For the love of used books

I’m a bookworm, and I’m thrifty, so it’s no surprise I’m a big fan of used books. The Really Good, Really Big, Really Cheap Book Sale occurs annually here in Greenville, SC, and this past weekend I scooped up more than my fair share of reading material (but hey, it was only $10 to fill up a giant shopping bag, so yeah...that’s my excuse). This outstanding event is put on my the Greenville Literacy Association, a non profit organization that collects all kinds of used book donations, then hosts this enormous sale each summer to raise money to help increase literacy levels here in the Upstate.

This year, I walked into the book sale with my tote bag as I have done the last 4 summers, and promised to limit myself to 5 books this year, but since it was the last day of the sale, it was only $10 for as many books as you could fit into a grocery bag, so I didn’t hold back. I picked up a stack of new novels (full list is below), art books, tourism booklets, and even a few vintage nature books I’m planning to use for some collage type of stuff in the future. All in all, a pretty good loot!

- The Activist's Daughter by Ellyn Bache

- 700 Years of Dutch Cartography

- Blue and Other Colors by D. Paul Reynolds

- Halfway House by Katherine Noel 

- What Was Lost by Catherine O'Flynn

- Trunk, a Love Story by Michael Perry

- The Opposite of Me by Sarah Pekkanen

- The Book Shop by Penelope Fitzgerald

- My New American Life by Francine Prose

- Paper is Part of the Picture

- Apples of Gold (compiled by) Jo Petter

- This is Not Chick Lit - Original Stories by America's Best Women Writers

- The Dove in Bathurst Station by Patricia Westerhof

- The Forrest & The Sea - from LIFE Nature Library

Photos Are Ideas

As much as I enjoyed writing Celia on the Run, I have to admit I had just as much fun putting together the photo album inspired by the book. If you haven't taken a peek yet, the album can be found here http://celiaontherun.com/roadtrip/ The majority of those photos are ones I took at some time or another, long before I ever wrote the novel. Many photos are from previous travels, some were taken just around the corner, but somehow they all worked together perfectly to give a pictorial telling of Nick and Celia's cross country journey. The first photo in the Celia on the Run photo album was taken back in 2003 in Arizona when I was with my parents on what turned out to be our last family vacation together. I remember snapping the photo from the backseat of the rental car, never dreaming that particular photo would become part of the inspiration for my first published novel. I just love to take pictures, anywhere, everywhere, and I suppose I'm now realizing that a lot of the ideas I get for art and writing come from my own photos, even if years go by in between the time the picture was snapped and when it becomes part of something more. Inspiration takes time!

Recently, my husband and I did a little aimless driving for fun, and as always, I took my camera and had a great time shooting all the random things we came across. Who knows, maybe these images will inspire another book years down the road? You just never know! These recent photos are of Gilreath's Mill, a rundown, rusty, gem-of-a-find in the middle of the woods near Taylors, South Carolina. Check back here in ten years to see if I ever incorporated this decrepit non-landmark into a work of fiction!

My Top Ten

It's always exciting to hear someone out there enjoyed reading Celia on the Run at the 5 out of 5 star level! A big thank you to Taeesha from a blog called A Diary of a Book Addict for her wonderful review of my debut novel. Check out her spoiler-free write up here: http://adiaryofabookaddict.blogspot.com/2012/11/celia-on-run-by-sarah-mandell-book.html# I'll admit I'm very stingy with giving out 5 stars myself so I feel totally honored here. Most books I read are 3 or 4 stars (which is good!). I enjoyed them immensely but didn't finish the book thinking, "Man, that was really and truly the best book I've ever read". So what are the best books I've ever read? Here's my top ten favorite books of from the last few years, in no particular order:

The Electric Michelangelo by Sarah Hall

My Name is Memory by Anne Brashers

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

The Age of Miracles by Karen Walker Thompson

In the Path of Falling Objects by Andrew Smith

Dash & Lilly's Book of Dares by Rachel Cohn

Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen

How Evan Broke His Head and Other Secrets by Garth Stein

The Sky Is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern