Sex, Knitting and Helicopters: The BookFinder Top 10 for 2007
- by Michael Stillman
Once a Runner tops BookFinder's list as the most sought-after book of 2007.
By Michael Stillman
BookFinder.com has released its list of the top 10 most sought-after old books of 2007. Making the BookFinder list requires a combination of being both highly desired and hard to find. This will not be a list like the New York Times bestsellers, but as Anirvan Chatterjee points out, 98%-99% of all books ever published are now out of print. So the Times covers about 1%, and BookFinder the rest.
BookFinder notes that "sports, knitting and sex" top this year's list. I understand… except, what is knitting doing in there? Actually, you can add romance, children's books, a mass murderer and helicopters to that. What is the connection between these? Who knows. Maybe those with mayhem on their minds combine mass murder with knitting needles. Perhaps members of the mile-high club buy books about sex and helicopters. Whatever the explanation, here is the list of the top 10 most searched books on the largest book searching site on the web.
10. Dear and Glorious Physician by Taylor Caldwell, a novel concerning the spiritual journey of Luke.
9. One Way Up by John F. Straubel, a history of helicopters that climbs from #10 last year.
8. Aran Knitting by Alice Starmore describes a knitting technique named for the Aran islands off the Irish coast.
7. Raven: The Untold Story of the Reverend Jim Jones and his People by Tim Reiterman recalls the mass murderer who forever changed Kool Aid from meaning poison figuratively to poison literally.
6. The Principles of Knitting by June Hemmons Hiatt, yet another book about this fascinating subject. Number 6 again this year.
5. The Lion's Paw by Robb White, a children's classic that moves up from #7 last year.
4. Promise Me Tomorrow, one of the countless romance novels of Nora Roberts, but one she refuses to reprint.
3. Sex by Madonna, last year's #1, rides that fine line between art and pornography. People buy it for one, but say they buy if for the other.
2. Football Scouting Methods by the son of the New England Patriots' fabulously successful coach Bill Belichick. Steve Belichick's playbook is again #2 this year. I wonder if it includes advice on videotaping your opponents' signals?
1. Once a Runner by John L. Parker, a book highly respected by those dedicated to this most demanding of sports. Last year's #9 crosses the finish line #1.
Slipping out of the top 10 this year was the autobiography of singer Johnny Cash, a poetry collection from Three's Company star Suzanne Sommers, recipes by horror film actor Vincent Price and his wife, and an old self-help book by James Mangan.
High Bids Win, Dec. 4 – 19: Lot 212. Kelsey Letterpress
High Bids Win, Dec. 4 – 19: Wood & Metal Type. Many fonts and faces.
High Bids Win, Dec. 4 – 19: Print Shop Miscellany including type, tools, and equipment.
Sotheby's Fine Books, Manuscripts & More Available for Immediate Purchase
Sotheby’s: William Shakespeare. The Poems and Sonnets of William Shakespeare, 1960. 7,210 USD
Sotheby’s: Charles Dickens. A Christmas Carol, First Edition, 1843. 17,500 USD
Sotheby’s: William Golding. Lord of the Flies, First Edition, 1954. 5,400 USD
Sotheby's Fine Books, Manuscripts & More Available for Immediate Purchase
Sotheby’s: Lewis Carroll. Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There, Inscribed First Edition, 1872. 25,000 USD
Sotheby’s: J.R.R. Tolkien. The Hobbit, First Edition, 1937. 12,000 USD
Sotheby’s: John Milton. Paradise Lost, 1759. 5,400 USD
Bonhams, Dec. 18: A Very Fine Composite Atlas Magnificently Illuminated and Heightened with Gold in a Fine Contemporary Hand Throughout. $300,000 - $500,000
Bonhams, Dec. 18: Saint-Exupéry's Revised Ending for Wind, Sand and Stars. $40,000 - $60,000
Bonhams, Dec. 18: Edith Wharton's Gold Medal from the National Institute of Arts and Letters, 1924. $20,000 - $30,000
Bonhams, Dec. 18: Salinger on the Glass Family and on Detachment. $10,000 - $15,000
Bonhams, Dec. 18: Fanny Burney's Groundbreaking First Novel. Evelina, Or a Young Lady's Entrance into the World. $10,000 - $15,000
Bonhams, Dec. 18: Kafka's Earliest Extant Piece of Writing. Autograph Note Signed ("Franz Kafka"). $10,000 - $15,000
Bonhams, Dec. 18: Wagner Signed "Ride of the Valkries." $6,000 - $9,000
Bonhams, Dec. 18: Dickens on the Death of Little Nell. $5,000 - $8,000
Bonhams, Dec. 18: Sylvia Plath's Copy of Joy of Cooking. $4,000 - $6,000
Bonhams, Dec. 18: Walt Whitman and Friends: Whitman to James Russell Lowell. $8,000 - $12,000
Bonhams, Dec. 18: Walt Whitman and Friends: The Genesis of his Lincoln Lectures. $6,000 - $9,000
