Christian Aid book sale 2009

I was a little late in setting off for the booksale this year, because I discovered that someone had kicked a dent in the boot of my car, so I had to go down to the police station. But even though I caught a later bus than I had intended, I got to the sale only half an hour after it started, so I was able to find lots of bargains before it got unbearably busy. After about an hour and a half I had filled two bags and I couldn't carry any more! Although it rained on and off, it wasn't too much of a problem - I went to the indoor parts of the sale when it rained.

Here's what I bought:

Japan by E Flynn & D Stowe £3
Laura Ashley at Home £2
The Great Japan Exhibition: Art of the Edo Period 1600-1868 £5
Living Normally by Trevor Naylor 50p
China: Empire of Living Symbols £4
A Fatal Inversion by Barbara Vine £2
The Roads to Sata by Alan Booth £2
The Last Concubine by Lesley Downer 50p
A book in Japanese about kites £2

From the ephemera section:
Looking Up in Edinburgh by Jane Peyton 50p
The Language of Flowers 50p
The Baby's Opera by Walter Crane 50p
A Friend is Someone Who Likes You by Joan Walsh Anglund 50p
Springs of Comfort 50p
Springs of Greek Wisdom 50p
Bergen Norway 1954 50p
The Old Town of Stockholm by Henrik Alm 50p
Cats by Howard Loxton 50p
Wine Cups on the Stream (from The Tale of Genji) 50p

From the antiques and bric-a-brac section:
A pair of pink pillowcases £2
Painted wooden tub with lid £1
Teacup with pink roses 20p
Plate with Japanese scene 20p
Royal Doulton Bamboo plate £1

I was really pleased with the things I bought. I managed to find A Fatal Inversion by Barbara Vine which I'd been looking for. I got some wonderful bargains for 50p, including Living Normally which is presented like a home decor book but the homes in it range from the ordinary to the messy to the very strange. The most expensive book I bought, The Great Japan Exhibition, contains wonderful photographs of Japanese paintings, screens, kimonos and other objects. When I bought Wine Cups on the Stream, with its picture of a woman in a kimono on the front, it was a Japanese woman who served me, and she told me about her recent trip to Tokyo when she saw lots of cherry blossoms.


Last year's sale
The year before