What's the Name of That Book??? discussion
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What book were you happiest to find (for yourself or someone else)?
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I've only found a few books and can't even remember what they were ! That is also why I'm not much help. These days I read pretty much only for entertainment and go on to the next book right away.The other day I took a book out at the library that is the 2nd in a series. Only after I got home and looked on goodreads did I remember that I had already read it.
My memory is leaking away....
Super proud of finding Stone Junction for someone on here. One of the strangest book descriptions I've ever seen, I was so intrigued I had to track it down.
That looks like a good book, Sophie.I have not had good luck since finding Soulsmith; everything I look at is either something I have no idea on or someone has already made the suggestion I would have. (I agree with you, Jaye - my memory is leaking away!) But I keep at it. This group is like a great game of trivia, and I love it.
I'd have to say The Forespoken, because it had been unsolved for over a year. Its goodreads page had all of three shelvings at the time, so was also about as obscure as you could get.Of course, I can't take all credit. I only found it because of the public library's policy of never getting rid of anything voluntarily, ever. They just open new branches. They're up to thirteen now ^_^ .
That's a really good one, Lou. (And also, an awesome policy for a library - why can't they all do that? I know, I know, $$$, but still! There are at least two more books I am in search of that I could find easily if they were still in my old public library's collection.)
They do NOT generally replace destroyed or lost materials unless there is a demand for them tho, so the available older books are still limited. I think this is a bigger contributor to materials disappearing in any library than culling, to be honest.I DID exaggerate a little. They get rid of superfluous copies of bestsellers after the demand has died down, and magazines once they reach a certain age (this is very irritating when I'm looking for back issues of Science). I'm sure they get rid of other things sometimes, but as I've gotten books of limited public interest that were added to the catalog in the sixties I think it's fairly limited (sixties at a guess; I don't know precisely when they started using ink stamps over embossing. Could even be earlier).
Of course, university libraries are the REAL hoarders.
It's not money, it's space. I worked at a library once that never weeded anything and there were paperbacks stacked two-deep on shelves that were full to bursting. It was awful. I wish they DIDN'T have that policy.
Yes, space is mainly what I meant by $$$. As in money to buy enough real estate to house it all. Not feasible in the real world, I know.
Yeah, that particular library has been needing a new building badly for decades, but it's in a rich suburb, which ironically means nobody wants to pay for it.
Isn't that how it always goes? A library is a long term investment, but nobody ever wants to invest until they need it. (And when you need it, nothing else can ever really fill the gap.) I can't accuse too much; I went for a long stretch after college not really thinking about libraries at all and never needing them, but now that I am focused on reading again I am at mine a few times a week.
My favorite book to identify was the one about which the OP didn't remember much except a minor character with the first name Townsend. I've read one children's book with a character named that, and I guessed it and I was right! The Secret in Miranda's Closet by Sheila Greenwald The Secret In Miranda's Closet
I love the little things like that that lead you to a book. That book looks like an interesting take on kids' imaginary world, Pamela. I might have to track it down.
My favorite book I found was The Things With Wings. I read it as a young girl and the story was so whimsical I couldn't forget it. Took me a while to find it. I asked in a lot of places until I finally found it myself with a Google Image search (I remembered there were people with wings on the cover).The Things With Wings
Other books from my childhood I read, forgot the title and later found were:
No Condition is Permanent
The Green Book
Nowadays the two I can't find is a sci-fi short story I read in middle school and a contemporary romance I read in HS. But maybe some day :)
The Green Book was one I also forgot and remembered (while trying to help someone find something else on this group in fact!).I keep bumping posts and posting as I think of them. (Everything I have is found or possibly found - waiting on an interlibrary loan - except for two I have not yet posted. Someday indeed :)
My answer is J. Robert James' first novel, The Odd-Lot Boys And The Tree-Fort War.
Originally I bought it from the Scholastic Book club, via a catalogue distributed to us by our teacher in grammar school 38 years ago. It was one of those books I read and then had my mother read to me. I lost my copy of it during my move to Poland and vigorously searched for a nice copy for a long time until I found one and had it shipped to me - and promptly re-read it as a middle aged man. It wasn't the same experience, of course, but it was a good story undiminished by my maturity. Simple lesson about getting along with others and how nothing is impossible. This would be a useful lesson today for some mature readers too. I cannot more highly recommend it, and it is the jewel of my bookshelf if I am totally honest with myself.
And to my nephew Albert I leave the island what I won off Fatty Hagan in a poker game ...
Read it in German from a library and some 20 years later I wanted to read it again. Took me a long time of searching to remember the title (Google helped). Then another long wait for a reasonably priced edition, as I did not want to pay a lot for this OOP-book for it.
As it is now available as e-book, I can recommend it, but it is still rather short and a bit dated (cold-war). Would have liked to read a sequel, although I am not too much into funny books.
My fond memories of re-reading the book!
Both of those sound great, Waldo and Ingo. It does seem like the search to find the book after you 'find' it again is half the battle. I have a couple this group has found for me that I am still tracking down IRL so I can once again hold them in my own hot little hands.
The Mortal Instruments by Cassandra Clare. Three sets of three novels. Great YA read. Now a television series.
Always fun to help someone find something when you really enjoyed it yourself. That's how I was with Soulsmith.
What's the Name of That Book???
Books mentioned in this topic
And to My Nephew Albert I Leave the Island What I Won Off Fatty Hagan in a Poker Game... (other topics)The Odd-Lot Boys and the Tree Fort War (other topics)
The Secret in Miranda's Closet (other topics)
The Forespoken (other topics)
Stone Junction (other topics)
More...
The book I was most pleased to find so far was A Summer to Die. (I also remembered a character name in Skywater within a few minutes of typing the request, and I am pretty darned happy about that one too, but I could not remember anything about A Summer to Die that would have allowed me to find it myself.)
I have only actually solved two requests outright, and one of them was deleted before I could respond, but I'm pretty tickled to have helped someone find Soulsmith.
I have also found myself remembering a number of books I had forgotten about while trying to remember books people are asking for, which is a great side benefit of this group!
What books are you happiest to have found for yourself, for someone else's request, or just when someone else's request jogged your memory (or mentioned a book you didn't know you were looking for in a thread)?