Book News
Paradise for rare-book lovers.
An early copy of “Paradise Lost” could be paradise found for a John Milton enthusiast as the annual Calgary book sale has unearthed a rare copy of this epic poem.
The early edition, from the 1700s, is expected to fetch several hundred dollars when it goes up for sale this month.
How the copy has traveled through the centuries to arrive at the Calgary Book Drive and Sale is a mystery, said rare books coordinator Inese Clark. “In a lot of ways, it’s always interesting. We wonder where these early books come from,” she said. This time, it simply showed up in a box along with other books donated to the sale.
“Paradise Lost” isn’t the only gem that has been unearthed by volunteers preparing for the event. A first edition of John Steinbeck’s “The Wayward Bus,” published in 1947 and signed by the author, also will be up for sale.
Also on the shelves will be a first edition of “The Haunted Man and the Ghost’s Bargain,” by Charles Dickens.
First Lines
Hailey’s War by Jodi Compton
The moon rises over the mountains of central Mexico, a nearly full moon in a sky the deep blue of an hour past sunset.
Get up.
I’m lying on a slope just down from a rural highway, lying in a mix of slate and grass and dirt that is damp with blood. There is dirt in my eyelashes and blood in what little of my hair I can see. There isn’t much pain, but I’m very, very tired.
Get up or you’ll die here.
My memories of what happened are inexact. I remember driving on a narrow highway through the mountains and into a dim tunnel with rough stone walls. Then this, looking up at the mountain ridge and the sky. I don’t know how I got from the tunnel to here. It seems impossible, but I think I was shot.
I search my memories for some explanation. A rough voice: You’re one of our most promising cadets. I hate like hell to see this happen to you.
No, that was too long ago.
A younger voice: Pack up just what you need, I’m getting you out of L.A.
That’s not it, either.
I’m so tired, I just want to close my eyes. Except for that moon. It’s getting brighter and higher, like God lifting his lamp, looking for his lost sheep.
I think the highway is up the slope, above me. If I were nearer to it, someone might see me. It might make a difference.
I get to my hands and knees, swaying, and put the waxing moon in my sights.
On your feet, soldier. You can do this. You’re made outta this.
Then I stand up.
Independent BestSellers
Fiction
1. The Help, by Kathryn Stockett
2. 61 Hours, by Lee Child
3. Innocent, by Scott Turow
4. The Imperfectionists, by Tom Rachman
5. Dead in the Family, by Charlaine Harris
Nonfiction
1. Women Food and God, by Geneen Roth
2. The Big Short, by Michael Lewis
3. War, by Sebastian Junger
4. Spoken From the Heart, by Laura Bush
5. The Promise: President Obama, Year One, by Jonathan Alter
