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A Clean Well-Lighted Place to Read Good Books The Main Collection The Mystery Section Someone once said " A house without books is a home without a soul." When I was growing up there were always books and magzines around. My mother was an avid reader and my dad always read the local paper and the Wall Street Journal and Time Magazine. I grew up with the Hardy Boys and later Steinbeck and Hemingway (and the occasional Playboy - only for the articles of course). Our home now is always filled with books and my three lovely daughters have their own libraries whose contents seem to flucuate as often as their iPod song lists. I am a recently retired English teacher who taught from kindergarten to convicts for thirty years. I also worked part/full time at a wonderful independent bookstore ( A Clean Well Lighted Place for Books ). So as you can see I've always been surrounded by books. At first I got rid of my extra books by donating them or selling them in garage sales - then along came eBay. So you get the benefit of my over forty years of collecting. Our main library is mostly contemporary authors. I collect their first three books and most notable work. I also have a almost complete collection of Steinbeck, Hemingway and London. My wife loves mysteries so we have that section with Hammett, Gardner, and contemporay authors. All books are First edition / First printings and when available Signed. But the library has grown so large that the garage has also become a storage for the overflow - thus "Garagemonster." In an attempt to reduce my inventory I list 10-15 books every Sunday. So please stop by my little internet bookstore when you can, because "When I get a little money, I buy books; and if any is left, I buy food and clothes. "- Erasmus TERMS USED TO DESCRIBE BOOKS / DUST JACKETS : FINE: is a book although used is in "like new" condition suitable for gift giving. VERY GOOD: is a book that does show some signs of wear but nothing detrimental. GOOD: is a book that shows some defects but still collectable. FAIR: is a book that is well-worn, has some serious defects but readable. POOR: is a book I rarely sell. EX-LIBRARY and BOOKCLUB (BCE) and REMAINDERED books are always noted. ADDITIONAL TERMS USED IN DESCRIBING BOOKS: BOARDS: are the cloth or cardboard material of the front & back of book. BOOKPLATE: are ego stickers that should never have been invented. BUMPED: is the tattered or bent corners of the book or jacket. BROWNING or FOXING: is the rust / brown color pages of older books due to the oxidation of the old paper. CHIP: is the nicks of paper loss on dust jacket; usually around spine. COCKED: is the spine is slanted not straight and strong and tight. CREASED: is when the jacket or pages have been bent leaving a fold mark. DAMPSTAIN: is when a liquid (usually water) has left a mark. END PAPERS: are the inside paper used on front / back covers. Some can be highly decorative and can also change color with a different printing. FLATSIGNED: a term ostensibly coined by Stephen King for the signature of an author with no other marks ( date / inscription / etc ). FRONT FREE END PAPER ( FFEP ): is the first page where you often find the owner's bookplate. signature or inscription. FRONT / TOP / BOTTOM EDGE : are the outside page or jacket edges. LOOSE : is when the book has been well worn and spine is no longer tight. SUNNED : is when the book / jacket has been faded due to sunlight. Favorite Links Pacific Book Auction Gallery Antiquarian Booksellers Ken Lopez Bookseller Listings To protect bidder privacy, when the price or highest bid on an item reaches or exceeds a certain level, User IDs will be displayed as anonymous names. For auction items, a bold price means at least one bid has been received. Note: Anonymous names may appear more than once and may represent different bidders. Almost Always First / Firsts Item Start End Price Title High Bidder/Status 390113119205 Nov-01-09 Dec-01-09 08:14:07 $100.00 MRS. BRIDGE - Evan S. Connell - 1st/1st - SIGNED Available 390118661705 Nov-14-09 Dec-14-09 13:10:00 $9.99 ANGELS - Marco Bussagli Available 390118667289 Nov-14-09 Dec-14-09 13:25:49 $9.99 PRACTICAL HANDBOOK FOR THE BOYFRIEND - Huffman & Wolff Available 390118674883 Nov-14-09 Dec-14-09 13:44:34 $9.99 KIT'S STORY COLLECTION - Valerie Tripp Available 390118681011 Nov-14-09 Dec-14-09 14:01:00 $14.99 MARLEY & ME - John Grogan - Deluxe Edition with Leash Available 330377325789 Nov-14-09 Dec-14-09 14:27:51 $9.99 THE WHITE HOUSE COOK BOOK - Mrs. F. L. Gillette Available 390118697312 Nov-14-09 Dec-14-09 14:50:29 $5.99 AT THE CROSSING PLACES - Kevin Crossley-Holland Available 330377331665 Nov-14-09 Dec-14-09 14:56:42 $10.99 PLUM SPOOKY & PLUM LOVIN' - Janet Evanovich - FINE Available 330377333223 Nov-14-09 Dec-14-09 15:08:37 $8.99 ONCE UPON A QUINCEANERA - Julia Alvarez - FiNE Available 390119027119 Nov-15-09 Dec-15-09 10:55:32 $35.00 ALMANAC OF THE DEAD - Leslie Marmon Silko - SIGNED Available Go see all current items for sale by this member.

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