Cradle (pb) by Arthur C. Clarke and Gentry Lee - $0.50.
The Betrayal of America: How the Supreme Court Undermined the Constitution and Chose Our President (pb) by Vincent Bugliosi - $0.50
The Ten-Cent Plague: The Great Comic-Book Scare and How It Changed America (hc) by David Hajdu - $1.00
The Assault on Reason (hc) by Al Gore - $1.00
Five Complete Miss Marple Novels (hc) by Agatha Christie - $1.00
I only purchased Cradle out of a slight interest in the book, but mainly because I didn't feel like getting fifty cents in change back from my purchase. Upon scanning the web I see that the book did not receive favorable reviews and I may end up donating it back to the library after I finish it (if I even try.)
I have already read and reviewed The Assault on Reason; as well as owning a Kindle edition of it, but could not resist having a hard cover edition for my book shelf. It is one of the best defenses of Enlightenment values that has come out in recent years, an exemplary example of the sort of cultural criticism that we need more of - and all the more impressive having come from a former Vice President. [Which reminds me that I've neglected to add Gore's blog to my Blog roll, which is now rectified.]
The Ten-Cent Plague is another book that I have already read, but the pop culture geek in me would not allow me to pass up a chance to add it to my collection. In it, Hajdu recounts a forgotten period of 20th century censorship, a history that is not well known outside of hardcore comic book fans, in which a 1950s McCarthy style witch hunt led to the effective dismantlement of an art form.
I have never read Agatha Christie before, and have frankly never had the desire, but had my interest piqued by Joshi's comments about her work in his curmudgeonly Junk Fiction and will give it a go in the same spirit.
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