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French Chic & Slim
Nouvelles
News and Opinion from Anne Barone to Keep You Chic & Slim
|| 2 April 2017
Good Book Sources
Quality at a good price. We want this in books — as well as in fashion and all the other things we purchase to enrich our lives. For books, Chic & Slim reader Susan in Hamilton emailed a suggestion (merci, Susan). And I have another source to suggest that I am liking more and more. First, Susan’s suggestion.
Recently, after I had written on the website about Anne Sinclair’s memoir My Grandfather’s Gallery, Susan emailed:
What I wanted to tell you was that I found a copy of "My Father's Gallery: A Family Memoir of Art and War" by Anne Sinclair, at Daedalus Books for $5.98. I ordered a copy today, and am assuming that they still have copies available. It's order number is #70034.
I often order from Daedalus. They are a Maryland bookseller with a fixed shipping charge of $7.95/order. Thought your readers might be interested: Daedalus Books, 800-395-2665, daedalusbooks.com. I just ordered 7 new books (with shipping) for $43. Their printed catalogs are fun to browse and include music and DVDs.
When I followed Susan’s link and saw the photo on their website of Daedalus brick and mortar store, I said: “I’ve been there!” Daedalus Books located in Columbia, Maryland, where friends were living, is in the Washington, D. C. area. That $7.95 per order is an enticing deal for people who like to order several items in one order. Especially since Daedalus offers books, music and DVDs too. If you want new copies of books, music, DVDs that were released a year or so ago, Daedalus Books is a site you want to check out. They also have some fun gift items. One I spotted was a Paris pencil set. And if you happen to be in Columbia, Maryland, you might want to stop in the Daedalus store.
Alibris
I buy a lot of used books. Many titles I am searching for have been out of print for decades. Amazon Marketplace has been a good source for some time. But for the past several months, I have been finding more titles I am searching for, much better prices — and sellers that package books more carefully — on Alibris.
For instance, recently I was looking for a certain book on Art Deco architecture in Texas. The best price I could find for that title on Amazon Marketplace was $58. I found a copy on Alibris for $14. An ex-library book, true. But examining the book, I decided that the patrons of the Cedar Park, Texas, library had not been much interested in Art Deco architecture. The book appeared to be unread.
Alibris, headquartered in Emeryville, California, was founded in the early days of the Internet by a techie type building on the database established by an antiquarian bookseller for antiquarian booksellers. I tried Alibris in its early days and found selection limited and the website organization not as convenient as Amazon’s Marketplace. But today, Alibris selection is extensive [I often can find books I can't find on Marketplace], prices are often the best I can find for the quality, and the Alibris website much improved and easy to use. Alibris also has a UK website for those of you on that side of the Atlantic.
images: (top) Daedalus Books store in Columbia, Maryland via Daedalus website (middle of page) enthusiastic Alibris team in Emeryville, California via Alibris website.
be chic, stay slim, shop smart — Anne Barone