# Books you just can't pass up **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 20, 2009, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-you-just-cant-pass-up/510798 "2009-09-20T03:55:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![iftheresaway](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/ecae2f/32.png) [@iftheresaway](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iftheresaway)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2009, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-you-just-cant-pass-up/510798/1 "2009-09-20T03:55:58Z")
I was browsing through the flea market today and stumbled over _[A History of Orgies](http://www.amazon.com/History-Orgies-Burgo-Partridge/dp/B002FD0ETM/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1253418710&sr=8-7)_ for $2. How could you see that and not have to have it for your coffee table? I also recently found a children’s book at a library sale called _[Nobody Wants a Nuclear War](http://www.amazon.com/Nobody-Wants-Nuclear-War-Pictures/dp/0807557390/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1253418858&sr=1-1)_. Well, no I do not, but how to explain it to the wee ones? Now I know! What books have you found lately that you just couldn’t pass up? ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2009, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-you-just-cant-pass-up/510798/2 "2009-09-20T19:36:05Z")
The title’s not as much fun as yours, but I’ve bought two copies of _Wisconsin Death Trip_ over the years. It’s a collection of newspaper accounts of murders, suicides, infanticides and other tragic or grisly deaths from the late 1800’s. ---
**Author:** ![pbbth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f9ae1b/32.png) [@pbbth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pbbth)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2009, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-you-just-cant-pass-up/510798/3 "2009-09-20T19:58:43Z")
I own a copy of History of Orgies for the exact same reason. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![thirdwarning](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecccb3/32.png) [@thirdwarning](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thirdwarning)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2009, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-you-just-cant-pass-up/510798/4 "2009-09-20T21:35:58Z")
That’s how I ended up with _Maybe He’s Dead_, which was a collection of the question puzzles and their answers that had appeared in New York Magazine. Paid a whole dime for it. But seriously, how can you not take home something called \* Maybe He’s Dead\*? Part of what tickled me about the book itself was that over time I “got” more of the jokes. Sometimes just because I realized what they were saying. Sometimes because I’d learned something in the meantime. ---
**Author:** ![PeacePlease](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/71c47a/32.png) [@PeacePlease](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PeacePlease)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2009, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-you-just-cant-pass-up/510798/5 "2009-09-20T21:36:22Z")
I just bought my first hardback in years. It’s Jon Krakauer’s biography of Pat Tillman “Where Men With Glory”. I can’t pass up anything that Jon writes…I think he’s fabulous and as an Arizonan I’m very intrigued to read Pat Tillman’s story. So I shelled out the extra cash for what I consider a sure thing! I have to say, though, that I also spent an additional $60 in the bookstore so obviously I have the I-can’t-pass-up-anything disease when it comes to books!! There is just nothing better than a good book. ---
**Author:** ![Millit\_the\_Frail](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/51bf81/32.png) [@Millit\_the\_Frail](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Millit_the_Frail)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2009, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-you-just-cant-pass-up/510798/6 "2009-09-21T00:38:46Z")
I picked up, from my dorm’s “take one, leave one” library, a book titled something like _The New Complete Illustrated Guide to the Extended Massive Orgasm_. After enjoying having it on my bookshelf for a while, I gave it away to a friend who needed a laugh. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2009, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-you-just-cant-pass-up/510798/7 "2009-09-21T01:07:34Z")
> [@AuntiePam](#): > > The title’s not as much fun as yours, but I’ve bought two copies of _Wisconsin Death Trip_ over the years. It’s a collection of newspaper accounts of murders, suicides, infanticides and other tragic or grisly deaths from the late 1800’s. I bought it so I could point out to my wife that, though my people come from that neck of the Wisconsin woods, none of them made it into the book. ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2009, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-you-just-cant-pass-up/510798/8 "2009-09-21T12:14:41Z")
I just got “Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters”. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2009, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-you-just-cant-pass-up/510798/9 "2009-09-21T12:32:19Z")
_Life 102: What to Do When Your Guru Sues You_. I picked up a copy that was laying on the sidewalk, and after reading a couple of chapters I put it back there. ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2009, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-you-just-cant-pass-up/510798/10 "2009-09-21T12:36:16Z")
> [@AuntiePam](#): > > The title’s not as much fun as yours, but I’ve bought two copies of _Wisconsin Death Trip_ over the years. It’s a collection of newspaper accounts of murders, suicides, infanticides and other tragic or grisly deaths from the late 1800’s. I bought that because it sounds like just the kind of thing I’d love, but frankly I’m just not that into it. It’s repetitive and doesn’t have the dark humor I was expecting. I was disappointed. Now [this](http://www.amazon.com/Booked-Last-Years-through-Shots/dp/1583227172) one! We really enjoyed. A 150-year history of mug shots, including modern people like Hugh Grant, but with an emphasis on the past. Sacco and Vanzetti! [Lewis Powell](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lewis_Powell_(assassin))! ---
**Author:** ![iftheresaway](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/ecae2f/32.png) [@iftheresaway](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iftheresaway)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2009, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-you-just-cant-pass-up/510798/11 "2009-09-22T14:52:03Z")
It’s good to know I’m not the only person who has a case of can’t-pass-it-up. I think part of the reason I stumble across books like this is that I spend an appreciable portion of my life trawling through library book sales, flea markets, and used bookstores anyway - there’s almost always something there worth having on my shelves (of course, this is probably also why I am constantly in need of more shelves to hold my books. Luckily, I have a copy of _[Biblioholism](http://www.amazon.com/Biblioholism-Literary-Addiction-Tom-Raabe/dp/1555912400/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1253630632&sr=1-1)_ to help explain the process.). **Millit the Frail** , did you learn anything you’d like to share with the rest of us? I have copies of _[The BIG Book of Masturbation](http://www.amazon.com/Big-Book-Masturbation-Angst-Zeal/dp/0940208296/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1253630386&sr=1-1)_ and _[Satisfaction: The Art of the Female Orgasm](http://www.amazon.com/Satisfaction-Female-Orgasm-Kim-Cattrall/dp/0446690902/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1253630310&sr=8-3)_, but I didn’t see anything about an Extended Massive Orgasm. **FriarTed** , I hope you enjoy it. I’ve got a friend who’s going to loan me her copy of Pride & Prejudice & Zombies when she’s done (she’s been raving about it). **Marley23** , that seems like an extraordinarily _specific_ book. How thick was it? I can only imagine the intended readership. I have to say, I always kind of thought of my collection as a reading library, rather than a “collection”. After all, I buy books to read, not to look at, right? But in looking through my shelves closely, I’ve come to realize that I have a sort of obsession with variety - I like to think that if someone comes to me looking for any piece of information, no matter how random, I’ll be able to find it in my library (never mind the fact that most people would just go to the internet for answers). This is probably why I have _[The Concise Maori Dictionary](http://www.amazon.com/Concise-Maori-Dictionary-W-Reed/dp/0790000571/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1253630886&sr=1-4)_, _[A First Guide to Horse and Pony Care](http://www.amazon.com/First-Guide-Howell-Equestrian-Library/dp/0876058330/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1253630993&sr=1-1)_, the _[Alternative Energy Sourcebook](http://www.amazon.com/Alternative-Energy-Sourcebook-Goods-Living/dp/0916571025/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1253631039&sr=1-1)_… &c. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2009, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-you-just-cant-pass-up/510798/12 "2009-09-22T15:59:51Z")
> [@thirdwarning](#): > > That’s how I ended up with _Maybe He’s Dead_ > Part of what tickled me about the book itself was that over time I “got” more of the jokes. Sometimes just because I realized what they were saying. Sometimes because I’d learned something in the meantime. Yay! My father bought this when it was new and I was too young to understand some of it, but some of the jokes have been favorites for many years. What They Said/What I Thought: “So we decided to go with the nautical wallpaper…” “How could they think I meant the real ‘little boy’s room’?” ---
**Author:** ![prettydorky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f04885/32.png) [@prettydorky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/prettydorky)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2009, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-you-just-cant-pass-up/510798/13 "2009-09-22T16:10:35Z")
> [@FriarTed](#): > > I just got “Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters”. Heh, I just got _Pride and Prejudice and Zombies_ ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2009, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-you-just-cant-pass-up/510798/14 "2009-09-22T16:10:43Z")
I couldn’t resist the [Big Damn Book of Sheer Manliness](http://www.amazon.com/Hoffmann-Bros-Damn-Sheer-Manliness/dp/1575440849). I see by this link that they’re about to publish a “Bigger, Damner” version… ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2009, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-you-just-cant-pass-up/510798/15 "2009-09-22T16:47:02Z")
Not bought, but pulled off of the library shelf due to their titles: **Elvis, Jesus & Coca-Cola** by Kinky Friedman and **Carpe Jugulum** by Terry Pratchett. In both cases it was the first time I had heard of the author. In both cases, I went on to read everything I could find that they had written. Those were titles that I couldn’t pass up.