Times Warehouse Book Sale

Wow. Haven't written for sooo long. Anyway, big news of the weekend (amongst other large bits of news) is the Times The Bookshop Warehouse Book Sale. I found out about thise from Eyeris and only then The Star. There is an essay knocking around somewhere about how much easier it is to get Klang Valley related news from Project Petaling Street than from conventional news media, but now I want to talk about books.

The joy of a warehouse sale is rummaging through the dross to occasionally stumble across a bargain. Sometimes it's a book you've been wanting to get, but never really had the money for (The Clinton Wars, hardback edition). Sometimes it's a book that looks interesting, but you wouldn't otherwise buy (The Baghdad Blogs). And sometimes it's a book that just goes "look at me, look at me!" (No More Buddha Only Football).

And there are some real bargains if you look at hard enough. E got a box set of Stephen King's Dark Tower (Vol 1-4), still in its plastic wrap, for RM30. The travel books by Let's Go normally retail at RM110, but you can get them at the sale for RM20.

There are also some not-so-bargains. About a third of the room are novels that go for RM20-28, which is still cheaper than normal, but makes me go "Urr, I don't know if I want this" category.

My advice? Arrive early (before 10am), bring a shopping trolley (or one of those wheeled suitcases), lotsa money and clear at least half the day. I managed to get plenty of excercise hauling a box around the room that slowly filled to the brim. The only reason I stopped was because my arms were being pulled beyond their natural length.

For the curious, here is what I managed to rack up in five hours of browsing:

• The Shadow in the North by Philip Pullman - RM8 (RRP RM19.9)
  
• Roma Eterna by Robert Silvreberg - RM8 (RRP RM32.9)
  
• The Complete Roderick by John Sladek - RM8 (RRP RM44.9)
  
• The Simulcra by Philip K. Dick - RM8 (RRP RM34.9)
  
• Enigma by Hugh Sebag-Montefiore - RM8 (RRP RM54.9)
  
• Dr Riemann's Zeros by Karl Sabbagh - RM8 (RRP RM54.9)
  
• The Clinton Wars by Sidney Blumenthal - RM20 (RRP RM78 est)
  
• Quicksilver by Neal Stephenson - RM15 (RRP RM89.9)
  
• Pirates, Prophets and Pioneers by Debora Spar - RM15 (RRP RM90 est)
  
• I Have Landed by Stephen Jay Gould - RM8 (RRP RM49.9)
  
• Let's Go Eastern Europe - RM20 (RRP RM109.9)
  
• Masters of Doom by David Kushner - RM8 (RRP RM40 est)
  
• Mastering German by Antony Peck - RM8 (RRP RM37.9)
  
• No More Buddha Only Football by Chris England - RM8 (RRP RM40 est)
  
• The Salmon of Doubt by Douglas Adams - RM8 (RRP RM33 est)
  
• The New Discworld Companion by Terry Pratchett and Stephen Briggs - RM8 (RRP RM44.9)
  
• DNA by James Watson - RM8 (RRP RM59.9)
  
• Bringing Down the House by Ben Mezrich - RM8 (RRP RM39.9)
  
• The Private Adam by Shumley Boteach - RM8 (RRP RM49.9)
  
• The Baghdad Blog by Salam Pax - RM8 (RRP RM45 est)
  

And, yes. I am assuaging my guilt over spending RM198 by telling myself what I actually did was save more than RM850.

Would I go back? Erm, yeah. There were copies of Michael Palin's Sahara that I was mulling over for RM40 (RRP RM120), as well as rumours of Jonathan Strange and Mr Norell being sold (but I didn't see any on the Saturday). And a few other odds and ends.