If You Could Add One Book to Your Library.....

If I could add one book to my library it would be...

The Annotated Classic Fairy Tales by Maria Tatar

Not only do I love the way this book looks, but fairy tales are what made me love reading when I was a little girl. They entranced me and made me realize books were my favorite things in the world.

Probably Smoke and Mirrors byNeil Gaiman. I like short stories, and I've been exploring Neil Gaiman's stuff beyond his comics work (The Sandman is really good, I'm not knocking his Comics work).

The 12-volume exquisitely illustrated Handbook Of The Birds Of The World - $250 per volume - a monumental work.

The Oxford English Dictionary, the whole thing, if that counts as one book.

Well, there are always dozens at any given time that I'm lusting after... So I'll go with my desire of the day: First editions of Little Wars and Floor Games by H.G. Wells. I don't know why, but I just want the first editions (not re-issues) and I want them NOW. :::pout:::

Little Wars? I looked at that and it reminded me of my days as a Warhammer enthusiast. Looks like fun, even with a re-issue copy...

citygirl beat me to it. I want an OED so bad. Complete with the little magnifying glass.

if you get one, tell me what "squamous" means!

If, while dusting off the cover of an old and shelfworn copy of the Arabian Nights, a book genie appeared and granted me one book, no restrictions, printed in the last 100 years, my request would be a copy of Bruce Rogers' 1935 Oxford Lectern Bible (title page).

This is in part because copies now cost as much as a new car, and in part because I am lucky enough to already have a Compact OED. (TeenAuthor: scaly, or resembling scales.)

how can you guys do it? I am aghast at your abilities! I sat here and tried to think of one book (only) of those millions out there to add, and NOTHING beats out any other work clearly, (althoiugh that OED is purty close). Wait a minute! There is one! A bookbinder friend of mine rebound my first novel in red leather and gold leaf and it is somewhere on this planet but not in my library. Maybe in Missouri. Will find out this next week.

> #8

Suqamous:
Pronunciation: 'skwA-m&s also 'skwä-
Function: adjective
Etymology: Middle English, from Latin squamosus, from squama scale
1 a : covered with or consisting of scales : SCALY b : of, relating to, or being a stratified epithelium that consists at least in its outer layers of small scalelike cells
2 : of, relating to, or being the anterior upper portion of the temporal bone of most mammals including humans

"My ex-spouse smoked so much that her hair texture went beyond sticky to having a near squalmous feel to it. It further supported my claims that she used to crawl between rocks to aid her molting process."

I've got 4 pages worth of books on my To-Find list, but none of them are "absolute must-haves".

I don't really have one that I really, really want. My dad probably wants some 18th century religious book (which I've found, but not for less than $100, which we can't afford for a book) and my mom wants an original copy of Culpeper's Herbal. I want to finish the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series by Douglas Adams and I collect old children's books, though. Nothing really special or interesting.

This is not one book, but a set. I would love to have the multi-volume Golden Bough. Several years ago, I had a chance to get the set for $300, but budget would not allow. I have regretted this ever since. Now, I am back where I am not sure budget would allow, even at that low price.

I got The Ultimate Hitchhiker's Guide today for $26 Aus when it's usually $50 Aus. Bonus!

I'd like the book that Hermione had in HP and the Deathly Hallows, the one left to her by Dumbledore, because I read that JK Rowling really has written and published it privately as a gift for a few friends.

I'd like two really, one to read and one to sell.

Darrol,

For Christmas this year, I bought myself the first edition of The Golden Bough. I have to tell you, it was not 300$, but every time I see it in my library, I get a warm feeling inside. I also managed to snag a signed copy of Margaret Mead's Sex and Temperament.

*wrings hands*

I can't choose!