Library News

The Library (all branches) will be closed on Monday, January 19 for the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday.

You could find out about these sorts of things in a slightly more timely manner by subscribing to the Library's mailing list. Like us, they send one or two messages per month, more usually one.

There is also the Library's events calendar that has a lot besides when the Library is closed.

You can find out about other things they want you to know from the Palo Alto City Library Blogs page. Or you can subscribe to them with an RSS reader.

-Frank McConnell

 
Shelf pictures

As this newsletter goes to transmission the <https://fopalbooks.com/> web site is still showing December 2025 pages and photos.

-Frank McConnell

 
Cameras

Some great cameras this month: two beautiful art deco Brownies, a Canon Canonet, a well preserved Kodak bellows camera and more!

-Squeegee

 
Poetry

Hail, January, that bearest here
On snowbright breasts the babe-faced year.
And now it's time to read some locals,
All Stanford profs and not some yokels.
Let's shake a New Year's loud maraca
For Jimmy Santiago Baca
And each resolve to start the year
With poetry from far and near.

<https://fopalbooks.com/poetry.html>

-Mandy MacCalla

 
Politics

Kick off 2026 with an exciting new selection of books from the Politics section! With so many important events that happened in 2025, it's a mystery of what 2026 may have in store for us. But know that, as we walked out of the complicated grocery aisles that is 2025, we've all probably picked up something important about the world of politics. With political junk food surrounding us on all sides, I hope you guys found relief in the refreshing aisle that is the politics section of the main room. In 2025, we've had so much attention grabbing politics, but not really the ones we really need to hear and understand. But alas, we have books to guide us through it. As we walk through the mall of life into the clothing store that is 2026, I wish that you find some hidden runway books, and encourage you to start this January.

-Emma Chen

 
Home & Crafts

Happy New Year! We have lots of new books in store for you in January to help you with your New Year's resolutions.

This month there are beautiful Craft books including Craft Techniques & Projects, plus The Complete Book of Home Crafts: Projects for the Adventurous Beginner. We also have a number of books on pottery including Ceramics: A Potter's Handbook. In Floral Arts try: Branches & Blooms: A Step-by-Step Guide to Creating Magical Centerpieces, Wreaths, Garlands, and Other Unexpected Arrangements. In Fabric Arts there is an array of wonderful titles: The Ultimate Country Stitch, Embroidery: A Complete Course in Embroidery Design and Technique, The Principles of Knitting, and The Quilter's Companion. Don't miss origami, paper airplanes, plus coloring and drawing books for all interests.

On the Beauty shelf there's a marvelous title: Stepping Out: The Unapologetic Style of African Americans Over Fifty. In addition, you'll find 50 Fashion Designers You Should Know and How to Read Fashion. Here's a great Home title: Attainable Sustainable. For reflection try: House as a Mirror of Self: Exploring the Deeper Meaning of Home. If you need home repair look to Lynda Lyday's Do It Yourself! There's also the San Francisco Bay Area Home Book to help with building and remodeling. When starting those organizing projects your go-to is: Mission Impossible: Strategies and Solutions to Clear Your Clutter. For design innovation try our regional home titles including: Santa Fe Houses, The Paris Interior, Indian Interiors, and Thai Style.

eShelf photos can be found at <https://fopalbooks.com/crafts.html>.

-Virginia Perry

 
Antiques & Collections

In the month of January we have two books on Wedgwood: The Wedgwood Circle 1730-1897, about the Wedgwood family, and Masterpieces of Wedgwood in the British Museum. Other ceramics include: Bauer: Classic American Pottery, and Chinese Pottery and Porcelain. For a little intrigue try Illegal Tender: Gold, Greed, and the Mystery of the Lost 1933 Double Eagle, about the famous gold coin commissioned by FDR. Then there's Auction This! Your Complete Guide to the World of Online Auctions. Don't miss McDonald's Collectibles, every item you'd find in a Ronald McDonald's Happy Meal. Discover these and other resources including jewelry and watches, stamps and other coins, furniture and rugs, toys and dolls, plus much more for your collecting reference.

eShelf photo can be found at https://fopalbooks.com/crafts.html.

-Virginia Perry

 
Children's Room

You thought the holidays were over--not so! In the Children's Room this month we feature a terrific selection of books for Valentine's Day, Lunar New Year, and Groundhog Day.

Look for lots of gift-quality hardback picture books, including award winners and many different versions of Aesop's fables, with lovely illustrations.

Non-fiction boasts its usual wide variety of topics, plus a small collection of early reader biographies of women, well illustrated.

On the World Languages shelves you'll find many new German, French, and Czech books, along with new Korean, Japanese, and Chinese books. Is your child studying a new language? We have plenty of enjoyable books to practice that language.

For the earliest fans of Elmo and Oscar the Grouch, we have a large number of Sesame Street books. Also look for Eric Carle books both large and small and "sound books" of Sesame Street, Moana, and Frozen. For slightly older children, check out the picture books section for several highlights: pristine and unused collections that are absolutely giftable, including The Incredible Peppa Pig Collection (50 storybooks), The Ultimate Peppa Pig Collection (50 storybooks), Thomas the Tank Engine--The Classic Library (includes all 26 original books), The Amazing Machines--Truckload of Fun (10 books), Mickey and Friends Storybook Library (12 books), and PJ Masks (sets and individual books). In the Little Golden Books format we offer the Disney Pixar CARS series (10 books, great condition), and Thomas the Tank Engine (10 books, great condition). In the Big and Little Golden Books format we have a small set and individual books of Paw Patrol, a collection of Paw Patrol 5-minute stories, and My First Little House (on the Prairie) (7 books). There are also lots of terrific giftable hardback picture books, including Stephen Curry: I Have a Superpower.

Our Beginning Readers shelves feature many early readers with a Star Wars theme and many starring Thomas the Tank Engine. There are sets of early readers at low prices, perfect for families or classrooms. And our Parenting section has loads of books to support parents, both beginners and experts, in the new year.

School-age Fiction offers like-new boxed sets of books in every genre. Among the early chapter books are a complete boxed set of all 30 Box Car Children, and a starter set of the first four books in the series. In fantasy, you'll find The Complete First Series: The Prophecies Begin, a Warriors series by Erin Hunter, and a starter boxed set of her Survivors series; The Silverwing Collection, by Kenneth Oppel; and the complete collection of The Unwanted Quests, by Lisa McMann. In our middle-school-age section we have a boxed set of Middle School, by James Patterson. In the school-age-series section there's a boxed set of The Maze Runner series, by James Dasher. For classics fans we offer several gift-quality volumes: Hans Christian Andersen's The Little Mermaid and Other Fairy Tales (lavishly illustrated with interactive elements); The Borrowers, by Mary Norton; and The Wind in the Willows, by Kenneth Grahame, all beautifully illustrated.

In the Activities section you'll find loads of games for all ages, several mathematics books in the Beast Academy series, and many graphic novels, including Big Nate. There are lots of joke books and music CDs, and several books to raise the level of your chess game. And Lego, Lego, Lego: several late '90s vintage collectible sets--Lego Star Wars, Lego Space Police, Lego Space Insectoids, Lego Robo Force, and more!

Rain or shine, it's a good day to visit the Children's Room sale.

-Carolyn Davidson

 
Mysteries and Thrillers

FOPAL has Mystery books from all these nine most famous authors on the shelves now. The author list is found on the web. Want to read the best most interesting books? Here is the list of authors. Tana French, Agatha Christie, Patricia Highsmith, Harlan Coben, Dashiell Hammett, John Le Carre, Laura Lippman, Danna Tartt, P. D. James and Tony Hillerman. You can buy these at low cost and read the best. Stop by Mystery

-Cathy Swan

 
PULPS!

Murder! Lust! Revenge! Bondage!

-Mrs. Blooderworth

 
Self Help/Personal Growth

Blessings for the New Year and have an enjoyable time browsing the well stocked Sections: Popular on Amazon; New Arrivals; previous books and all the marked Subsections (Happiness; Little Books; Mind/Brain; Emotions; Mental Illness; Depression; Overeaters; AA; Marked Down Books; Workbooks; Inspiration; Relationship; Enneagram; Communication; Creativity; Aging; NLP; Grief/Loss). Check out Guided Empathy Meridian Tapping, a unique and powerful healing modality that can have life-changing effects. There are 17 copies (use them to form a group or teach a class?) It sells for $18 on the internet, but here the bargain price is only $2 a copy AND if you buy all 17, you can have them for $18 (just refer the cashiers to this write up). May YOU and ALL Beings be Well and Happy,

-Marnie

 
Sociology/Anthropology

The Sociology/Anthropology section brings together 559 books that explore how societies are formed, challenged, and remembered. The shelves reflect a strong engagement with questions of race, power, identity, and social change, alongside classic and contemporary works in cultural anthropology and archaeology. Readers will find studies of urban life, migration, inequality, and political movements, as well as global perspectives ranging from ancient civilizations to present-day struggles for justice. The section balances scholarly analysis with accessible narratives, making it inviting both for academic readers and for those browsing out of curiosity.

Among the standout titles is bell hooks's Rock My Soul: Black People and Self-Esteem, a deeply influential work that examines how racism and internalized oppression shape personal and collective identity, written by one of the most important voices in critical race and feminist theory. Another highlight is Ta-Nehisi Coates's The Message, which reflects on storytelling, power, and memory, and demonstrates how cultural narratives shape political realities. Together, these works exemplify the section's focus on understanding society through both critical inquiry and lived experience.

 
Judaica

Browse the Judaica section for books on the Jewish religion and culture including editions of the Torah and other basic texts, Kabbalah, Jewish history, the Holocaust, memoirs, Israel, Jewish Women, the Jewish American Experience and other related subjects.

Special this month -

• Treasures of Jewish Art - Grace Cohen Grossman
• The House On Garibaldi Street
• Words That Hurt, Words That Heal: How To Choose Words Wisely And Well
• Illness and Health in the Jewish Tradition
• The Boy On The Wooden Box
• The Lonely Man of Faith
• From Chaos to Harmony: the Solution to the Global Crisis According to the Wisdom of Kabbalah

Most fiction with Jewish themes will be found in Modern Literature/Classics or Current Fiction. Books entirely in Hebrew are shelved in the European Languages section.

Shelf photos at <https://fopalbooks.com/judaica.html>

-Charlotte Epstein, Judaica Section Manager

 
Curious Books

This month Curious Books has received plentiful new material. (New in the sense of not having been on these shelves previously, as I suspect many have been read.)

Here are books that encourage you to smile, to ponder, and to act.

Shelf pictures at <https://fopalbooks.com/curious.html>.

-Donya W.

 
Maps

Check out our new and vastly improved selection of Maps at the East window next to Poetry. Exciting new categories include Vintage and Topographical Maps. Check out our great selection of waterproof topo maps!

-Mapman Crothers

 
History

Get a head start on Black History Month with some books from the History section! There are also some nice historical atlases.

-Lin McAllister

 
Donations

We accept donations on Monday through Saturday from 3-5 pm in the Main Room, with extended hours on Saturday so that we are open for donations from 1-5 pm that day. But we close to donations in the week before the sale so that we can prepare the Main Room for the sale, which means that we are closed for donations from Sunday January 4 through Sunday January 11. Please hold your donations until Monday January 12.

We will also be closed on Monday January 19 for the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday.

Please read our donation guidelines before you bring materials to us. Also look at that page if you need to bring us a donation larger than six boxes or outside our usual donation times, it has information on scheduling appointments and requesting a pickup.

In addition to books, vinyl, DVDs, CDs, toys, etc. We now accept the following types of donations:

• Cameras
• Tools
• Watches
• Clocks
• Typewriters

See our full list of accepted donations at fopal.org/donate.

 
Suggestions?

We're always eager to hear your suggestions for ways to improve our book sale. Please email us at suggestions@friendspaloaltolib.org.