Category Archives: Latest Finds

101 Holiday Gift Ideas: #59-64 Modern Author First Editions, Some Signed!

Book Reviews, Latest Finds, Rare Books, Sales

For serious book collectors, the closer a publication is to the author’s hand, the more valuable it is.  So a first edition, first printing is more valuable than the 90th edition.  Obviously an author’s signature is proof it was actually in his or her hand!  Even those of us who are not serious collectors though get a thrill  when an author we admire and read enthusiastically took the time to sign the book we are also holding.  It is a personal connection, and it is just special. 

We have signed copies and first editions through out the store, and one special shelf of the more collectable volumes.  Wouldn’t a signed copy by a beloved author make a great gift?  Come in and see what we have!

101 Holiday Gift Ideas: #54-58 More Vintage Natural History

Book Reviews, Latest Finds, Rare Books, Sales

Adding on to yesterday’s theme of beautiful natural history books…there is something about these illustrations that are just timeless.  There are several styles to choose from in this stack, and more on the shelves since I can never turn them down!  1934.  The color plates are soft and colorful, pastels I think, but I especially love the brown and white drawings that decorate each page.  This is a well read and inexpensive volume, but so fun to read through!  Another classic featured is the American Natural History book by W.T. Hornaday.  This book fell off the shelf and had a cracked hinge repaired with book tape, bringing the price down, but any one will love the detailed information and vintage 1926 drawings and photos.  Lastly we have a copy of Handbook of Nature-Study for Teachers and Parents by Anna Botsford Comstock published in 1922.  This 900 page volume has pages of “Teacher’s Stories” to be read, lesson plans, photos, you name it.  Wish I learned this much about birds in school!

101 Holiday Gift Ideas: #43-51 Love a Local History Book

Latest Finds, Sales

We now have nine of the ever popular Images of America series on the Owens Valley and Eastern Sierra.  From Bodie to Bishop to Manzanar, these cover the range!  If you haven’t seen them, they are simply organized collections of historic photos with carefully edited, paragraph captions for each photo.  They are perfect to pick up and thumb through, and a perfect way to get a feel for the historic flavor and special people that make up a town or region.  And did I mention they make a perfect gift?  We can always order other localities for you as well, we’d be happy to check availaibility!   

This may be the only time I put these on sale….

Authors Pam and Brendan Vaughan signing their Bishop books.

101 Gift Ideas: #37-42 Purely Adorable Junior Elf Books

Book Reviews, Latest Finds, Sales

Hurry, because these are selling quickly on-line!  We now have a basket of vintage Junior Elf Books, published by Rand McNally from the 1940’s through 1960s.  They are a small format 5″x6″ light weight hard cover with brightly colored illustrations on the cover and throughout.  They were not expensive children’s books when published, or now for that matter, more along the lines of The Little Golden Books – the kind of book a mom would purchase to keep her child busy on a shopping trip. 

It is hard to identify the tipping point for vintage childrens’ books; the point when they are adorably nostalgic versus embarrassingly outdated, but these little books have all of the charm required to qualify.  They would be a perfect multi-generational present, or could even be framed!

101 Holiday Gift Ideas: #29-36 Fishing for Compliments

Latest Finds, Sales

You know you have at least one fishing obsessed person on your gift list, why not consider a beautiful and informative fishing book to peruse when he or she can’t be on the water?  We have some really nice ones right now, and there are some great vintage titles too.  You can opt for the all inclusive series, the stunning Orvis Flyfishing Guide, a little Philosopher Fish, some excellent women writers discussing fishing, or many, many other choices.

As an added incentive, pick any of the featured books this month, and we’ll give you 10% off!  You can throw in some lures!

101 Gift Ideas: #21-28 Vintage Paperbacks

Latest Finds, Sales

Okay, I picked a random number of gift choices on this one, because there really are a lot to choose from!  These vintage paperbacks are inexpensive, but so much fun!  Of course many of the stories are enjoyable, from Tennessee Williams to classic detective novels like Sam Spade or Perry Mason, but it is definitely the covers that appeal so strongly. Vintage sci fi art is especially collectible, but we have great examples even many genres.  Anyone will love, love, love a paperback in the stocking or a basket full for an instant collection. 

Ask us if you don’t see these collectibles, some are tucked away in baskets and not on the general shelves.  But do come and look at them!

101 Gift Ideas: #16 Remembering a Local Hero

Latest Finds, Rare Books

Here in the Owens Valley, we’ve all seen the iconic January 1955 Sports Illustrated Cover photo of Jill Kinmont preparing for the Olympic Trials. It was reprinted many times as we mourned her passing this past year.   As such a beloved and respected member of our community, and the subject of biographical films and books, you may know her life story.  Less likely that you have  been able to read the interview, see the rest of the photo spread, or appreciate the world of sports for women (barely any!) in 1955. It is fascinating.

  I currently have one copy of this rare Sports Illustrated magazine which would make a wonderful Christmas gift.  First come, first served, so don’t wait!

Katherine Boo Wins National Book Award!

Book Reviews, Latest Finds

Our favorite “should-be-nearly-local” author Katherine Boo, author of behind the beautiful forevers, Life, Death and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity, just won the National Book Award yesterday for Nonfiction!  Ms. Boo is already a Pulitzer Prize winner, and this is another well deserved honor –  if a book about the harsh realities of picking garbage, burnings and beatings, and corruption can be described as beautifully written, this one is.  Don’t let the tough subject matter put you off if you have not read it yet, it truly leaves you in awe of the resilience, fortitude and yes, hope, humans can show in dire circumstances.  And again, the writing is amazing, you will care deeply about the characters and turn the pages as fast as any suspense thriller. 

We currently have three copies, come pick one up in honor of Ms. Boo’s award!

FYI, Katherine Boo is not local, may not even have been to the Owens Valley, but she does have family here who first brought the book to our attention and procured a stack of signed copies for East Side Books to sell, which we greatly appreciate!

Attention Trekkies! New Stock On the Shelves

Latest Finds

If you are a certified Trekkie, you will want to come see the new stock of Star Trek novels!  The pile includes very early adaptations by James Blish, and the Star Trek Log series by Alan Dean Foster, as well as novels by William Shatner and the myriad of other authors who wrote variations on the far off star galaxy theme…  Come in and see what we’ve picked up!  As always, you have to appreciate these sci fi novels for their covers if not the plot, some amazing artwork too.