Annual Save the Children Book Sale- The Haul
The Save the Children charity book sale is one of my favourite bookish events of the year. It's on right now at UWA, in the undercroft area of Winthrop Hall, and let me tell you that this is one sale not to be missed!
It begins with a line that snakes around the back of the building. If you've got a great friend to chat with, the time passes like nothing, but bring an umbrella, because part of the wait will be out of the shelter of the veranda. There is a Scout's group peddling sausage sizzle to those of you in line. People walk past with boxes of books, trolleys even. An older gentleman saunters past with a stack of dictionaries. Each is bigger than my head. The one on the bottom is Russian. Some has a Gabriel Garcia Marquez, someone else a Carlos Ruiz Zafon. You get excited. Clearly there are good books to be had within.
When you make it within sight of the doors, there is a pile of boxes. You take one, knowing you will need it. There doesn't even appear to be much room to move inside, but they are staggering entrances so that no one gets trampled. Hipsters and school children are everywhere. Little kids run about amusing themselves. You chat with your friend, then you make it to the front, and are let loose into Valhalla.
No really, you are let loose.
You've only brought one hundred dollars, thinking this will curb your mania somewhat, but there are so many titles you've been thinking about reading, ones you've been told you'll love and even a few that you just like the look of.
Reading in the Moonlight by Brenda Walker
Last Summer by Kylie Ladd
The Year of the Flood by Margaret Atwood
The Enchantress of Florence by Salman Rushdie
The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
The Virgin Blue by Tracy Chevalier
When God was a Rabbit by Sarah Winman
The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry
The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbach
Negotiating with the Dead by Margaret Atwood
The Rules of Civility by Amor Towles
The Happiness Show by Catherine Deveney
Alys, Always by Harriet Lane
Author, Author by David Lodge
The Secret Lives of Dresses by Erin McKean
Transition by Iain Banks
Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
The Story of a Marriage by Andrew Sean Greer
Pattern Recognition by William Gibson
The Outcast by Sadie Jones
All these, a feel good bargain for a fantastic cause. And then you leave the warmth and hubbub of the sale to wait in the night for your friend, and this is your view.
It begins with a line that snakes around the back of the building. If you've got a great friend to chat with, the time passes like nothing, but bring an umbrella, because part of the wait will be out of the shelter of the veranda. There is a Scout's group peddling sausage sizzle to those of you in line. People walk past with boxes of books, trolleys even. An older gentleman saunters past with a stack of dictionaries. Each is bigger than my head. The one on the bottom is Russian. Some has a Gabriel Garcia Marquez, someone else a Carlos Ruiz Zafon. You get excited. Clearly there are good books to be had within.
When you make it within sight of the doors, there is a pile of boxes. You take one, knowing you will need it. There doesn't even appear to be much room to move inside, but they are staggering entrances so that no one gets trampled. Hipsters and school children are everywhere. Little kids run about amusing themselves. You chat with your friend, then you make it to the front, and are let loose into Valhalla.
No really, you are let loose.
Reading in the Moonlight by Brenda Walker
Last Summer by Kylie Ladd
The Year of the Flood by Margaret Atwood
The Enchantress of Florence by Salman Rushdie
The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
The Virgin Blue by Tracy Chevalier
When God was a Rabbit by Sarah Winman
The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry
The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbach
Negotiating with the Dead by Margaret Atwood
The Rules of Civility by Amor Towles
The Happiness Show by Catherine Deveney
Alys, Always by Harriet Lane
The Secret Lives of Dresses by Erin McKean
Transition by Iain Banks
Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
The Story of a Marriage by Andrew Sean Greer
Pattern Recognition by William Gibson
The Outcast by Sadie Jones
All these, a feel good bargain for a fantastic cause. And then you leave the warmth and hubbub of the sale to wait in the night for your friend, and this is your view.
