Sweeping Up

Kipling: A Selection of His Stories and Poems, Volumes I and II, Selected by John Beecroft.

Contains: Vol 1: Kim, The Jungle Book, Just So Stories, Puck of Pook's Hill; Vol 2: 27 stories, Something of Myself (autobiography), 58 poems. There were (and as far as I can tell, still are) many of these available in used books stores for years. They were a sort of potted collection available from a book club, I think. [They lack these Jackets.]

Ranking: Keepers.

File Code: Collected Works. Kipling. Book Club Edition.

The Book of Lists I, II, III, by David Wallechinsky, Irving Wallace, Amy Wallace.

These were a hoot and a heap of fun. Not only were there bare lists to consider, but often there would be an explanatory paragraph for each item on the list: people, places, incidents, and objects throughout history gathered into piles for your consideration. They were a fun scrappy education in and of themselves.

Ranking: Nostalgic Keepers.

File Code: Lists. Trivia. Paperbacks.

Intimate Sex Lives of Famous People, by Irving Wallace, Amy Wallace, David Wallechinsky, Sylvia Wallace.

By the same people who brought you the Book of Lists, the collected dirty parts of biography. Gathered under headings like Actors, Writers, Painters, Politicians, and so on, it was a sort of a guilty pleasure to look at the bits usually left out of the more discreet histories prevalent at the time. I understand there is an updated version available now.

Ranking: Keeper.

File Code: Biography. Filth! Filth, I Say! Entertainment. Paperback.