• If possible, please hold large donations until after our Saturday and Sunday Sale Days.
• Books brought in a day or two before the sale may not make it onto the shelves that month. (If you wish to see them on display, plan accordingly)
• We're crowded. Please limit your Sale Day donations to a bag or two of books.

If you cannot attend the book sale, please drop by the Friends Bookstore located inside the Mitchell Park Library and Downtown Library and open during library hours. They are restocked regularly with a unique selection of books for all ages and interests.

 
Suggestions?

Members Early Sale Set for July 11th

The FOPAL Board of Directors has set a date for a Members Early sale on Saturday July 11th. If you're a member of the Friends of the Palo Alto Library, you'll be able to get in to the Main Room early at the July 11th sale! Life Members are allowed to enter the sale at 9am and can purchase up to 50 books. Members at all other levels can enter the sale at 10am and purchase the normal 12 books at a time. Enjoy a less crowded main book room and get first crack at our wonderful collection of materials.

Tickets for early arrivers are handled differently at the Members Early sale. Tickets given out are for the 9am and 10am lines at the Main Room, since most people who come early are members of the Friends. Each Member will get just one ticket, although members at and above the $30 levels may bring in their families, consisting of one or two adults and children. No tickets will be given out for the 11am line.

You may renew your membership, or join FOPAL, that day. Renew, or join now at www.fopal.org/join!

 
June Sale Notes

Despite a drop in donations in the latter part of May (which is normal for us), we did end up with more books than time to sort them this month. There was a wide range of subjects with a few highlights.... Part two of a massive Cooking collection is offered for sale again this month. Mostly cook books, most of recent vintage, but also books about food and food-related topics. More Music LPs, including a giant collection of 500+ discs came in the end of May and will be sold over the next few sales. Look for them on the table and counter in the back of the Bargain Room/H2 priced at $1. Also, as a result of another huge donation this month and last the Art books will be overflowing into two specials area one next to the check-out line, near the DVDs and the other to your right as you enter by our sorting room. The Games & Puzzles section is also full to brim.... Our section manager for Mysteries reports having a large amount of nearly new books titles, in nearly new condition for the June sale as well.

 
Question...What's missing from the newsletter? Answer...Shelf pictures...

FOPAL is sending out a big THANK YOU to longtime volunteer Frank McConnell for shooting, downloading and uploading 300-500 shelf pictures each and every month for the past four years! While Frank has retired from taking shelf pictures...he'll still be managing several sections, acting as FOPAL webmaster and as FOPAL's IT guy.... If you're interested in helping FOPAL bring back shelf pics, please contact Janette Herceg at jherceg@fopal.org or 650-494-1266.

 
What's new in the Main Room? We're now taking credit and debit cards!

Look for a lone cashier sitting at the end of our cashiering table who can help you with a credit or debit card purchase. If all goes well FOPAL will plan on taking credit and debit cards in our other two monthly sale rooms in the future. Stay tuned!

 
Art, Architecture & Studio Art

"Due to an extraordinarily generous donation, the best little pop-up art bookstore on the peninsula just got even better! This month we are featuring an amazing collection of books on the arts of sub-Saharan Africa, including gorgeous volumes on the arts of the Baga, the Luba, the Guba, the Congo, and Central Africa and of Suriname. They are books on masks, sculpture, divination, African aesthetics and adornment, and religious ceremonies. Likewise if your interest is in the arts of Asia, from the same distinguished collector, there are volumes on contemporary Asian arts, on Angkor Wat, Hokusai, Mingei, basket weaving, Asian textiles and costumes, ethnic jewelry, as well as the traditional arts, sculpture and painting of China, Japan, Thailand, India, Korea and Oceania, etc.

Per usual, our studio art section is bursting with books on drawing, watercolor and oil painting as well as books on the creative process. This month we also have a donation of art pads, including bristol board, watercolor blocks, drawing and sketch paper - all at terrific savings. And along with our usual great collection of modern and contemporary art books, we have a huge selection of books on Impressionism and the Impressionists.

So if your thing is African art, the arts of Asia, studio art or Impressionism, this is the place to be this Saturday..." -Mary Bartholmay

 
Nature for June

"Could Dear Old Dad use a little exercise? A tad too much time in the recliner this winter? Father's Day is June 21st and we have a huge selection of books on local hikes, rock climbing and camping, just for him. Our National Parks and Yosemite sections provide great ideas for summer road trips. We even have guidebooks to help you find a 'Bigfoot'! You'll find interesting summer reading in our New Arrivals and Essay/Memoir sections. Look for Nature books with a bright green dot: these books are award winners, written by well-known authors, and/or best sellers, at our usual FOPAL bargain prices." -Karen D.

 
General Fiction

NEW! FICTION FOR YOUNG ADULTS & ADULTS WHO ARE YOUNG AT HEART

"According to an article in The New York Times April 12, 2015, 'As lines dividing adult and children's literature have grown increasingly blurry...and as sales of books aimed at the older audiences falter, readers are flocking to young adult fiction.' The same article reports that in 2014, 'Adults aged 18 to 44 made up 65 percent of young adult book buyers.' This includes both men and women.

A number of best-selling novelists are already contributing to this significant market shift. They include John Green, The Fault In Our Stars, Paper Towns and Looking for Alaska; John Grisham, Theodore Boone; Carl Hiaasen, Flush; Stephenie Meyer, New Moon; James Patterson, Daniel X; Jodi Picoult, The Tenth Circle; and Graeme Simsion, The Rosie Project.

Recognizing this trend, FOPAL is now featuring books by these and many other authors in a special section entitled Young Adult Fiction. At press time, we had 71 books by 47 authors on four shelves, immediately to the left of 'What Book Groups are Reading'." -Marian Knox

 
Philosophy for June 2015

"New arrivals in Philosophy are to be found on the top shelves of the right hand bookcase.

Recently added titles include: Voltaire's Bastards, Why Does the World Exist? Niels Bohr's Times, Being Good, The Life of the Mind, and What Would Socrates Say? Recently added authors include Umberto Eco, Hannah Arendt, Walter Kaufmann, Antonio Gramsci, John Rawls, two books by Quine and a donation of 12 books by Dewey. The June Special is the four volume box set, Philosophy in the Twentieth Century by Barrett and Aiken." -Nigel Jones

 
Humor June 2015

"New arrivals in the Humor section include two books by David Sedaris, two books by Amy Sedaris, as well as books by Tina Fey, and Tommy Chong. New titles include Spy-The Funny Years, The Big New Yorker Book of Dogs, Weird Texas, Principles of Uncertainty, Howl by Bark, the Geography of Bliss and a biography of the comic genius, Stan Laurel. Make sure to check out the Bargain Room, there is much more Humor over there!" -Nigel Jones

 
Music & Dance

"As usual we offer books on a wide variety of musical topics including classical, rock, jazz, world music, and dance. New this month: How Music Works; Serial Composition and Atonality; Dark Star: Oral Biography of Jerry Garcia; Twyla Tharp The Creative Habit; Babel by Patti Smith; A Decade of the Who; Electronic Piano Tuning; The Rolling Stones: 50 Years of Rock'n'Roll; The Story of Chess Records; 100 Best Beatles Songs; The Inextinguishable Symphony: A True Story of Music and Love in Nazi Germany; Splendid Art of Opera. Also come to browse our wide selection of sheet music." -Charlotte Epstein

 
June 2015: Self-Help/Psychology

"Most of the books in Self-Help are new this month! Some titles are: Quiet, Focus, Drive, The Power of Habit, Blink, Non-violent Communication, 10% Happier, The Power of Creative Dreaming, The Wizard Within, Hypnosis and Hypnotherapy, The Deep Self, How the Mind Works, Brain Rules, The Creative Brain, The Emotional Brain, Mastering your Moods, The Mindful Way Through Depression, Start Where You Are, 101 Exercises for the Soul, Dance of Intimacy, 5 Love Languages. There are many subsections, including books on ADHD and Autism. Come browse and see what tickles your fancy! Most books are just $3 and under." -Marnie Shuey

 
Health for June

"In addition to our regular selection of books on Eating Disorders, this month we've received a fascinating bunch -- looking at the subject from new perspectives: purely scientific, behavioral, genetic and cognitive. Some interesting new titles: The Science of Skinny, The Hungry Gene, Mindless Eating and Crave." -Verne Rice

 
Science Fiction & Fantasy

"In Science Fiction and Fantasy we have a few more SF magazines from the '50s and '60s that didn't get on the shelves last month. There's an exceptionally large selection of recent fantasy novels, in both hardcover and paperback." -Rich McAllister

 
Judaica

"Come to the Judaica section for books on the Jewish religion, literature, Jewish history, the Holocaust, Israel and other related subjects. New this month: The Rothschild Compound Story: Jerusalem Hanevtim Street; Taking Hold of Torah; Surviving the Holocaust with the Russian Jewish Partisans; The Jews of Chicago; My Promised Land; The Holocaust Chronicle; A Vanished World: Photos of Roman Vishniac; If a Place Can Make You Cry; Atlas of the Jewish World; Tree and Shrub in our Biblical Heritage; a large format copy of Pirke Aboth with etchings; The Modern Jewish Girl's Guide to Guilt." -Charlotte Epstein

 
Teen recommendations by Tristan Wang

FOPAL wants to congratulate Tristan Wang for winning the Rachel Austin Award for English at Paly High School. Tristan believes this award is due in part "...because I volunteered to write book reports at the library." Good job Tristan!

The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman

Set in an alternate universe much like (and unlike) our own, this fantasy is centered around Lyra Belacqua, a rough and tumble nine-year-old girl. Despite living amongst the scholars of the prestigious Jordan College, she is far more committed to goofing around than the esoteric studies. That is, until Lyra and Pantalaimon (her daemon familiar) sneak into a forbidden meeting room, foil an attempt to poison her Uncle Asriel, and learn the existence of Dust -- a mysterious particle with extraordinary properties.

Shortly after, a cascade of events turns Lyra's carefree existence upside down. Children, including her playmate Roger, are "disappeared" by a kidnapping organization known as the Gobblers. Lord Asriel is captured and held prisoner by the savage panserbjorne (armored bears), and Lyra herself is secretly entrusted with an alethiometer, a strange compass that reveals the truth. All this seems to point to the extreme North, where Lyra must travel. Much danger awaits as she unwittingly hurtles towards a shocking conspiracy -- and the appalling truth.