Mimsy Were the Borogoves

Book Reviews: From political histories to bad comics, to bad comics of political histories. And the occasional rant about fiction and writing.

Palestine, Texas: The Palestine Public Library

Jerry Stratton, April 25, 2018

Palestine Book Haul: Books purchased at the Palestine Public Library Booksale and The Horse’s Mouth in Buffalo, Texas.; Texas; bookstores; Highway 79; book sales

Two of these books came from The Horse’s Mouth nearby in Buffalo; the rest came from the Palestine Public Library sale.

Last year on the way to a conference I took Highway 79 to Highway 20, to bypass all the Dallas traffic. On the way, I found a great little restaurant in Palestine, Texas. It’s hard to find good gnocchi, and they had it. So when Book Sale Finder showed a library booksale in Palestine right around when I started feeling like I needed a good road trip, I decided to go.

As you can tell from my purchases, I’m glad I did. I’ve been on the lookout for Manly Wade Wellman books, and The Old Gods Awaken has specifically been on my list. And I’ve been meaning to read Being There ever since I realized the movie was based on a book. I thoroughly enjoyed Richard Ford’s Rock Springs, so I took the chance on both of the Ford books I saw there.

I don’t expect any of the other books to be disappointments either.

It’s a one-room sale, crowded with books—I overheard one person say that it was like Black Friday for books, which was an accurate description. Most of them are general fiction; there is a table dedicated to science fiction and fantasy, but I found the Manly Wade Wellman book and the Pournelle-Niven book in the general fiction section. I’m pretty sure I found Tom Wolfe’s book in the general fiction section, too, even though it isn’t technically fiction.1

Palestine Public Library
2000 TX-256 Loop #42
Palestine, Texas

Feb. 16, 2018

The Liar Stephen Fry $0.50 trade paperback
The Ultimate Good Luck Richard Ford $0.50 small trade paperback
Code of Conduct Brad Thor $1.75 hardcover
Being There Jerzy Kosinski $1.75 hardcover
Oath of Fealty Jerry Pournelle, Larry Niven $1.75 hardcover
Women With Men Richard Ford $1.75 hardcover
The Old Gods Waken Manly Wade Wellman $1.75 hardcover
A Single Man Christopher Isherwood $1.75 hardcover
The Painted Word Tom Wolfe $1.75 hardcover

It looks like the library holds a sale twice a year, but in different months each year. If you go to the area specifically for the book sale, then besides Pronto, I also recommend The Horse’s Mouth in nearby Buffalo, especially if your journey to Palestine involves coming in from the west along Highway 79.

In response to The bookstores less traveled: These aren’t the bookstores people travel across the country to visit. But if you’re already traveling across the country, you’ll want to take advantage of the opportunity to visit them.

  1. I haven’t read it yet, so I don’t know if it includes gonzo journalism-style embellishments.

  1. <- The Horse’s Mouth
  2. Coas Books ->