Exploring Top Books of Shelfari

In a prolific life of singular literary achievement, Larry McMurtry has succeeded in a variety of genres: in coming-of-age novels like The Last Picture Show ; in collections of essays like In a Narrow Grave ; and in the reinvention of the Western on a grand scale in his Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, Lonesome Dove . Now, in Books: A Memoir , McMurtry writes about his endless passion for books: as a boy growing... (more)

The Man Who Loved Books Too Much: The True Story of a Thief, a Detective, and a World of Literary Obsession

The Man Who Loved Books Too Much: The True Story of a Thief, a Detective, and a World of Literary Obsession

by Allison Hoover Bartlett

In the tradition of The Orchid Thief , a compelling narrative set within the strange and genteel world of rare-book collecting: the true story of an infamous book thief, his victims, and the man determined to catch him. Rare-book theft is even more widespread than fine-art theft. Most thieves, of course, steal for profit. John Charles Gilkey steals purely for the love of books. In an attempt to understand him... (more)

Book Finds: How to Find, Buy, and Sell Used and Rare Books (Revised)

Book Finds: How to Find, Buy, and Sell Used and Rare Books (Revised)

by Ian C. Ellis

An updated edition of the essential insider's resource. For the experienced collector or someone embarking on a new hobby, this newly revised and updated edition of Book Finds reveals the secrets of locating rare and valuable books. Includes information on first editions and reader's copies, auctions and catalogs, avoiding costly and common beginner mistakes, strategies of professional "book scouts," and... (more)

Dukedom Large Enough, Reminiscences of a Rare Book Dealer, 1929-1956David A. Randall

Dukedom Large Enough, Reminiscences of a Rare Book Dealer, 1929-1956

by David A. Randall

Book Collec Hdbk 82/3

by Van Allen Bradley

An Encyclopedia of rare books for collectors, dealers, and librarians.

First Editions: A Guide to Identification - Fourth Edition ( 4th )

Fishers of books,

by Barton Wood Currie

End Papers : Literary RecreationsA Edward Newton

End Papers : Literary Recreations

by A Edward Newton

The Greatest Book in the World and Other PapersA Edward Newton

The Greatest Book in the World and Other Papers

by A Edward Newton

The Venetian Betrayal: A Novel

by Steve Berry

In 323 B.C.E, having conquered Persia, Alexander the Great set his sights on Arabia, then suddenly succumbed to a strange fever. Locating his final resting place–unknown to this day–remains a tantalizing goal for both archaeologists and treasure hunters. Now the quest for this coveted prize is about to heat up. And Cotton Malone–former U.S. Justice Department agent turned rare-book dealer–will be drawn into an... (more)

Booked to Die (Cliff Janeway Novels)

by John Dunning

Denver homicide detective Cliff Janeway may not always play by the book, but he is an avid collector of rare and first editions. After a local bookscout is killed on his turf, Janeway would like nothing better than to rearrange the suspect's spine. But the suspect, local lowlife Jackie Newton, is a master at eluding the law, and Janeway's wrathful brand of off-duty justice costs him his badge. Turning to his... (more)

Nabokov's Butterfly: And Other Stories of Great Authors and Rare Books

Nabokov's Butterfly: And Other Stories of Great Authors and Rare Books

by Rick Gekoski

A first edition of Ulysses sold for $460,000 in auction at Christie’s in 2002. The price might have upset the union chief, convicted gangster, and major-league James Joyce book collector Dennis Silverman, who had sold his copy, signed and inscribed by the author, for a mere $135,000 ten years earlier. Great books attract all kinds and come to fascinating destinies of their own, as Nabokov’s Butterfly amply... (more)

The Yellow-Lighted Bookshop

by Lewis Buzbee

“I cannot remember when I read a book with such delight. ” —Paul Yamazaki, City Lights Bookstore November, a dark, rainy Tuesday, late afternoon. This is my ideal time to be in a bookstore. The shortened light of the afternoon and the idleness and hush of the hour gather everything close, the shelves and the books and the few other customers who graze head-bent in the narrow aisles. I’ve come to find a... (more)

Old Books, Rare Friends: Two Literary Sleuths and Their Shared Passion

Old Books, Rare Friends: Two Literary Sleuths and Their Shared Passion

by Leona Rostenberg

When their friendship and business partnership began in the 1940s, Leona Rostenberg and Madeleine Stern were pioneers in a man's world. Now approaching their nineties, the duo, who -- among their many discoveries -- unearthed Louisa May Alcott's pseudonymous blood-and-thunder stories, remain a vibrant institution in the rare book trade, even as the Internet changes their field -- and their community -- forever.... (more)

Death's Autograph (Chivers Sound Library)

Death's Autograph (Chivers Sound Library)

by Marianne Macdonald

Murder's Bold Inscription "Whoever had broken into the shop might just have gone upstairs afterwards, might just be there still...My first reaction was anger: I wanted to roar up the stairs, only I could hear Barnabas saying, the way he used to when I was little: "Temper, Dido! Count to twenty-nine..." Selling rare books has its moments, but few are anything close to thrilling--except when Dido Hoare's... (more)

Old Books in the Old World: Reminiscences of Book Buying Abroad

Old Books in the Old World: Reminiscences of Book Buying Abroad

by Leona Rostenberg

If your pulse increases inexplicably at the sight of a used bookstore, if your heart leaps like a hungry weasel when you encounter a rare first edition that has been erroneously priced at $5.00, this collection of journal entries and letters of two American book dealers in Post-War Europe is certain to delight you. Although I personally would have enjoyed this book more if it had been fleshed out more... (more)

Ghost Walk: An Antiquarian Book Mystery (Antiquarian Book Mysteries)

Ghost Walk: An Antiquarian Book Mystery (Antiquarian Book Mysteries)

by Marianne Macdonald

Dido Hoare, dealer in rare books, single mother, and daughter who alternately shelters her father, Barnabas, from unsettling events and leans on his sage and scholarly advice, has unexpectedly been named executor of the will of one of her bookstore's more irregular customers. Before he died, Tom Ashe gave Dido an exotic necklace along with cryptic clues and dire warnings, which she took to be the ravings of a... (more)

Smoke Screen (Antiquarian Book Mysteries)

Smoke Screen (Antiquarian Book Mysteries)

by Marianne Macdonald

Trying to build her fledgling shop and keep her young son and cat fed, Dido Hoare, London's most intrepid antiquarian bookseller, needs some good luck. Her break comes when the aged and daunting Clare Templeton Forbes, the ex-lover of a celebrated American modernist poet, offers Dido her prized personal library -- a bookseller's dream come true.Dido's luck, however, vanishes as quickly as it arrives. First, Clare... (more)

Shelfari Book Activity

Tags: rare book business

Books: A Memoir

by Larry McMurtry

The Man Who Loved Books Too Much: The True Story of a Thief, a Detective, and a World of Literary Obsession

by Allison Hoover Bartlett

Book Finds: How to Find, Buy, and Sell Used and Rare Books (Revised)

by Ian C. Ellis

Dukedom Large Enough, Reminiscences of a Rare Book Dealer, 1929-1956

by David A. Randall

Book Collec Hdbk 82/3

by Van Allen Bradley

First Editions: A Guide to Identification - Fourth Edition ( 4th )

Fishers of books,

by Barton Wood Currie

End Papers : Literary Recreations

by A Edward Newton

The Greatest Book in the World and Other Papers

by A Edward Newton

The Venetian Betrayal: A Novel

by Steve Berry

Booked to Die (Cliff Janeway Novels)

by John Dunning

Nabokov's Butterfly: And Other Stories of Great Authors and Rare Books

by Rick Gekoski

The Yellow-Lighted Bookshop

by Lewis Buzbee

Old Books, Rare Friends: Two Literary Sleuths and Their Shared Passion

by Leona Rostenberg

Death's Autograph (Chivers Sound Library)

by Marianne Macdonald

Old Books in the Old World: Reminiscences of Book Buying Abroad

by Leona Rostenberg

Ghost Walk: An Antiquarian Book Mystery (Antiquarian Book Mysteries)

by Marianne Macdonald

Smoke Screen (Antiquarian Book Mysteries)

by Marianne Macdonald