Library News

The Library's big news for June is the Summer Reading Program, which started on June 1 and runs until August 1 so you do still have time to start and make progress! The theme is "Oceans of Possibilities" and you can read more about it and register from the library's web site.

You can find out about these sorts of things in a slightly more timely manner from the Palo Alto City Library Blogs page. Or you can subscribe to them with an RSS reader.

You could find out about other things by subscribing to the Library's mailing list. Like us, they send one or two messages per month, more usually one.

There is also the Library's events calendar that has a lot besides when the Library is closed.

-Frank McConnell

 
Members' Early Sale This Month

This month is a Members' Early Sale in our Main Room which means some early openings on Saturday for FOPAL members.

At 8am, members can pick up tickets for early admission to the Main Room. Non-members can also join at this time. Expired memberships can also be renewed. Bringing your membership card can help us find you in our database but is not required.

At 9am, the Main Room opens to Life Members and Sponsors. At 10am, the Main Room opens to other Members.

At 11am, the Main Room opens to everyone (as usual, but the line will probably be shorter than usual).

The Bargain Room and Children's Room open at their usual times.

There's more info on our web site.

-Frank McConnell

 
Magazines

Hi FOPAL supporters, We wanted to let you know that Magazines is going to focus presentations at each monthly sale. This month the area of focus is National Geographic. Remember those days when countries and experiences were depicted in glossy magazines with in-depth descriptions driven by science and geography with a view to inform you? Well, we have a collection of old and new so if you're planning a family trip, wouldn't it be great to prepare with an issue that discuss the places you may be visiting and/or the flora and fauna of the area? Even if you're not traveling, you could learn about places you've always had an interest in or heard of but have yet to visit. Come check it out at the next sale.

There will also be standing "Collectibles" and "Other" arrays of magazines (ie, old Life, Fortune and other interesting historical issues). As your curator, I always find something of interest in these sections to read for great value pricing.

-Glen Sato

 
Home & Crafts

Hello, summer! School's out; time for arts and crafts, for kids and the whole family. Don't forget Father's Day, June 21st; we have some terrific books that Dad will surely like. Here's a sampling of our offerings for the coming lazy days:

Floral Arts brings us Roses: Inspiration for Practical Gifts, Crafts and Displays. Back by popular demand in Fabric Arts is Stitch & Bitch: The Knitter's Handbook by Debbie Stoller. Another gem, The Golden Thread: How Fabric Changed History. We feature Quilting the World Over, which presents unique quilts based on Tahitian, Japanese, African and other worldly methods. On the Beauty and Fashion shelf look for Art Deco Hair: Hairstyles from the 1920's & 1930's, plus a slew of fashion and costume design titles, from Victorian to the present. On the Home shelves there's a collection of home essays, including Simply at Home, The Perfectly Imperfect Home, and A Room of Her Own. In home maintenance you'll find One Year to an Organized Life and Cheryl Mendelson's Home Comforts: The Art and Science of Keeping House. For Dad and the kids try Treehouses by Peter Nelson. Planning a kitchen remodel? Don't miss all the kitchen ideas and styles. In regional and international design we have books ranging from Modern Retro to Cabin Style, and from Scandinavia to India. There's something for everyone to read and learn this summer!

eShelf photos can be found at <https://fopalbooks.com/crafts.html>.

-Virginia Perry

 
Antiques & Collections

This month, you'll find the weighty book, World Furniture: An Illustrated History, edited by Helena Hayward. We also have several books on glass, including New Glass: Stained Glass for the Age of Handmade Houses, and Contrasts: A Glass Primer by Vicki Halper. In the toy category, we received The Top: Universal Toy / Enduring Pastime by D. W. Gould. Another interesting item is Turned Chessmen: For Collectors, Players, and Woodworkers by Mike Darlow. Don't miss these and other titles for your collecting reference.

eShelf photo can be found at <https://fopalbooks.com/crafts.html>.

-Virginia Perry

 
Poetry

O wondrous June! our lives should be like thee,
With such calm grace fulfilling destiny.
First we will travel far away to Wales,
From whence the poet Dylan Thomas hails,
Then on to other poets getting raves,
Like the prolific writer Robert Graves,
Or read of Life envisioned by the girls,
And find the bits of wisdom in their pearls.

https://fopalbooks.com/poetry.html

-Mandy MacCalla

 
Children's Room

Ready for summer? Here it comes! Our Activity section is filled with summer entertainment for children and families, at home or "on the road." The shelves are overflowing with games for all levels, from travel-size classics to 4-ft. floor puzzles. We also have a large selection of paper-and-pencil puzzle books and maze collections, including some from Highlights. For younger children, there are many wooden toys in like-new condition, plus a Playmobil space set. For older kids you'll find boredom-busters in our cookbook, music, and coloring bins. If this were December, we'd say we have loads of "stocking stuffers"--little toys and trinkets that would be perfect to tuck into a summer travel bag or camp backpack. For learning and reviewing, you can look "near or far" with two microscope sets and a telescope, plus lots of flashcards and workbooks (including Beast Academy and math contest collections). Finally, just for fun, explore our shelves and tables packed with graphic novels featuring many popular series and singletons, all priced to sell.

Beginning Readers offers a record number of Mo Willems Elephant and Piggie books--paperbacks, hardbacks, and collections of three books in one. There are also many inexpensive sets of paperbacks for early readers to keep them learning all summer.

On the Giftable Hardbacks shelves, the award winners section is overflowing, as is the display shelf next to poetry, with folk and fairy tales. Look for a number of Pete the Cat titles on a shelf below the award winners.

Check out the Picture Books bins and table for Ladybird Books' classic collection of tales (23 small books); many Little Golden Books titles in good condition; Paw Patrol single story small hardbacks; Peanuts single story small hardbacks; single story books of tales from the Odyssey; and multiple copies of books like Ferdinand, Make Way for Ducklings, and Madeline.

Non-fiction offers several "collections" displayed on the table as you enter the section, along with fascinating individual volumes scattered on the various shelves. Browse the Non-fiction section and find a new interest!

In School-age Fiction it's Fantasy Jackpot Month. Our shelves are filled with Harry Potter and the Rick Riordan and Brandon Mull series. For fans of Erin Hunter's Warriors series, we have books from all the collections including two special Warriors gift books. Due to space constraints, we've had to reorganize our fantasy area, and you'll now find the Rick Riordan Presents series, authored by various writers, shelved against the far wall with general sci-fi and fantasy. In our classics area fans of author Enid Blyton will find two large boxed collections as well as many individual books. We have two beautifully illustrated copies of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. And check out our special read-aloud Little House on the Prairie.

 
Children's Vintage

June marks the beginning of summer with long days that provide plenty of time for reading! How about celebrating Juneteenth with one of our featured Black illustrators - John Steptoe, Jerry Pinkney or Donald Crewes - or settle back and enjoy a little something by Alice and Martin Provensen or Bill Peet. If illustrations aren't your thing, try some history. We have an entire shelf full of history books (We Are There, Landmark and others) that will teach you about the way the world was and perhaps how we got to where we are today. Or add to your Doctor Dolittle collection with some of the more obscure titles (Garden, Circus, In the Moon). And of course, our firmly established selection of vintage games and toys, including a vintage Viewmaster and reels, a couple of Fuzzy Willy magnetic faces and a very cute decorated tin, perfect to hold vintage what-nots! See shelf pictures at <https://fopalbooks.com/kids.html>.

-Chloe

 
Judaica

Browse the Judaica section for books on the Jewish religion and culture including editions of the Torah and other basic texts, Kabbalah, Jewish history, the Holocaust, memoirs, Israel, Jewish Women, the Jewish American Experience and other related subjects.

Special this month -

• Uncomfortable Conversations with a Jew
• Like Dreamers: The Story of the Israeli Paratroopers Who Reunited Jerusalem and Divided a Nation
• Israel, the embattled land: Jewish and Palestinian women talk about their lives
• Beyond Proportionality: Israel's Just War in Gaza
• When Boxing Was a Jewish Sport
• God Wears Lipstick: Kabbalah for Women
• Letters for Life: Guidance for Emotional Wellness from the Lubavitcher Rebbe
• Eminent Jews : Bernstein, Brooks, Friedan, Mailer
• The Jew Store: A Family Memoir

Most fiction with Jewish themes will be found in Modern Literature/Classics or Current Fiction. Books entirely in Hebrew are shelved in the European Languages section.

Shelf photos at https://fopalbooks.com/judaica.html

-Charlotte Epstein, Judaica Section Manager

 
Philosophy

As you probably know when you are looking at books at FOPAL we only have the books we sell as someone has donated them to us. Usually in Philosophy when we have large donations they are of philosophers, Aristotle or Dewey for example. However, this month we received something quite different, a large donation of books on many different philosophical topics, all in excellent condition. So my advice for June is to enjoy browsing, who knows what you might find.

-Nigel Jones

 
Humor

This month we have the two books that are considered to be the best of the New Yorker Magazine. In perfect condition we have The Complete New Yorker with eight DVDs and The Complete Cartoons of the New Yorker with two CDs. In contrast we have three books on comedians considered by many as the best ever, the Marx Brothers. And then in fiction we have three volumes of collected works by Wodehouse plus individual titles and almost all of David Sedaris.

-Nigel Jones

 
Computers

The computer shelves are stuffed this month. The AI/ML/NLP section is especially full with books relevant to current systems. There are interesting new-to-us works on the database shelf, the graphics shelf, and the little-known Game Programming area. Java, Python, Math and network tech sections are all full, come and browse your special interests.

-David Cortesi

 
Science Fiction and Fantasy

The Science Fiction and Fantasy shelves are packed this month, thanks to a donation of a massive collection. It will take several months to get through this flood. This month I'm featuring the Dragonlance series, Star Wars, Star Trek (the original series), and Star Trek (the New Generation). These are long runs with many titles I seldom see, so bring your want lists. The big series haven't chased all the other stuff away, there's still a good selection of recent and vintage general books too.

-Rich McAllister

 
Self Help

FEATURED-many 'Popular on Amazon' books: Hawaiian Rebirth; What's Your Problem?; It's Not You; Think Faster Talk Smarter; How to Listen, Hear and Validate; Better Small Talk; The Mind Illuminated; 12 Step Workbook of Overeaters Anonymous; The Book of Alchemy; US-Getting past You & me to build a more loving relationship; Chop Wood Carry Water-how to fall in love with the process of becoming great; The Art of Letting Go; Alchemy. PLUS 4 other shelves of 'Popular on Amazon=' books. Due to the large number of New Arrivals, I've already put some of them in the appropriate 'sub-section', especially Relationship, Addiction, Grief/loss and Inspiration, so look there if the subject interests you. Also, check out the large subsection on CREATIVITY. Most books are $2-3 dollars so it's worth taking home what catches your eye! Happy Browsing,

-Marnie

 
History

A deluge of new used books, especially in normally underrepresented areas! There are some good quality books on Latin America and Africa, and a whole shelf on Indian topics. For the more academically inclined, there is a good selection of historiography, including some from the library of Robert Conquest, late of Stanford. If the current political situation is getting you down, there are many volumes on US history that tell how we got through problems in the past.

-Lin McAllister

 
Mitchell Park Library Store

Just a reminder that we are open for business during all library hours. Our special display this month is TRAVEL just in time to help you with your vacation planning.

Happy traveling and we hope that our books add to your travel adventures.

-From all the Mitchell Park Volunteers

 
Collectibles

We have some of the hottest models that you have ever seen for sale cheap! That's Right! For only $5 to $8 you can get a '29 Ford Model A Roadster model, a LeBaron Chrysler model, a '32 Ford Sedan model plus many more!

-Henry Ford Junior Junior Junior Junior Jr.

 
Cameras

This month: 2 Pentax K-1000 for as little as $35 each, a beautiful polaroid camera that is too cheap (sorry inexpensive) to legally mention the price in an email, some Canon Powershots and more!

-Sir Lens-A-Lot

 
Bargain Room

The Bargain Room is stuffed to the gills, overloaded, bursting at the seams. Overflowing sections: Mystery, Children's, Hardcover Fiction, Computers, Self Help, Magazines, Travel, Fiction Trade Paperbacks, Vintage... Full Sections: DVDs, Essays, Education, Sociology, Sheet Music, Poetry, The West, Foreign Languages, Reference, Judaica, Sports, Art, Business, Sets, Science Fiction, Games, Music, CDs, Vinyl, Psychology...

-The Boogie Woogie Frugal Boy From Company B

 
Maps

Unfortunately we have no word from Mapman Crothers this month. He was last seen driving a snowcat into the Rockies. The good news? He had plenty of late 1970s era maps with him.

-Danny Torrance

 
Donations

We accept donations on Monday through Friday from 3-5 pm in the Main Room, and on Saturday with extended hours from 1-5 pm. But we close to donations in the week before the sale so that we can prepare the Main Room for the sale, which means that we are closed for donations from Sunday June 7 through Sunday June 14. Please hold your donations until Monday June 15.

Please read our donation guidelines before you bring materials to us. Also look at that page if you need to bring us a donation larger than six boxes or outside our usual donation times, it has information on scheduling appointments and requesting a pickup.

In addition to books, vinyl, DVDs, CDs, toys, etc. We now accept the following types of donations:

• Cameras
• Tools
• Watches
• Clocks
• Typewriters

See our full list of accepted donations at fopal.org/donate.

 
Suggestions?

We're always eager to hear your suggestions for ways to improve our book sale. Please email us at suggestions@friendspaloaltolib.org.