At TC book sale, a chance to search out unknown gems

There is a book out there that you would want, I bet, if only you knew it existed.

Finding an unknown gem is one of the thrills of major book events such as the Times Colonist book sale, which takes place this Saturday and Sunday.

You might find a book that you would never see in a store. You might a book that is perfect for you, but it was never a bestseller, or it was published in another country, or whatever.

Our little book sale — OK, to be honest, one of the largest in North America — has hundreds of books like that, in just about every category.

One person’s oddity is another person’s breathtaking discovery. We have something for everyone.

Your chance for a special find comes this weekend. The annual TC book sale will be held from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Saturday and from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday at the Victoria Curling Club at 1952 Quadra St.

The sale helps the Times Colonist Literacy Society raise funds for school libraries and literacy projects throughout our coverage area.

But back to the subject at hand: There is nothing wrong with many books that are in low demand — trust me on this, I have written a few — if they meet one of your special interests.

One of your neighbours found a book somewhere, maybe online, maybe while travelling. They bought it, brought it here, and 10 days ago donated it to us.

Some examples of special finds:

Dictionary of the Chinook Jargon or Indian Trade Language of the North Pacific Coast. (One constant in all these years of book sales: Anything on Indigenous topics is in high demand.)

The Tale of the Dueling Neurosurgeons: The History of the Human Brain as Revealed by True Stories of Trauma, Madness and Recovery. (Not much more to be said about that.)

Napoleon’s Hemorrhoids: And Other Small Events that Changed History. (Again, not much more can be said, but we can commiserate.)

Dreaming of Diana: The dreams Diana, Princess of Wales, inspired. (A royalty from each book sold was donated to the Osteopathic Centre for Children.)

Plato and a Platypus Walk Into a Bar…: Understanding philosophy through jokes. (When you look up, what do you see?)

And a few on being less than honest:

How To Talk About Places You’ve Never Been: on the importance of armchair travel. (A few years ago, I picked up Panache: The fine art of faking it. It’s come in handy a few times.)

Commander in Cheat: How Golf Explains Trump. (File this under: Politics? Sports? Humour?)

Ed Broadbent: The Pursuit of Power. (OK, this book has a trick: Open it up to reveal a compartment for hiding valuables. Just a reminder to open all books before you buy them.)

With children’s books and softcovers priced at $2 and hardcovers at $4, there are plenty of bargains to be had this weekend.

For example, The Census and Social Structure: An Interpretive Guide to 19th Century Censuses from England and Wales is a hardcover, so it’s $4 at our sale.

What is it worth? On Abebooks, prices range from $3.72 (plus $16.22 shipping) to $422.47 (plus $13.67 shipping). If this book is just what you need, you’re not likely to find it at a better price anywhere. Assuming you knew to look for it, of course.

The TC sale also features a great selection of books by or about local people.

One example: Frances Backhouse’s excellent Children of the Klondike. She also wrote one called Women of the Klondike. I didn’t see a copy, but odds are we have one.

How about Billy Foster: The Victoria Flash, Bob Kehoe’s book on the race car driver. Or Canada on Wheels: A Portfolio of Early Canadian Cars by John De Bondt, a highly regarded automotive historian who is at rest in Royal Oak Burial Park.

There is also, it must be said, a great selection of super-popular books, the ones that everyone bought at the same time, and that everyone read (or gave up on) at the same time.

You will find plenty of Obama books in the biography section, and a few more in boxes under the tables. I am sure we will have some left when the sale wraps up on Sunday.

There are multiple copies of most Obama titles. I could only find one copy of one of them, but then, maybe most readers don’t know about it.

Which takes me back to my point: This sale is the place to find treasures.

See you Saturday.

For more information or to donate to the Times Colonist Literacy Society, go to tcreads.ca.