Miscellaneous book thoughts

• Peter Benchley died this week. He was 65. Why did I sell that first edition of Jaws? Who did I sell it to and for how much?
  
  
• Remembering that first edition of Jaws starts me thinking about other books that have passed through my hands. Notably, a first edition of John Steinbeck’s first book, Cup of Gold. I passed it up during a silent auction. Everyone else did too. I don’t think any one realized it was a first. I went back the next day and bought it for $5. Sold it for much more, but would sure like it back.
  
  
• I’m ready for a really good book sale. Recently went to a library book sale in Madison, Wisconsin, and it was horrible. I’m guessing 80 percent of the books were library cast-offs. I bought three books. It was all I could find and I was pushing to buy the three.
  
  
• Can’t wait for Robert Crais’ new book, The Two-Minute Rule. It will move immediately to the top of my reading pile.
  
  
• Hit a reading alpha state this week. Finished a book on Monday. Finished another on Tuesday and a third on Wednesday. All were fiction. Tuesday’s book was only about 120 pages. I read half the book on my commute to work; the other half on the return trip. Wednesday’s book was more than 250 pages, but I was traveling. Six hours on an airplane allowed me to read the book from start to finish (Purity of Blood by Perez-Reverte), knock off two short stories and several pages in a biography.