Lost/Found -- Things FOUND in a Used Book

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Lost/Found -- Things FOUND in a Used Book

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1Fullmoonblue
Editat: ag. 30, 2008, 2:46 am

Hi all,

I just read a note on the BM forum about items people have found tucked inside used books. It made me think to start a discussion on that same topic here.

I thought this might be funny, and also potentially helpful.

For instance... Have you ever bought a used book and found something interesting tucked inside? Have you ever slipped a bookmark or significant newspaper article into a book before passing it along? Have you ever found a photo inside a mooched book, and wondered if it belonged to the person you mooched from...? Have you ever purchased a used book simply because, while you flipped through it, you found something hilarious (or touching, or strange) slipped between its pages...?

Share what you've lost, or what you've found!

Elizabeth ('fullmoonblue')

---

My most recent find: a slim packet of flower seeds.

2ozpierre
ag. 30, 2008, 4:44 am

Elizabeth...
your post reminded me of this story in a local paper this week http://www.illawarramercury.com.au/news/local/news/general/wwi-soldiers-letter-f...

3amaranthic
ag. 30, 2008, 5:04 am

I recently found an old passport in a book I bought at my local used bookstore. In a surreal turn of events, it was my dad's. Not really sure how that came about.

4mckait
ag. 30, 2008, 5:25 am

Message 3: amaranthic, that is very interesting. The universe meant for you to have that book. What a treasure!

5mint910
ag. 30, 2008, 6:07 am

Last week I got a bookmark from the movie School of Rock in a book. One time in a book from a used bookstore there was a note from the giver to the receiver of the book taped in on a piece of paper. It said something like "I was in the area this book takes place while I was in (insert country name) and I thought you might enjoy this". I like finding things in books as long as they are nice things and not gross things ;)

6crimson-tide
ag. 30, 2008, 6:39 am

I've found all sorts of things in used books over the years. One time I found a review of the book written out long hand - probably for a book club? Another was a newspaper article literary review (quite old) of the book in question. Other times there have been bookmarks, birthday or Christmas cards, postcards, recipes, pressed flowers, scraps of paper with phone numbers on them, and a mud map drawn for directions to someone's house (perhaps another book club?).

7kaykwilts
ag. 30, 2008, 7:50 am

Two weeks ago today I was at our local Friends of the Library sale and I opened up a book and found $120.00. I reported it to the library. They put it aside in case someone reported it missing. Kind of careless to stick money in a book.

8brigneti
ag. 30, 2008, 10:27 am

I think the only thing I've found is an old Boarding Pass.

9madamlibbytellsall
ag. 30, 2008, 11:56 am

I received a book (English version) with a newspaper clipping of a review (in German) of one of the author's other books.

In another book I found a note (very carefully worded) telling the recipients the givers thought they could use the information contained in the book. It was a book on money management given to a young couple for Christmas. The book looked like it had never been opened, much less read so I doubt they read the note either.

10TheresaHPIR
ag. 30, 2008, 2:15 pm

I received a ghost story book stuffed with some print outs of other local legends...definitely a treat!

11booknutzz
ag. 30, 2008, 8:02 pm

Kaykwilts, I've done that. It usually happened when I've been shopping with my sister and I've stuck some money she gave me into the book I'm reading or vice versa, but never that much. I've found pressed flowers; school pictures, pictures of pets (horses & kitties); recipes cut from the newspaper; poems torn out of a magazine; a variety of bookmarks (homemade, bought, and ads for various bookstores); cards and even a wedding invitation.

12Adobe
ag. 31, 2008, 1:45 am

In the past, I've found photographs, postcards, plane tickets, and Monopoly money.

13katttg
Editat: ag. 31, 2008, 9:09 am

I just got a book with a fortune from a fortune cookie in it. It said, "Today will be a good day." and it was!

14torontoc
ag. 31, 2008, 9:31 am

O.K. the most unusual thing that I found in a Bookmooch book was a dead bug.I got rid if it and then I put the book in a plastic bag and into the freezer for a few days.

15PortiaLong
ag. 31, 2008, 9:53 am

I found a handprinted address on a piece of paper inside an old science-fiction anthology - for the L-5 Society. That gave me a smile. I've found recipes and knitting instructions (in books to which they were not relevant). Schoolgirl notes passed in class. Lists of books (I'm assuming someone's book shopping list). I like finding old 1940s tear-off order cards from the back cover (on old pulp sci-fi) used as bookmarks - 15 cents, what a deal! And the campy artwork is adorable.

On the LOSING side of things - someone will have a nice surprise when they find about 10 "Silver Certificates" in a book they pick up at a flea market or library book sale. My mother tucked them in a big fat book to flatten them and now doesn't remember which book it was...she can't find them now so assumes she has given the book away. (Sorry guys, none of my BM ones - I checked!)

16chrystalm
ag. 31, 2008, 10:28 am

I found some old black and white photos in a mooched book. Immediately I contacted the sender, but they said they were not theirs.

17mcna217
ag. 31, 2008, 1:02 pm

I recently was shopping for used books at a local thrift store. I saw a biography of Diane Arbus that looked interesting but was in poor condition. I began leafing through it trying to decide whether it was worth buying. There was an postcard advertisement inside that had probably been used as a bookmark. It was addressed to Dorothy Allison who wrote one of my all time favorite books, Bastard Out of Carolina. I knew she lived nearby, but I was still shocked and thrilled to find one of her books. Of course, I had to buy it.

18buddysmom78
ag. 31, 2008, 1:34 pm

i too love dorothy allison good for you mcna217!!! have you read cavedweller?

in a book i bought at a church sale here in utica ny i found a $25.39 store credit receipt to old navy!!! hahaha

19mcna217
set. 1, 2008, 12:46 am

#18 No, I haven't read Cavedweller but I own it and hope to soon. I have read her her short story collection, Trash. I enjoyed it but not nearly as much as Bastard out of Carolina.

20vintage_books
set. 1, 2008, 3:20 pm

I've found pressed flowers, an old dye package (last Saturday), a memorial card from a funeral service (yesterday), pictures, old postcards, a nest of dead beetles in the spine of a book**, and many miscellaneous pieces of paper (grocery lists, receipts, notes, etc). Nothing as cool as my Dad's passport though, that's pretty amazing.

**I contacted the seller and told her my story. She refused to believe me. I offered pictures and to return the book, and she said she didn't want it. So, she didn't believe me, and didn't want it back, but grugingly refunded the cost me anyway. And yes, it was very gross. Nice book though...

21veevoxvoom
set. 1, 2008, 4:14 pm

I haven't found too many interesting things in books but just yesterday I did find a photograph of a children's school play in a library book. It was pretty cool. I like seeing the possible lives of those who've read the book before me.

22brigneti
set. 1, 2008, 9:13 pm

I just found detailed instructions on how to recreate someone's signature (explained by said person)... I think she's a friend of someone I lent the book to.

23atimco
set. 1, 2008, 9:19 pm

I found a newspaper article on C. S. Lewis in a Lewis book once.

24bookel
set. 2, 2008, 6:42 am

In one BM book I received was a nice Garfield bookmark (okay... Garfield was being mean to Jon! as usual) that from memory is copyright 1978.

Years ago I found half a broken heart, youi know the silver charm that goes on necklaces. No idea where the other half was. And I forget which book it came in.

25jjmcgaffey
set. 4, 2008, 1:42 pm

I got a black-and-white photo of a boy/young man - when I found it I pulled it out, then later found it again and thought it was a picture of my grandfather (it looks a _lot_ like him in old photos my mom has!), but it's got a different name on the back. Don't now remember what book it was in.

26kaykwilts
set. 4, 2008, 1:55 pm

I get a lot of cookbooks at thrift shops and I'm always finding handwritten recipes on pieces of paper stuck in those books.

Sometimes I find the receipt for when the book was originally purchased.

27WildMaggie
set. 4, 2008, 8:37 pm

A US Civil War soldier's letter home describing the looted house outside Savannah, Georgia, and it former (dead) owners where he was billetted with Gen. Sherman's troops and where he picked up a box of sword-damaged, worm-eatened volumes, in one of which we found this letter. Dad brought the box home after clearing out his Mother's things but nobody in the family has any idea where it originally came from or who the letter writer was. He wrote a lovely letter, though.

28Fullmoonblue
set. 10, 2008, 2:39 am

27 -- that sounds amazing! It must've felt so strange to read a letter like that; something so old, and by hand.

On a lighter note, I found an 'I Love NY' postcard today, which really made me smile, because I enclosed one of those with a book I mailed overseas once!! :)

29WildMaggie
set. 10, 2008, 11:41 am

28 -- It was really cool once we figured out what it was. The handwriting was a little hard to read and it was all squeezed onto a single sheet of thin paper. Unfortunately, it's fading so I typed out the text but that's not the same as holding the actual piece of paper the soldier wrote home on more than 145 years ago.

Now you have a new I LOVE NY card to send to someone. I also got a city promotional bookmark in a BM book; from London. It was cool to think about the last person reading that book maybe on the tube or double-decker bus. Reminded that these places that seem so distant and exotic aren't just historic or tourist destinations but living cities.

30Rachael
set. 10, 2008, 11:50 am

I just found in a used book a credit card & bookstore receipt from 2000, when the book was purchased. I've found other receipts before, so it's nothing unusual, but t's kinda cool to see what other things the person got at the same time. The book was purchased in Santa Rosa, CA, and I just bought it a few weeks ago at a used bookstore in Mendocino, CA. I wonder, did the person not like the book? Or like it but not enough to keep it?

And last night, thumbing through another used book that I purchased years ago, I found an old Indian Airlines cabin baggage receipt. I couldn't see the date on it but it looked kinda old.

I lent a book about Venice to my husband's co-worker who went there with her boyfriend a few months ago, and she returned it, with their train ticket receipts from Pisa inside.

31vintage_books
Editat: set. 10, 2008, 9:48 pm

Just found a 1960's business card from the San Jose Police Department, Uniformed Division at City Hall. :)

And, as I was listing bibles from an estate, I found lots and lots and lots of bible pamphlets inside books.

All books are going on BookMooch.

32Macophile
set. 24, 2008, 6:26 pm

I've tucked money into books myself, but I always spend it before I can finish the book. ;)

I used to work in a library as a shelver/book finder (only if the librarian was busy or lazy) so I found a lot of stuff in the books I had to put back in order and shelve. I've found pens, random kids drawings, homework, other books (tucked inside bigger ones), library cards, a credit card, napkins (some used, some not), computer disks, and once I found a shoelace.

In books I've brought home from the library or I bought at the used book sale I've found a very old manufacturers coupon for Cheerios, bookmarks, religious cards (I live in a neighborhood with 6 churches in a 2 block radius), shopping receipts, other peoples homework, and one time I found someone's work ID in a library book (returned to the librarian).

33Fullmoonblue
set. 25, 2008, 2:39 am

32 -- that must've been an interesting side of the job. The things we use as bookmarks...!

I once found a college student's tuition bill (and gasp was it huge) and a thank-you note for a graduation gift, written but unsent, in a used textbook. Bought it at a school bookstore, though, and it was from a different university... if it had been mooched, maybe I could've sent them back to their owner. :)

Finding boarding passes and ticket stubs always makes me smile. I mooched a travel guide to Turkey once and found a used ticket to visit the imperial harem of an Ottoman palace tucked inside. The especially cool thing was that I had once visited the same site, and only a few months difference in the dates.

34mene
set. 25, 2008, 4:04 am

I recently bought a book on the history of Japan (2nd hand) and it had lots of newspaper articles in it :) Yay extra information! I do that too with certain books, but for my space-encyclopaedia I've stopped doing that a while ago - I think there are now more articles than pages in that book...

35PortiaLong
set. 26, 2008, 12:51 pm

Just found an unused hotel postcard printed in 1968 for The New Commodore Perry "Motor Inn" Toledo, Ohio "Motel Convenience - Hotel Service. New Drive-In Entrance. Three entrance lanes under heated canopy for easy access to Lobby just inside. Free parking for registered guests." The stylized drawing on the front is classic 1960s...

Found in a copy of The Communist Manifesto printed in 1954.

36starfishian
set. 28, 2008, 2:10 am

I just found an old ticket for O'Farrell Theatre, New York City Live. Since the book dates from around 1978, I'm guessing the ticket does too. And judging by where it was inserted in the book, the owner never got past the second page!

37Tiare
Editat: set. 28, 2008, 3:02 pm

I found a black and white photo of a child inside one of my books - think that's the only thing I've found!

38Valiant_Lucy
set. 28, 2008, 2:28 pm

I often find other people's library receipts in library books. Lots of fun seeing what other people are taking out! :P

39starfishian
set. 28, 2008, 3:16 pm

Re my message 36 - out of curiosity I just googled O'Farrell Theatre, New York City Live - I'm having a good laugh over where this ticket appears to have come from!

40Fullmoonblue
Editat: set. 28, 2008, 3:28 pm

39: uh-oh, can't let that comment slide...!

I'm guessing an (ahem) cabaret of sorts?

ETA: wow! I love the bit about Dianne Feinstein in the 'History' section of the O'Farrell's Theatre entry on Wikipedia...

41mckait
Editat: set. 28, 2008, 5:02 pm



interesting.....

42Alice_Wonder
set. 28, 2008, 11:35 pm

Our school bought a bunch of books from an estate sale. While browsing through a book on American Folk Art I found someone's marijuana stash --a nice collection of pressed "leaves." I'm glad I caught that before the book went on the library shelves. I'll bet that would have been a popular book for sure!

43vintage_books
set. 28, 2008, 11:37 pm

Picked up a few free books in front of a charity shop yesterday (my husband was less than enthused, lol). I found recipes inside a vintage Better Homes & Garden Cookbook. It was very sweet.

44LA12Hernandez
oct. 5, 2008, 3:39 am

I found a book at a second hand book store and in it was a post card of Pope Pius Xll. On the back was written "Private Audience October 1957. Rome". I just had to by the book because I was born in December of 1957.

45usnmm2
oct. 5, 2008, 5:14 am

I bought an old copy of The sundowners by Jon Cleary (which is a book about a family in Australia) from a dealer in Oreagon.In the book was a $1.00 bill from Canada, an envelope from Denten, Texas sent to a person in Trenton , New Jersey and a piece of paper with a name and address of a Karen from Lincoln, Nebraska. There must be a story in there somewhere.

46Heather19
oct. 5, 2008, 1:58 pm

45: Wooow. Definitely a story in there. lol

47Sean191
oct. 9, 2008, 11:18 am

Plenty of bookmarks of course. Some postcards - some had been mailed. One book in particular had a number of cutouts from magazines possibly slipped between the pages probably about 20 in all - the book was an old schoolbook from the late 1800s. Majority of the cutouts were of spoons. Weird.

48veevoxvoom
nov. 4, 2008, 2:23 pm

I just found a check for 15 dollars in a BM book. I guess the last owner forgot to cash it in?

49Rubbah
Editat: nov. 4, 2008, 2:53 pm

In an old collected works of shakespeare I found a newspaper article about the globe theatre and a globe theatre ticket.

50Heather19
nov. 4, 2008, 8:21 pm

49: Which globe theatre? *curious, as I used to work at the Old Globe in San Diego*

51Rubbah
nov. 5, 2008, 1:21 pm

the one in stratford upon avon

52vintage_books
nov. 5, 2008, 1:53 pm

Picked up a lot of books last month through library book sales and a large giveaway at an Estate.

Found: pictures (kinda scary - the kind where the person is staring at the camera with no smile), old business cards, flowers, bills (left that in the book), appointment card, religious brochures and more stuff I forgot but will have to add later. Some books I am Bookmooching, and left goodies in occasionally for the new owner to find and enjoy. :)

53jjmcgaffey
nov. 5, 2008, 2:18 pm

51> In London, you mean? There's no Globe in Stratford on Avon, that I know of. The recreated Globe Theatre in London is wonderful - good theater and fascinating archeological exhibit. I saw The Tempest there a few years ago.

54Rubbah
Editat: nov. 6, 2008, 11:31 am

Yes I do mean london, and I knew that and now i look stupid :)
whoops, i'll go hide in a corner now and hang my head :)

edited for typo

55jjmcgaffey
nov. 6, 2008, 10:16 pm

OK - I thought they might have built one in S-on-A as well. Inappropriate, but Shakespeare fever does cause some odd events!

56skittles
nov. 7, 2008, 10:57 am

If I remember correctly, there is a Globe theatre in Stratford, Ontario, Canada....

57nickybitelove
gen. 11, 2009, 3:37 pm

I had always loved the book Le Petit Prince, and never had the English translation. On a whim I went to the local second hand book shop and found a copy. Inside was a dedication (in French) from the original buyer to the person it was for. It translated to "Thank you for knocking on my door" and was dated 1977.

58benuathanasia
Editat: gen. 11, 2009, 4:19 pm

I used my college transcripts as a bookmark in a book I lent to a teacher once (Ten Things You Can't Say in America) during a time I was disputing whether or not the credits should be applied to my current transcript (transfer credits are such a pain in the rumpus). Needless to say I wasn't able to get the book back from the teacher for one full year (the week after I got my credits straightened out).

I also found a business card with a handwritten address on the back inside a copy of Wicked I bought at a tag sale; I made my mother turn the car around so I could return the "bookmark". Turns out it was the address where they could reach their child in Iraq or Afghanistan...not exactly something you want to be so careless with.

Update: I just found a bookmark in a book I got from the Niantic Book Barn (greatest used book store in the continental US, hands-down). It was in a copy of The Scarlet Letter; it says "A room without books is as a body without a soul - Cicero."
Very lovely and appropriate, don't you think?

59veevoxvoom
Editat: gen. 11, 2009, 6:45 pm

I found a wedding invitation in one of my books today. I thought it was sweet.

60EmScape
gen. 11, 2009, 7:16 pm

I found an envelope with a check to a utility company (unsealed and unmailed). It was dated 1978. I found this in the last couple years. The utility company, in Wadena, MN no longer exists. Judging by the shakiness of the handwriting, I'd assume the check-writer no longer exists either.

61mstrust
gen. 29, 2009, 8:03 pm

I found an old postcard for NYC German restaurant called Luchow's inside a German cookbook. Also, when I moved away from home about 10 years ago, my mother sent me off with an old beat-up leather bound cookbook from the late 50's. Inside I found many old business cards from that time period, including some from a Dallas newspaper my father had worked at as a young man. Turns out, the cookbook hadn't been Mom's but Dad's from his bachelor days and he wanted those business cards back.

62MissDotty
feb. 1, 2009, 2:05 pm

I think the only thing I have ever found was a receipt but I have loved reading through what everyone else has found!

63pennylegionbooks
Editat: feb. 18, 2009, 9:09 pm

I often find notes written by previous book owners, sometimes topical and sometimes not. My copy of A Passage to India came with this written in the back cover (verbatim):

"I don’t understand — I still don’t really understand why he wants to see other people. Why does he need to kiss them? Yuk. it must be that he needs to put himself in a situation where something could happen and see if he could allow it to. almost as thought he’s testing his feelings/love for me. Perhaps he wants to see if he could kiss someone else too. if he feels something when he kisses them then… to me this seems a bit naive. i’m sure if i put myself in a situation where i was with someone i’d always found attractive i’d be able to kiss them. if I put myself in that situation with brooke actually i don’t know. has about danielle? I have this feeling if i did it would be disappointing. I’m not sure — the thought of him kissing someone else makes me want to throw up. I can talk about this forever with everyone and still I feel nauseous when I think about it."

Drama!

64Sophie236
feb. 18, 2009, 12:14 pm

Feeling a bit nauseous myself, now ...!

65wester
feb. 18, 2009, 2:05 pm

I always put a homemade bookmark in the books I send out, and in a recent mooch I found a lovely bookmark myself. I liked it as much as I hope other people like mine.

66DaynaRT
feb. 18, 2009, 2:07 pm

I put BookMooch cards in the books I send out for PaperBackSwap.

I know one of these days I'm going to get a complaint...

67atimco
feb. 18, 2009, 2:16 pm

63: Ugh! I'm nauseated too! I was eating lunch and everything... :-P

68Fullmoonblue
feb. 18, 2009, 3:52 pm

66 -- Why, you terrible person...! Shocking!!

:)

I was thrilled to get my brand new box of BookMooch bookmarks from John last week. Have begun including a couple with each book I send. It's fun to be able to do that, especially for new members.

I know I always enjoy when a book I mooched arrives with a little something extra tucked inside... In a book I just received over the weekend, I found a lovely bookmark from the UK. (Added it to the little collection in my top desk drawer including bookmarks and postcards from Switzerland, Iran, Ireland...)

I just love, love, love finding treats in my mooches. :)

69vintage_books
feb. 18, 2009, 11:20 pm

I always put bookmarks in books I'm sending out too. :)

Today I found this in an old book:

70geophile
feb. 19, 2009, 6:12 am

#69:

Now that's COOL! I wonder how old it is?
(Obviously no older than the development of rayon).

71AnnaClaire
feb. 19, 2009, 11:34 am

>69 vintage_books:
I second calling that cool! Did it still have the dye in it? or was it just the label?

72vintage_books
feb. 19, 2009, 4:15 pm

>70 geophile:, 71. Thanks for thinking it's cool! That particular weaving book also had a vintage piece of binder paper and a 1970's rip out card for some ladies magazine. LOL!

This particular book was from a Craigslist ad where a woman was giving away her mother's 10,000 books. Really!

I went over to her house and grabbed 8 boxes of books, all craft or history subjects. There was a book dealer ahead of me who grabbed 50 boxes for his truck and said it was his second load in two days.

This is probably the 6th dye packet I've found in one of her books. This one had an old paper bag inside the dye packaging, but I've found dye + packages in other books.

I haven't gone through all her books yet, but she seemed to like to add things as placeholders. Also found a (not so nice) photo of a lady, but misplaced it. Will post when I find it, so you can cringe too. :)

73mstrust
feb. 19, 2009, 8:29 pm

I went to a huge used book sale earlier this week and in one of my books I found a pristine visitors card from a Masonic temple in Iowa with a postmark dated 1956. It's in such perfect and fresh condition that it had obviously been inside this book since it's arrival.

74soniaandree
feb. 20, 2009, 4:50 am

Well, I work as a volunteer in the local library. Just two days ago, my colleague and I found the nude picture of one of the female readers in a donation schoolbook (geography), probably placed as a bookmark. I had a good laugh, as I am not prudish, but my colleague was more than a bit miffed. It was awkward, since we know the person, but we returned the piccie to her by mail. Still, better safe than sorry, especially if kids' books are concerned.

soniaandree

75jillianmarie
feb. 20, 2009, 5:14 am

I work in a charity book shop we have a a pin board in the back room for all the photos that get left in our donated books, but the best find ever was £100 in notes left in a fiction paperback with no way of tracing the owner, brilliant for the charity!

76atimco
feb. 20, 2009, 10:02 am

74: Not wanting to see naked people doesn't automatically make you "prudish"! I don't think I'd enjoy that sight either.

But what a thing to stumble upon!

77Fullmoonblue
Editat: feb. 20, 2009, 1:41 pm

75: Oooh... what fantastic bookmarks!

The closest I've ever come to finding money in a used book was when I discovered a lottery ticket in a thrift shop paperback. It was a winning scratch-off ticket worth... one dollar! However it was also three years old (and thus expired) and from another state to boot...

I keep looking, though. ;)

78blackpantherreader
Editat: abr. 5, 2009, 6:37 pm

Now that I've read these stories im deffently going to put a little something in each of the books I give out!

79Neverwithoutabook
abr. 6, 2009, 12:11 am

I've started including a local scenic postcard with books send out.

80Sr_Moreno
abr. 6, 2009, 10:02 am

My partner found a letter in an old book she'd purchased. It was quite heartbreaking, a letter offering forgiveness to an ex-boyfriend who'd cheated on the writer.

81Fullmoonblue
abr. 6, 2009, 7:26 pm

I found a letter addressed to me today in a book I mooched! It was a kind note from its original owner, thanking me for mooching. That someone would take the time to do that really made me smile. :)

82mckait
abr. 16, 2009, 6:33 am

That is a nice thing to do, full moon.. however it is illegal, if the book was sent media mail. I admit to having hidden notes in books myself, despite having been grilled extensively by the clerk at the post office...I don't understand why this ridiculous rule is in force. I find that the more media mail sent books I receive, the more are inspected. I wonder what exactly they do if they find a forbidden note? Can you imagine being hauled off in handcuffs for a card with a kitten on it in a used copy of Alice in Wonderland?

One time I bought a book from Amazon marketplace. The seller included a teeny doll, handmade and very cute. Criminal behavior eh?

:P

83chelonianmobile
abr. 16, 2009, 8:35 am

>82 mckait: That makes no sense! I mean, if you're sending someone a present, and it's a book, naturally you'd include a card or a note. I actually sent along some extra paper with an origami book one time, and I specifically asked the clerk if it was okay. She said it was fine. And what about bookmarks? Oh, USPS.

That said, I found a laminated photograph in a book I recently mooched. If anyone I've mooched from is here and missing a laminated photograph of a friendly-looking white-haired woman in about her mid-60s to 70s (looks like, anyway) let me know! :D

84Sophie236
abr. 16, 2009, 10:33 am

#82 - Well, it may be a rule that is rather difficult to enforce, but it's not altogether ridiculous. Say you sent a book out via media mail (printed paper rate, book rate, whatever), then the post office will charge a certain (and usually slightly lower) rate for that. If you also posted a letter to the same person in a separate envelope, then you would have to pay letter post rate for that.

BUT - if you stick a letter in with the book, then the post office are effectively giving you a free service, and that seems to be something they're not keen on, oddly enough!

85lunacat
abr. 16, 2009, 12:37 pm

#84

Still sounds ridiculous to me. You're still paying for the weight being carried, whether it has a book and a letter, or just a book. Its just like 2 extra pages! Bureaucracy is idiotic sometimes. What is the point in this kind of 'Big Brother' enforcement of rules.

86amckie
abr. 16, 2009, 12:39 pm

Wow, I had never heard of that rule before, definitely sounds silly though!

87kaykwilts
abr. 16, 2009, 1:43 pm

I've found clippings of recipes and bookmarks inside books but the strangest thing I found was when I was at the Friends of the Library sale. I picked up one book and found $120. I was shocked and gave it to the clerk handling the sale. It was in a box of books donated to the library so I don't think they had a way of tracking down the original owner.

88psybre
abr. 16, 2009, 6:10 pm

A set of airline receipt with boarding pass. They must have missed their plane because the book was so good...

89Fullmoonblue
abr. 17, 2009, 12:42 pm

87 -- wow!

re 82 -- "I wonder what exactly they do if they find a forbidden note?" If it's found *after* the packet is out of the sender's possession, I believe they simply charge the receiver additional postage to claim it. In all of my many many mooches, this has happened to me only once. (knocks desk)

However, apparently some items aren't considered contraband. My USPS clerk assured me that a bookmark, a receipt or invoice with 'thanks!' written on it, and newspaper/magazine pages (even with advertisements on them! so long as they're used as wrapping) are all okay.

90twiddleythumbs
abr. 17, 2009, 1:00 pm

once in a library book i found the most intricate paper snowflakes, it looked as if people were putting their own in after they read the book. yes, i did add my own :)

91twiddleythumbs
abr. 17, 2009, 1:00 pm

Aquest missatge ha estat suprimit pel seu autor.

92janoorani24
abr. 17, 2009, 3:38 pm

>88 psybre: - I once missed an airplane because of a good book. It ended up being a very, very expensive copy of The Agony and the Ecstasy. Unfortunately, I don't think I've ever found anything memorable in a used book.

93vintage_books
Editat: ag. 21, 2009, 12:09 am

Just picked up this book off the bookshelf to review for a customer LITTLE JOURNEYS TO THE HOMES OF GREAT REFORMERS VOL. XXI by Elbert Hubbard, published 1907.



Inside the book I found this! This book was apparently a thank you gift from the New York Telephone Company. Be sure to look at the center graphic in the pamphlet.



94geophile
maig 8, 2009, 3:51 pm

>93 vintage_books:
Wow -- that's amazing!

What a keepsake.

95vintage_books
maig 8, 2009, 4:34 pm

:-)

It's really fun. Since I have a large collection of old books, I'm sure I'll find other goodies, especially now that I'm starting to sell off some of my collection and I'm going through books. Fun stuff!

96infiniteletters
maig 8, 2009, 7:40 pm

3 jury duty pamphlets. Unfortunately, more recent than above.

97stevetempo
maig 9, 2009, 8:49 pm

>93 vintage_books: You find is like accessing a time machine...very cool find.

98Gwendydd
maig 9, 2009, 11:09 pm

>89 Fullmoonblue: - That's interesting that your PO clerk told you it was okay to include an invoice. I was once at the PO shipping a book that someone bought from me through Amazon (before I knew about BookMooch). I bought an envelope at the PO and packed the book and an invoice in the envelope while I was waiting in line. When I got to the window and told the clerk I wanted to ship it via Media Mail, he insisted that I could not use Media Mail because he saw me put a piece of paper in the envelope, and Media Mail is *only* for books and media and pieces of paper aren't allowed. I explained that it was an invoice, and he tried to keep arguing with me about it, until another clerk came by and told him to allow it.

Of course, this was when I lived in New York City, where people seem inclined to argue about just about anything, and this was at a PO branch where all the clerks were always really really grumpy. I always felt sorry for them when I went in there.

99GoofyOcean110
Editat: maig 12, 2009, 5:03 pm

In one book I found a business card for a private investigator. Who knows, and I won't even guess, though I suppose I could hire the investigator to find out.

100vintage_books
maig 13, 2009, 3:14 am

>99 GoofyOcean110: Pretty clever, bfertig!


1960's bank deposit papers

101guido47
maig 13, 2009, 3:56 am

I always remember a "death notice": the beloved wife of Albert Harris, professor of Music, aged 38. I found this inside a copy of MILTON. I guess it is from the '30's, but how this little scrap of paper survived all this time...
The front page is inscribed "Gertie ..." in beautiful old fashioned scripty writing, now fading.
The book was published in 1908. It makes my very slow passage through Milton understandable.

Guido.

102averitasm
maig 18, 2009, 2:54 am

found a blue UNO card # 5 and a concert ticket once

103alexa_d
maig 29, 2009, 12:10 am

In a stack of books I got from my great-grandfather a couple of years before he died, I found a hymn he had written in a copy of Shakespeare's Julius Caesar. I kept it secret and meant to reveal its existence when he died so it could be put to music and sung at his funeral, but alas when it actually came to pass, I forgot all about it!

104vintage_books
maig 30, 2009, 1:25 am

That's very moving, lexid523. Are you going to do something with the hymn now?

105Fullmoonblue
juny 2, 2009, 9:56 am

103, 104 -- ditto, great question!

106freddlerabbit
juny 5, 2009, 3:45 pm

I just found a Scottish pound in a book I got through LT! I was completely surprised, as it was in the middle of the book, rather than the front or back or flyleaves, and it just popped out when I picked the book up to move it somewhere. I love foreign currency!

107cdnbookworm
juny 10, 2009, 12:19 pm

I just recieved a note from somone I mooched from in the book giving me other book titles I may enjoy. I thought that was quite sweet.

108Fullmoonblue
juny 17, 2009, 12:26 pm

A friendly Canadian moocher enclosed a postcard from Prince Edward Island... I passed it along to my younger sister (who's been an Anne of Green Gables fan all her life) and she was thrilled... and may finally join BookMooch as a result!

109chelonianmobile
juny 17, 2009, 1:10 pm

I just received a Doctor Who book featuring the Ninth Doctor that had a printout of David Tennant (the Tenth Doctor) cut to bookmark size. I am probably the only one who thinks that's hilarious, but oh well.

I've found at least two different boarding passes in the last few months, which seems a bit more everyday.

110vintage_books
ag. 6, 2009, 11:31 pm

111viciouslittlething
ag. 12, 2009, 4:05 am

The worst was a rasher of bacon dried and stinking in the fly of a book from a charity shop. I just look at the cover, if it's one I want I check the state of the binding and buy, for 25p it was a bargain, but the fat from the bacon made some evil smells. Recycled the book in the end it was Tuck Everlasting.

The next find for me I thought was vile, but my husband liked it. A naked lady photo, amateurish not some clipping from a mag. Found in The Count of Monte Christo.

I love nice notes. If I sell on eBay or give on bookmooch, I generally put in a handmade bookmark with recommendations on it and LT/BM info about me too. It's nice connecting with people. I now have a few extra friends from that, it's nice to know if they enjoyed it too. I have also had a packet of seed, sweet peas and they came up beautiful.

I am a terror for leaving my handwritten review cards in books, it reminds me of what I personally though, usually on an old freebie postcard, the ones you get in the cinema. I also list similar/recommended books. I did this to keep in a book after they have been read, but I generally leave the card in and forget to take it out.

I have some old John Seymour books, and one from BookBarn came full of clippings of articles of his in newspapers and the like. I now do the same with other authors of the like, including Martin Gurdon's Hen and the art of chicken maintenance he had some hilarious articles in the Times recently. And Chas Griffin's Scenes from a smallholding and Bel Crewe and Daniel Butler's 3 page life review 10 years on from Urban Dreams Rural Realities the last was the book that hooked me on smallholding.

112drizzlegirl
ag. 12, 2009, 9:33 am

From books I have recieved from bookmooch I have found pictures of someones children and a cat, as well as a Jack Kerouac postcard. I did try to contact the user about the photos but the never contacted me back. But the Kerouac postcard did start an interesting conversation with my husband who had never heard of him. Oddly enough, I kept the postcard. I also found a reciept of the person buying the book I had mooched, and she had bought it only a few days before I mooched it.

This summer in a yard sale book I found, I believe it was a very old edition of the Scarlet Letter I found postcards from a school in California where they were asking parents what they were going to contribute to the school fair circa early 1960's. The funny thing about this is I live and bought the book in New Hampshire. The weird thing is my husband grew up in Orange County California and the school (which is a private school) still exists and was only about an hour away from his home.

113ladycassilis
ag. 18, 2009, 4:45 am

I buy a lot of old Penguins (1930s/40s) and have found various bits and bobs. My favourites are the bus tickets from that era - different coloured punched cards for different areas/routes. It's a nice little piece of everyday-life from days gone by.

114michellereads
ag. 18, 2009, 9:01 am

I love pieces of everyday life :)

115varielle
ag. 18, 2009, 10:50 am

You guys will probably enjoy this www.forgottenbookmarks.com .

116vintage_books
ag. 18, 2009, 3:08 pm

Oooh! Very nice. Thanks for posting.

vintage_books

117michellereads
ag. 18, 2009, 4:29 pm

Thanks varielle, I'm going to have a look now!

118bookharlot1
ag. 20, 2009, 5:33 pm

I have never found anything in a book, however; I am a person who leaves things in books. Photos, crocheted crosses I 've used as bookmarks - I like this it's like giving a piece of yourself to the next person who reads a book you've passed along.

119vintage_books
ag. 27, 2009, 3:06 am

120WeHomeschool
ag. 27, 2009, 3:55 pm

I found a Deutsch Mark from pre world war I, an advertisement from a German Steamer and an article about Ferdinand all from the same book. They had been pressed in this very heavy book for many years, I would think, as the items are in fabulous condition.

Also, I have found a little girl's school picture from the 1980's judging on style, a #2 Uno card, a laminated red square Candy Land card, several bookmarks and postcards, an old bank receipt from the 1960's, two boarding passes. One for Braniff to fly from Atlanta and one for Delta flying from Houston, a photograph of a 100th birthday celebration, a photo of a couple in Hawaii, a photo of a man's leg in slacks, a few grocery receipts, a grocery list and a long letter from a 16 year old to her dead grandfather.

121Trialia
set. 10, 2009, 10:03 pm

I recently found a biography of Christina Rossetti at a used-book sale, and brought it home to find a newspaper article reviewing that same book folded in between the pages. Unusual and shiny.

122mstrust
oct. 27, 2009, 11:19 am

Not weird but certainly useful- I found a sheet of first class stamps in a recently purchased used book.

123peppermintkiwi
oct. 27, 2009, 2:08 pm

I used to work at Goodwill, where the manager often had me in the books section (loved that manager...).

One afternoon, I found a book where someone had used several of their vacation photos as a bookmark - they all featured the woman either partially or fully nude. Glad to have caught that before a customer did!

124doggroomer
oct. 28, 2009, 12:31 pm

I bought a copy of Life of Pi at the local Goodwill, and found a beautiful pastel drawing of an African woman in it. I framed it & put it on a shelf in my living room, which is decorated with a distinctly African influence. What a deal! The book turned out to be one of my favorites!

I also received a sweet little card in a book I mooched from Sweden, and after having read all these comments, I think I will put a little something extra in the books I send now. Thanks for the inspiration!

125DevourerOfBooks
oct. 28, 2009, 1:44 pm

One of the books I read for the 24 Hour Readathon last weekend came to me via Bookmooch. Inside it I found a photograph....of someone's lamp. There was a desk and a window in the background, but the central focus of the photo was definitely the floor lamp. Very odd.

126infiniteletters
oct. 28, 2009, 3:57 pm

125: Maybe it was for sale (Craigslist or Freecycle or eBay)?

127MrAndrew
oct. 28, 2009, 7:47 pm

Or a lamp fetishist.

128Macophile
oct. 29, 2009, 12:55 am

or the lamp was being held for ransom- and that was the photo send with the ransom note.

129MrAndrew
oct. 29, 2009, 2:29 am

lol.

Send a bag of bulbs, or the lamp gets it.

130Macophile
oct. 29, 2009, 9:27 am

Exactly- or a new extension cord.

131skittles
oct. 29, 2009, 10:34 am

what about "rewire me & give me a new socket while you are at it?"

(but that's too easy of a fix anyway!!)

132amckie
oct. 30, 2009, 9:08 am

> 125 I once found a picture of a desk and a window in a BookMooch book, I wonder if it is the same view pre-lamp ;)

133skittles
oct. 30, 2009, 9:13 am

or post lamp

134MrAndrew
oct. 30, 2009, 10:06 am

or lamppost.

135zweiundzwei
Editat: oct. 30, 2009, 10:39 am

I found a black and white photo of a boy in a book in the Library of Dunedin (I think. It might have been Auckland. Or Christchurch.) and a couple of weeks and thousands of kilometres later a beautiful and cute postcard from Spain to Edinburgh, in which a Joey declared his love to a girl whose name I forgot. It had the appropriate stamps on it, but apparently he never dared to send it. That was in an Amelie Nothomb book in the Edinburgh central library. It now lives on my friends' (also called Joey) refrigerator (also in Edinburgh), though we considered hand-delivering it.
And I just sent a book someone mooched from me. Before I sent it I found a little questionnaire filled out by my neighbour from ten years ago Melissa. Blast from the past! I left it in.

136Minac
oct. 30, 2009, 11:04 am

The most interesting thing I've found in a used book was a physician's certified license for dispensing opium dated 1921!

137dadena
oct. 30, 2009, 2:16 pm

#136

That IS interesting!

138MrAndrew
oct. 30, 2009, 7:28 pm

and useful!

139Macophile
Editat: oct. 31, 2009, 10:43 am

Well, useful if you could pass for a doctor that was alive in 1921 (I'm assuming a Dr. licensed for that was not in his early 20's- so he would at least be 100 now). Or if you could make an argument that the license was still valid. (Do they ever expire?)

140lunacat
oct. 31, 2009, 12:45 pm

#139

I would imagine they expire when the owner of said license expires ;)

141mstrust
nov. 6, 2009, 5:32 pm

I found two things in a copy of The Complete Father brown bought recently- a ticket stub to the California Angels spring training against the Oakland A's in 1994 and a postcard of Picasso's "Bullfight" dated 1991.

142ms.hjelliot
nov. 7, 2009, 12:59 pm

I found three four-leaf clovers pressed between sheets of paper in a recent bookmooch book.

143welsh-green
nov. 8, 2009, 5:45 pm

sure if this has been posted before, but check this site out. some interesting finds!

http://www.thingsinbooks.com/

144CFiveSix
nov. 9, 2009, 1:14 pm

I have found bookmarks, recipes, a postcard from a moochee in Pennsylvania, a brochure for a hotel, and a bug. Except for bugs I love finding things in books!

145callmejacx
ag. 16, 2010, 10:09 pm

Why I never found these posts before is beyond me. Very interesting finds. It's been fun reading them. I think that I have only found a bookmark in a book before. Most of my books are used but I guess I am not as lucky as some of you. I will certainly keep my eyes open.

146jillianmarie
ag. 17, 2010, 5:19 am

A volunteer at my Oxfam Book Shop found £35 in a donated paperback last week which we donated to the DEC Pakistan Floods Appeal.

147TLCrawford
ag. 17, 2010, 8:48 am

In one of the text books I ordered on-line last year there was a nice dried leaf, of marijuana.

re:119 here is a link to one of my cookbooks that might interest you.

http://www.librarything.com/work/2303217/book/29689235

148varielle
ag. 17, 2010, 12:29 pm

I just found a copy of someone's college ID in a copy of Eclipse that I just mooched. Popped it back in the mail to them today and hope it makes it before school starts next week.

149erush
ag. 18, 2010, 2:24 pm

I found an original newspaper clipping announcing the President McKinley assignation AND a
prayer card from a memorial service for him.

150TLCrawford
ag. 18, 2010, 2:33 pm

#149

I am not surprised, if I ever had an assignation that made the newspapers my wife would kill me. :-)

151iwillrejoice
ag. 18, 2010, 3:13 pm

LOL!

152GlendaHam
ag. 18, 2010, 3:51 pm

Oh my, brings back memories, I haven't had an assignation in years!!!!!

153varielle
ag. 18, 2010, 3:51 pm

Well, it's so much more fun that the other one.

154MapleWalnut
ag. 18, 2010, 5:05 pm

And for either one, a memorial service is the likely outcome.

155SecondChances
gen. 7, 2011, 12:04 am

A genuine 50 U.S. Dollar bill. I was in heaven. I bought the book from a thrift store in a huge city I was visiting....got home and didn't know which one. I tried calling around to try and find it and donate the money back, but no one remembers selling the book to me.

156Heather19
gen. 7, 2011, 12:37 am

155: woooah, that's an awesome find!

I never find anything interesting. A few shopping lists, lots of forgotten bookmarks, etc.

157SecondChances
gen. 7, 2011, 1:10 am

I bought a quilt book at a flea market a few months back; from a booth riddled with older books. This was a 1970's pattern book. I didn't see these little pieces of paper inside, until months later when I finally opened it. They were newspaper clippings of patterns posted every Sunday. The date on the clippings were 1934/1935. I still have them and they are a great conversational piece with other quilters. Patterns haven't changed much since then. Also, women's dressy shoes were 87¢. The ones that look like pilgrim shoes with the low heels. Buckle shoes maybe. Also, flour and sugar were cents for the pound. Very interesting.

158Bcteagirl
gen. 7, 2011, 1:15 am

Those are both such wonderful finds :)

159callmejacx
gen. 9, 2011, 11:58 pm

I just love hearing what others have found in their books.

160ilovegoosebumps
feb. 13, 2011, 6:13 pm

I have found sticky notes, recepts notes but the most interesting thing was some goosebumps books with trading cards. I 3rd grade we got to keep sarah,plain and tall and someone had it on ebay and they said my name was written inside. also i have goosebumps books that have my nana's adress inside (belonged to her) :P

161callmejacx
feb. 17, 2011, 11:31 pm

#160...That is so cool. When I see a name in a book I try and find the person.

162ilovegoosebumps
feb. 18, 2011, 9:01 am

#161 Me too :P

163ilovegoosebumps
Editat: feb. 18, 2011, 9:01 am

Aquest missatge ha estat suprimit pel seu autor.

164Bcteagirl
feb. 20, 2011, 10:06 pm

163: Me three!

Most interesting person found: Person living in the same town as me (not deceased) who runs a company that gives last rides (Hearse or cremated) via motorcycle. The book? A Charlie Brown cartoon book of course!

165callmejacx
feb. 23, 2011, 12:13 am

163...I have yet to find anyone. :(

1661dragones
feb. 23, 2011, 12:23 am

161 - 165 > I don't try to find anyone, because I like my privacy and would grant the same to others who may prefer not to be contacted.

167Bcteagirl
feb. 23, 2011, 12:58 am

I haven't contacted anyone. The only information I find is perfectly public information ;)

168MrAndrew
feb. 24, 2011, 6:45 am

I once tried to contact someone whose name i found in a book. But eventually Neil Gaiman took out a restraining order, so i had to stop.

169chelonianmobile
feb. 24, 2011, 10:53 am

>168 MrAndrew: Someone told you people were expressing emotions like "I miss MrAndrew" didn't they.

Sometimes I make up stories about the people who have left stuff behind. That plane ticket stub, the seemingly random newspaper article, the course change request form, those toenails . . .

170Caitak
maig 6, 2011, 11:19 am

A year or two ago I was in a charity shop in Dunoon and a German book caught my eye. I forget the title now, but it's 'My *Something* Aunt'. It obviously had a dustjacket at some point which wasn't there when I found it.

I picked it up to flick through it and I'm fairly certain there's an inscription on the first page, but as I flicked through the pages I noticed a black and white photo of a Zeppelin over some hills and buildings. On the back is the placename and it's dated pre-WWII.

I keep on meaning to dig it out and scan it in to see if someone can tell me where it is. :-)

171Sophie236
maig 7, 2011, 4:38 am

Ah, Caitak, one of the reasons I love living in Dunoon is the excellent charity shops! If you're up this way again, give me a shout!

172Caitak
maig 7, 2011, 5:15 pm

Sophie236 - Whereabouts are you? I'm just across the water on Bute. ^_^

Dunoon's charity shops are brilliant! I always come away with loads of books (and coats for some reason).

173theapparatus
maig 7, 2011, 6:15 pm

Surprised no one has said condom. I know I;ve found a couple over the years.

174Sophie236
maig 9, 2011, 4:34 am

I'm in Dunoon proper, just a few streets back from West Bay - are you in Rothesay?

175Caitak
maig 9, 2011, 12:48 pm

Yeah, just outside the town. We used to come over to Dunoon fairly regularly but things have been a bit busy this year so we've not made it over at all yet. Hoping for a trip in the near future though. ^_^

And just found in a book yesterday (so as not to go completely off topic): A boarding pass dated 2nd November, for Peter Jones flying from Manchester to Prague. I was so excited to find it nestled there between pages 20 and 21. ^_^

176Pedrolina
maig 11, 2011, 5:58 am

>175 Caitak: I wonder if it's Peter Jones from Dragon's Den! A Celebrity boarding pass in a used book... who'd have thought it, LOL.

177rainbowgirl28
oct. 1, 2011, 6:17 pm

I just found a dead spider :(

178skittles
oct. 1, 2011, 6:42 pm

#177: better a dead spider than a live one!!

179Belladonna1975
oct. 1, 2011, 7:02 pm

178> Not better for the spider. ;)

180theapparatus
oct. 2, 2011, 9:44 am

Garfield fan maybe?

181Bcteagirl
oct. 4, 2011, 2:22 pm

Eeek!!

182Fullmoonblue
oct. 7, 2011, 4:45 pm

Oddest thing found lately: I filled a sack at a used book sale, and grabbed a book I remembered reading in school when I was young (Irene Hunt's "Across Five Aprils")... and, when I got home and opened it, I saw a name I recognized penciled inside the front cover... one of my former classmates! Living in a large-ish city (quarter of a million or so) it was definitely a wild coincidence.

(I didn't keep in touch with the person, so haven't made a move to contact or return the book, but I can't quite put it up for mooching, either... weird!)

183Bcteagirl
oct. 8, 2011, 7:22 pm

Wow that is a deja vue type of experience isn't it? :P

184ojy
nov. 9, 2011, 2:56 pm

Last spring I bought a big hardbound Henry Kissinger book from a local thrift store for a craft project. In the middle of it there was some sort of certificate from Shell Oil, with an expiration date in the mid seventies. I thought that was cool. That is the most interesting thing that I can remember that I have found, to date. Though, I have bought old used elementary literature textbooks for my kids that had names of former classmates of mine in them, and that always made me smile.

185ggitzen1
nov. 9, 2011, 3:05 pm

I agree

186ggitzen1
nov. 9, 2011, 3:05 pm

WoW!

187BONS
nov. 9, 2011, 3:45 pm

Again, I love reading these post!

188callmejacx
des. 13, 2011, 5:53 pm

Fullmoonblue have you tried to contact your classmate yet? I have just connected with a classmate from grade school. I am sure it would be a great experience. Keep us posted.

189madhatter22
gen. 7, 2012, 4:16 pm

In one of the first books I ever mooched I found $40 cash and 3 checks the sender had received for her birthday. She'd put them there for 'safekeeping'. Since that sounds like something I would do, I now always check my books before sending them out. :)

190Bcteagirl
gen. 28, 2012, 12:39 am

Yikes! Good plan.

In a bookcrossing book I received through bookmooch from Europe I found an nice postcard, which I may leave in there when I read and set it free again :)

191Fullmoonblue
feb. 4, 2012, 10:18 am

A friend just found a love note... and it was unfinished. So someone either forgot to send it, or changed their mind. (Valentine's heads-up: don't forget to send those love letters! :)

192Bcteagirl
feb. 9, 2012, 11:09 am

Awwwww!!! Any good lines?

193Bcteagirl
feb. 9, 2012, 11:10 am

ps- Reminds me of a story from when I was younger and in a stamp club in the city.

We had an older gentleman who only collected used stamps.. his wife wan unimpressed with him buying stamps to mail himself empty envelopes so he could collect the stamps. He solved the problem by mailing her short love letters ;)

Happy almost valentines!!

194Booktechie
feb. 9, 2012, 4:36 pm

One day I discovered a book I had lent to a friend many years earlier on her bookshelf and asked if she had finished with it yet.
She told me it was hers and was quite adamant about it.
I was prepared to give her the benefit of the doubt, that is until I opened it up and a old photo of my mother in her lawn bowls uniform fell out of the back. Laughs all round.

195callmejacx
feb. 9, 2012, 11:46 pm

194 -> That is so funny. Sometimes it isn't worth arguing about. The truth usually ends up coming out. What was her reaction?

196Booktechie
feb. 10, 2012, 6:39 am

It was bl……dy hilarious at the time. She was a bit miffed that I'd caught her out, she really didn't know what to say. So.. i lent it to her for another year (sans mums photo) on the proviso she would actually get around to reading it. Think it was Cloudstreet by Tim Winton. We still get a giggle out of it.

197callmejacx
feb. 16, 2012, 4:53 pm

I bet you do.

198MrAndrew
Editat: feb. 25, 2012, 11:06 pm

Opened a copy of The Portrait of a Lady yesterday and a card fell out of it. It's business-card sized and has the following printed on it, under a name and phone number:

* Protector of damsels in distress
* Owner of a sympathetic ear
* Holder of a waterproof shoulder
* Born organiser * General do-gooder
* Coach driver extraordinare
* Bit of a know-it-all
* Protector of little old ladies
* And general all-round good guy
_______________________________AT YOUR SERVICE

199callmejacx
feb. 26, 2012, 4:15 pm

198...That's a nice to to find in your book. Any phone number?

200cdnbookworm
maig 13, 2012, 9:56 pm

My mother just gave me a book that is quite old and unfortunatly falling apart. I say unfortunatly because this book was on the RMS Queen Mary right after WW2 and a POW whom I'm guessing was rescued happened to write in the book. I'm not 100% sure how to upload the image but I've scanned what it said so if someone can guide me through the process I'd be happy to post it for all to see.

The book is called The Saint Plays with Fire by Leslie Charteris I see a date of 1942 in the publishing pages and the young man wrote his POW number in the book...there are 2 dates written in the book August 19, 1942 and July 12, 1945. I think the first is the date he became a POW and the later is the date he went home.

I'm not sure what to do with the book, its in rough condition, with the spine cover missing and pages coming loose. I can't help but to feel that this is a piece of history...the young man I believe was a canadian soilder and it is facinating and I wanted to share with you all.

201callmejacx
maig 13, 2012, 11:00 pm

#200 cdnbookworm - What a great find! I would love to see a picture of this book. It would be great if you could find his family.