if we all could only be as savvy as Warren, right?

Keep watching next week for more finance/investing books on CD to be featured here. Or go straight to our Amazon1 site to see what's there before they sell!

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Without Electricity

In the midst of summer storms when the electricity is out, we often wonder what we would do if we had to go back to the pre-computer days. The blogger's husband has been known to pull out a slide rule that belonged to his father in order to show the children that it IS possible to calculate without a computer! Some skills are too important for our society to lose.

Long before personal computers, laptops and notebooks, engineers depended on a slide rule to help them calculate accurately. This text, from 1962, is a primer by Robert Saffold and Ann Smalley that will assist any budding engineer in understanding how the slide rule works and its applications in science, engineering, business and technology. The Slide Rule shows very little sign of having been used. It is clean and tight. There are small tears on the dust jacket and some shelf wear along the bottom. It has been price clipped. Get it for $30 at our Amazon1 site.

Current Friends can contact us directly to get this book without paying shipping.

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Holocaust Literature and Moshe Dayan

Elie Wiesel miraculously survived the Nazi death camps.  For ten years he was silent about his experience.  Finally, when he did write, no one wanted to read it. His 'overnight' success took twenty years, from 1960 and a book no one was interested in to 2006, when Oprah chose Night for her book club. Now high school students throughout the United States read this and try to understand so that the horror of the Holocaust can never happen again. This book encompasses his entire trilogy, Night, Dawn, and The Accident.  This copy appears to be unread. It is the 2004 printing, with a very nice dust jacket.  It is $45 on our Amazon1 site.

The second featured book (no photo, sorry!) is Moshe Dayan: Story of My Life, An Autobiography. Dayan was one of the first founders/leaders of modern day Israel, giving those who survived the horror of Europe a place to be healed and worth fighting for.  He was a controversial figure, but his influence on Israel is undeniable. His military tactics are worth studying.  This copy is signed.  It is $150 on our Amazon1 Site.

Current Friends of Reston Regional Library can purchase any book on our Amazon1 or Amazon2 sites, free of shipping, by e-mailing us.  By the way, these sites are worth visiting and trolling.  The blog can feature only a few of the books that are there -- and there are some truly unique offerings!  If you're looking for the holiday book that will stand out from the crowd of gifts, you'll have a great opportunity to find it on one of our Amazon storefront sites!

/kw

Rocky Mountain High

This book is rare and beautiful.  Shiro Shirohata is a veteran climber and world-class photographer.  His photos of mountains all over the world have inspired and taught.  Now you can have a first edition of his portrait of the Canadian Rockies for $52 by visiting our Amazon1 website.  Or, you can e-mail us at RestonFriendsPR@gmail.com if you are a current Friend of Reston Regional Library and save the shipping.

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Mystery Abounds

The Dain Curse by Dashiell Hammett was first published in 1929.  This book says is is a Black Widow Thriller First Edition Stated.  It is hardcover. The book is clean and tight. The Dust Jacket has some tears but is now mylar-protected.  For a Dashiell Hammett fan or mystery buff, this is a great holiday gift!  You can purchase it through our website, Amazon1, or if you're a current Friend of Reston Regional Library, e-mail us and we'll save you the shipping. Reach us at RestonFriendsPR@gmail.com.  Price: $100

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Back in Time

In 1976, when this blogger was a young high school student, several "tall ships" visited Washington, D.C. for a short port of call before they headed to New York for the Bicentennial Celebration.  On our way to Maryland for an appointment, our family car got stuck about 3 cars back from the Wilson bridge as it opened to let the ship pass.  That day, everyone on the beltway within viewing range got out of their cars and stood absolutely enraptured at the sight of the Christian Radich of Norway majestically proceeding up the Potomac.  For once, everyone on the shores rejoiced at the inconvenience of the drawbridge opening as we shared something special and almost magical.

This book, Tall Ships, captures the magic and beauty of these tall ships.  The photographs and text are enlightening, but more than that, they draw the reader into this often challenging world of pitting sail against the elements of nature.  This book is still shrink-wrapped and available for $16 at Amazon1.

This book's title is thus: A description of Virginia House in Henrico County, near Richmond, Virginia,: The home of Mr. & Mrs. Alexander Wilbourne Weddell : together with an account ... the exterior and the surrounding gardens.  Virginia House is administered by the Virginia Historical Society.  It was originally part of a building in England, the origins of which dated back to 1109.  It was the site of historical events in the mid-1600's and at one point was the site of a visit of Elizabeth I.  By the 1920's though, the house was up for a demolition sale.  The Weddells bought it and part of it rebuilt in Richmond.  Today the house and gardens are open for tours.  The book is available for $150 at Amazon1.

Current Friends of Reston Regional Library may purchase books featured in this blog directly.  Please contact us at RestonFriendsPR@gmail.com to save shipping costs.

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Szyk and Smoke

Arthur Szyk was an artist whose artwork can truly be said to have influenced history.  Born in Poland in 1894, he served Poland honorably during World War One.  Between the wars he was quite prolific and well-sought after as an illustator.  One of his most famous illustrations is "The Four Freedoms" that he presented to the U.S.  It is still in the Library of Congress.  Seeing the handwriting on the wall, Syzk moved to London in 1937 and worked tirelessly to aid in the war effort against Nazi tyranny.  He eventually moved to the U.S.  and worked here until he died in 1951.

This volume is from an exhibition put on by the Holocaust Museum in 2002.  It is rare and full of colorful photographs of his work.  Being able to study the paintings at length using this volume is a great asset for an admirer of Szyk's style because of the sheer volume of detail contained therein. For someone who collects Szyk's art or art of this period, this would be a truly thoughtful gift.  $26 at our Amazon1 Storefront.

It is unusual to find a book that is a collectible about collectibles.  This one, Rare Smoke, is number 16 of a run of 50, and is signed by the author.  This first edition had a total run of 2500 books, making it quite rare now.  It appears not to have been used.  It is a wonderful gift for a pipe collector. $75 at our Amazon1 website.

As always, current Friends can get either or both of these books, saving on shipping, by contacting us at RestonFriendspr@gmail.com  Anyone else can visit our Amazon1 site by clicking the sidebar.

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Self-Improvement Is Affordable

We often receive donations of "The Teaching Company" courses which encompass a wide variety of subjects. These courses are extremely expensive at full retail but a bargain if you purchase them through the Friends of Reston Regional Library.

Chaos, taught by Professor Steven Strognatz, is a series of 24 lectures on 4 DVD's.  It thoroughly explores this fascinating field of study, from the history of the theory to the modern applications in science and philosophy. From the butterfly's wing to the way waves break on shores, chaos theory gives scientists, philosophers, and other thinkers a glimpse into the complexity of the interrelationships in our physical world. The full retail on this series is $245.  Our price on our Amazon1 storefront (top of the column) is $60.

Remember, current Friends of the Library can contact us to purchase these books directly, saving on shipping, by e-mailing us at RestonFriendsPR@gmail.com

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A Best Seller Opportunity

Get it while it's available!  This book is on several best-seller lists right now.  It was Stieg Larsson's debut thriller and first swept Europe and now the U.S.  Unfortunately, Larsson died not long after completing this book (and another yet to be published in the US).

See what the hype is about.  This is an abridged audiobook on CDs.  We are selling it for $14.75 at our Amazon RestonFriends2 site.  If you look to the right of this post, the second entry on the sidebar is Amazon RestonFriends2.  Yes, we have added a second Amazon storefront.  We did this for many reasons -- but mostly to share the work.

If you are a current Friend of Reston Regional Library, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo can be yours without shipping!  E-mail us at RestonFriendsPR@gmail.com

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Eternal Perspective

The late Pope John Paul II was one of the most beloved figures of our time.  He was the first Polish pope, and led the church from 1978-2005.  He was an interesting man, with a talent for languages, a dedication to physical fitness, and a passion for leading the Church.  He survived two assassination attempts.  The most famous one, that almost killed him, was an opportunity for him to model forgiveness to his assailant.  He was also a poet, and this very rare book, is a record of some of his poetry.  It is available at our Amazon Site at $50.

There are some ancient texts that underlie Western philosophy and thought and are important to understand if one wants to understand the foundations of our culture.  One of those books is the Bible, and some of the books of the Bible are particularly illuminating.  This is one of them, the Book of Job, from Easton Press.  It is a beautifully illustrated and bound copy.   In it, God allows Satan to play havoc with Job's life, stripping him of everything that is important on earth including family, wealth, and his health.  Because God knows Job's heart, He stands firm telling Satan that Job will not reject God.  As things worsen, Job's friends urge him to question everything he believes to be true about God.  And as Job cries out to God in his sorrow, some of the most beautiful dialogue between God and man occurs, complex and moving.  If you're not familiar with the story, I won't spoil the ending.   Just go to our Amazon site and get the book!  It is $48.

If you want to get either of these books locally and save shipping, and you're a current Friends member, e-mail us at restonfriendspr@gmail.com

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Gone Fishin'

For the fly fisherman in your life. These three books are the perfect holiday gift.   Whether they'll ever get to Yellowstone National Park themself, this book will inspire them to refit their rod and tackle box and take on some fish wherever they are!

Gorgeous photos, secret hot spots, and great inside information for the true enthusiast.  All three are written by Charles E. Brooks, a legend among Yellowstone fly fisherman.

They are on our Reston Friends Amazon storefront site -- just click on the top of the sidebar to the right.

Fishing Yellowstone Waters $38

The Living River $35

The Henry's Fork  $25

Or save the postage and e-mail us at RestonFriendsPr@gmail.com if you're a current Friend!

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The "Wright" Stuff

What a cool book!  Just posted on our Amazon storefront yesterday, this pop-up book of Frank Lloyd Wright designs just begs for a home under your Christmas tree!  It is $18.50 through our site.

If you're interested in purchasing, click on the link to the right to our Amazon storefront and go from there.  If you are a CURRENT local Friends member and you want to save shipping, contact us via our e-mail: RestonFriendsPr@gmail.com

Photos by JK

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Drum Roll, Please

Finally, the Friends of the Reston Regional Library Used Book Sale is here!  Tomorrow, THURSDAY NIGHT, those of you who are members of the Friends will be able to attend Friends Night and shop to your heart's content!  If your membership has lapsed, or if you don't have one, you'll be able to remedy that on the spot.

We start at 6p.m. and go until 8:30 p.m.  We take cash and checks.  There is an ATM machine at the library, but you know ATM machines...better to be prepared!

At the library, you'll be able to see in person, and purchase on the spot, any of the books we've featured on our blog, and many, many more.  I worked setting up the Specials Room yesterday and believe me, these have just been the tip of the proverbial iceberg.  There are 2 1/2 shelves of cookbooks, a whole section of art books, 5 shelves of history, 4-5 shelves of literature, some very cool car books, numerous entertainment/film books . . . you get the picture!

Don't miss this event!  And come again on Friday, 10-5, Saturday, 10-4:30, and Sunday, noon-3:30!

/kw