Book sale 2019: Rare books and great investments!

Thanks to migraine, I did not get to publish this Tuesday, but put so much in to it, that I will publish it now, two days late:

Today was the start day for the gigantic Swedish book sale and with that, time for my yearly blog post about my finds. Because this year I do have some gems, thanks to my daughter.

Gone are the days when I stand in a long queue at midnight, waiting for the magic moment when the doors open and everyone flood inside, running to grab the few books available. Nowadays, there are special sale books printed up, on toilet paper, as I call it, so one does not have to lose out on the most desired books. Even of the good quality books, there seem to be loads. Meanwhile, the book shop workers look with sadness at the fact that people read less paper books and are less prone to buy books in physical shops. In a couple of weeks, all the left over books, and there can be many, will be half price of the sale price. But do you dare to wait and see if the book you want, will still be there?

I headed to the sale as soon as I had dropped my boys, at their respective schools. Because I wanted the extra bargain of buying four books and just paying for three. I walked in with a shopping list containing four books. I was not going to get any other books, than those four. And I walked out with twelve books! And headed for a second book shop, because my daughter phoned me, after I had just stood in a queue for 30 minutes and had exited the shop with a heavy burden in my hands. She wanted me to go back inside, with my load, to buy ”1984”, for her. I decided against it, since there were too many people and I did not fancy standing in the queue one more time, for ONE book. At the religious book shop Arken, I did not find ”1984”, but I found seven more books. Let’s say that my elbows hurt really bad now and so does my head, since I had breakfast on the run, going from the car to the shop. As I threw the wrapper of my protein bar, in a garbage bin, I failed to notice that some idiot had placed a road sign, on top of the bin, on the same metal pole, so when I raised my head, I banged it as hard as one can, into the road sign. And in true Swedish fashion, people just stared at me, trying to ascertain whether I was drunk or not. Why else stare like that instead of asking me if I was alright? People are so rude, that it is beyond belief!

Anyway, I will start with my favourites from the History department:

Simon Sebag Montefiore has long been a favourite historian of mine, along with David Cesarani, who is no longer with us. I have watched documentaries with Montefiore as the guide or host, and he is wonderful to listen to. His wonderful British sarcasm makes you smile or laugh, his posh accent, likewise, and on top of that, an intellect to die for. A book by him is a must read and in my upper teens, I devoured anything about the Romanovs, so this will be a delight. It is a book, which has been sitting on my wish list, since it was published and now at an affordable price.

Having a rabid feminist in the household is a true challenge for me as a mother, who is more moderate as that goes. But her questioning everything about the past, make me more and more adamant about staying objective and acknowledging the importance of not judging people of the past. We were not there and do therefore not know anything, what it was like for the people who had to or made the choices they did. Our society is miles from what it was in the past. And the book ”Vad hände med barnen?” (What happened to the children), is totally in line with where I as a historian put my focus. Sure, it is fun to read about the glitter and glamour, but deep down I am a grass root historian and social history is the most interesting in my opinion. This book is about foster children and what happened to them, as the well fare state Sweden took shape. Especially illegitimate children were put up on auction, to be used as a free labour force. Eva Dahlgren, has previously written about fallen women, a book I have managed to miss, and in that book, she drew the conclusion, that those women often started their lives, as foster children, sent around to different orphanages and foster homes, their entire childhoods. I really want to read this book, since my grandparents grew up in that era, at the beginning of the 20th century. Even if they were not themselves put up for auction, this is the society they lived in. And my grandmother, who was an illegitimate child herself, could easily have ended up as one of these children. She actually was a foster child, but instead of being ill-treated, she became spoilt rotten. Her foster parents being the tenant farmers, of her rich biological grandfather. My other grandmother was raped and had a child out-of-wedlock, due to it. But she chose to go another way. She could easily have given up her child. But her child had to be raised by her step-mother and father, while she tried to support herself. Life was tough and cruel and to know how we have got to where we are today, and keep on protecting that from other ideas, we need to know more about the past.

Since I am on the topic of history, the next three books cover the period of time, which has been my utmost focus for the past 25 years or so. World War Two. The first one was not a hot selling book this morning, since it is a criticism against Sweden’s actions or non-actions, during the war, when especially Norway needed our help. It is written by a Norwegian and is in translation called ”The Swedish Betrayal 1940-1945”. I am under no false illusions about my country and what it failed to do during the war. I even went in to battle on Facebook, when an advertisement for the digitally restored ”Schindler’s List”, brought on a discussion. Swedes have no reason what so ever, to pat ourselves on our backs and say that we were on the winning side of the war. Anti-Semitism was flourishing here as well as in every other country in the world. But what Swedes today turn a blind eye to, is that it never died. It became taboo to mention it or talk about it openly, but media in Sweden is terribly anti-semitic and either voice the opinion of the people or set the stage for what we are supposed to think. You choose. In the advertisement, it said that xenophobia is dangerous and that we must not let it take over our minds. I object strongly, to comparing the Holocaust with xenophobia. Anti-Semitism is nothing of the sort. It is hatred of Jews, nothing else. And when putting up an advertisement for ”Schindler’s List”, it should clearly state ”never again must anti-Semitism rise to these heights”. It should not exist at all!

The Moorhouse book is an amazing book, I found at Arken’s sale. ”The History of the Third Reich, through 100 items”. The sort of book you can dive in anywhere and read on a topic of interest. In a way like an encyclopedia.

”And you did not come back” is going to be a tragic little book. Found this one at Arken as well. About a Jewish woman, who was arrested in France, together with her father, and deported to Auschwitz-Birkenau. She survived, he did not, but 70 years later, she still could not deal with the horrors she went through, and the book is a letter to her long gone father.

As a book-loving mother, I dream of finding the perfect books for my boys. ”Boo” mentioned that they had been writing with runes yesterday, so I bought this beautiful book about the world of the vikings. Tons of maps, pictures of weapons, chapters on all sorts of aspects of viking life, and yet it does not seem like a heavy book, but something he at least can enjoy looking at pictures in. And who knows, maybe even try to read here and there.

For ”Kitty”, I thought that Gaiman’s book might be a nice one. It seems like he has tied in all Nordic myths in to a story. They kept that book in the youth section, so here is hoping that it is not too deep or boring.

My youngest son sat down in the car one day, asking why I do not read fairy tales for him, before bed. He is autistic and has severely delayed language, so books can not be too complicated. I bought these two, to start reading to him, before he falls asleep, to see how it goes. He is on Melatonin, so he goes down pretty quickly, which has made it sad to try to read something to him. Before I notice it, he is asleep and I have no idea how much he has heard of a story. The Bauer book has beautiful illustrations, which is needed in books read to him, and I just love the series, which ”Alice Through the Looking Glass”, belongs to. Lovely illustrations. We own quite a few of that series now.

We now move in to memoirs and biographies. As a person who has always been very interested in Judaism (no not to convert or anything), I just had to buy this biography on the Talmud, at Arken. When I studied Religion History, Judaism at the University, we only had time to study the Talmud very shortly. This will give me the chance to have a much closer look at a book so abhorred by the Nazis and so loved by the Jews. Quite looking forward to that one!

I guess, to read Jane Austen in translation, is somewhat of a sacrilegious thing, but it is a beautiful edition and I sometimes find letter collections, difficult to read through in one go. The letter writer always assuming that it is only the recipient who is going to read the letter written and assuming that person knows who are mentioned. For the person who reads the letters as an outsider, it  can get frustrating. So, I decided to get the Swedish translation, which has not actually been out on the market that long, so I am surprised it was already on the book sale.

Michelle Obama hardly need an introduction. All places having a book sale, including the supermarkets, are selling this book. One can say what one wants about Barack and his presidency, but noone can say anything but that Michelle Obama is one classy lady. An amazing woman whom I want to get to know , through this book, and I saw many women carrying around this book in their shopping baskets this morning. No doubt for a reason. It was one of the four books, I had intended to get for certain, when I walked in to the shop.

I always tell myself not to buy novels, since I can borrow them at the library. Sadly, I did borrow ”The Ladies’ Choir of Chilbury” from the library, but my daughter, who has severe OCD, cleaned it away and not until I had to pay a late fee, did I find the book again. So, returned unread. Might as well own it then, so I can read it when I have the time. It is supposed to be good, about the vicar wanting to dissolve the church choir, when all the men has marched off to war. And the women refusing, since they need the choir and music, in such a time of distress. They create a new choir, a ladies’ choir, where women of all ages are welcome. I can’t resist books about the Homefront!!!

Hackendahl, by Hans Fallada, is a classic about a German family in Berlin, before, during and after the Great War. So far, I have bought all Fallada novels, which has been on the sales for years now. Every year, a new one. So I could not stop this year, could I? Especially, after my German penfriend really recommended the Fallada novels to me, as the best of German literature.

The lost Garden, by Giorgio Bassani, has been on my wish list since it was first published in Swedish. An Italian classic about the persecution of Jews in Italy. Something less heard of, since it was not as organized as in other countries and Mussolini did not seem to really have a clear policy in mind. Ever. I am so happy to finally have the book and being able to read it, when I find the time. It promises to be an excellent read.

Like I said at the beginning, my daughter wanted me to re-do the book shop on her behalf, carrying twelve heavy books in my hands and I refused. But at Arken, I did find some gems and one of the greatest ones, was the complete set of ”War and Peace”. Four hardcover books for almost nothing. I know. Am I insane? Probably. ”Gubby” sat and watched the Snoopy film, a couple of months ago, where Carl has to do a book report and by mistake chooses ”War and Peace”. ”Gubby” wanted to know why Carl  was so upset about it, and asked me all sorts of questions, which I could not answer, because I have never read it. I had to confess this to him and then I started to look for a hardcover copy from Amazon’s secondary sellers. But only half-heartedly, since I hated ”Anna Karenina”, which I read when I was 18, for a school paper. Here I stood, today, and on top of their bookcase, was a big red sign saying 99:-. I turned the books, which are held together by a paper ribbon, and saw what they were. I could not walk away from them. Not at that price. And I should give them a go! One really should read that book once in one’s life. I watched part of an

episode, of the British dramatization, a while ago, with gorgeous James Norton as Prince Andrei, and decided that I must watch that series from beginning to end, ONE DAY. Perhaps as a reward for having finished the books?

While you might not find the books I was lucky to find at the Arken sale, the others ought to still be available at the local book shops, since they usually get more books than they can get rid of. Good luck finding some good bargains out there and then sit down in your favourite chair, and start reading. There really is nothing better than to escape in to the pages of a good book!