Travel Book Review:
The Used Book Lover's
Guide to New England
The
Used Book Lover's Guide to New England
By: David S. and Susan Siegel
Publisher: Book Hunter Press
Publisher’s Address: P.O. Box 193, Yorktown Heights, NY 10598
Copyright: 1995
Paperback
Pages: 384
David and Susan Siegel are entrepreneurs, authors, travelers, and book lovers--a powerful combination that has produced a series of guides that no confirmed "bookaholic" will want to be without. In 1992, the couple set for themselves a goal of becoming "the Baedeker or Frommer of the used book world," and they've succeeded admirably. Here's a look at their first guidebook in the Used Book Lover's series, which is devoted to New England.
I'll always remember the day my father returned from one of his garage sale expeditions toting a dusty, old cardboard box filled with leather-bound volumes with yellowed, well-read pages and copyright dates that started with 18! There was something magical about turning those semi-withered pages for a young girl with a vivid imagination who wondered what library walls those books had once graced, what people from the past had cherished them, what circumstances had ultimately delivered them to our home.
Travelers who choose New England as a destination are often those captivated by the same sense of wonder, drawn to places soaked with history and frequented by our nation's political and folk heroes. It's nearly impossible to wander New England's twisting byways without being lured to visit at least one historic home or antique shop or used book store.
For those avid book lovers who'd rather not leave discovering hidden literary treasure troves and the perfect additions to their collections to chance, David and Susan Siegel's The Used Book Lover's Guide to New England is a must have. Featuring listings for 750 used and antiquarian book dealers from Maine to Connecticut, this thorough guidebook, organized by town, pinpoints locations of used book dealers, their hours, their specialties, and the size of their collections.
Regional maps are strategically scattered throughout the book, making it easy for treasure seekers to identify clusters of bookstores and to plan a book-hunting expedition. The authors' own comments, based on their visits to many of the shops included, pepper the listings with personality and provide helpful insights that clue the traveler in to what he or she can expect to find. The Siegels are brutally honest--ensuring that the reader can find the gems and perhaps steer clear of shops that are less likely to carry the books they are seeking. They'll warn you if the best books are hidden away in a basement or on top shelves only viewable with a ladder, and even guide you to a Great Barrington, Massachusetts, shop, Yellow House Books, where, if you're lucky enough to visit when the proprietor is in, "you just might hear the strains of a Gershwin melody coming from a grand piano once owned by Nat 'King' Cole."
The New England guidebook, like all of the books in the series, is updated annually. A convenient order form allows purchasers to request inexpensive annual supplements.
Whether you're a passionate collector of antique books or a curious browser, you're sure to enrich your New England journeys with this one, modern book as your guide.
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