Cheap books that are quiz bowl useful

[AKKOLADE]

We've had general threads on this before, but I'd like to make this a stickied thread that lists various books (textbook or not) that are useful for improving in and writing about different categories in quiz bowl.

[Mike Bentley]

If you're not picky about your sources, you can find decent reference books at places like a library bookstore or Goodwill for very cheap. Additionally, you can usually find old editions of very useful stuff at Amazon for very little. For instance, you can buy stuff like a 1960s edition of Masterplots for like $5+shipping. I recently bought a 1000 page reference on the history of the Supreme Court for $0.01+shipping.

[Carambola!]

Cliffnotes' Mythology guide is a very good primer to all major world mythologies.

[dxdtdemon]

Most translated common philosophy texts are pretty inexpensive.

[Frater Taciturnus]

I go to Goodwill every few weeks (all paperbacks $1!) and fill a shopping cart with anything that sounds vaguely quizbowl related. If you look hard enough, you will find all kinds of exciting stuff.

[naturalistic phallacy]

Most translated common philosophy texts are pretty inexpensive.

While this is true (especially for well-read people like Aristotle and for people who originally wrote in English), sometimes it's worth the extra couple dollars to buy a newer translation just for clarity's sake. I would highly recommend the Hackett editions of philosophy texts to anyone interested in 17th-19th century stuff.

The Goodwill tip is excellent; I've found many exciting things hidden among the plethora of Jan Karon books ($1 copy of Martin Salander? Why yes!). The children's section of thrift stores/used bookstores is also a great place to find cheap deals - they often have thrift editions of books like Huck Finn and Call of the Wild sitting around for far less than what you'd pay if they were shelved with more "adult" books.

[dtaylor4]

Most translated common philosophy texts are pretty inexpensive.

While this is true (especially for well-read people like Aristotle and for people who originally wrote in English), sometimes it's worth the extra couple dollars to buy a newer translation just for clarity's sake. I would highly recommend the Hackett editions of philosophy texts to anyone interested in 17th-19th century stuff.

The Goodwill tip is excellent; I've found many exciting things hidden among the plethora of Jan Karon books ($1 copy of Martin Salander? Why yes!). The children's section of thrift stores/used bookstores is also a great place to find cheap deals - they often have thrift editions of books like Huck Finn and Call of the Wild sitting around for far less than what you'd pay if they were shelved with more "adult" books.

If there is one in your area, I highly recommend supporting local bookstores. The deals are usually cheaper, and there is less riff raff.

[Rococo A Go Go]

I'm not entirely sure how cheap the current edition of this book is (it was a gift), but The American Presidents: Biographies of Our Chief Executives by David C. Whitney and Robin Vaughn Whitney is a pretty good book if you're looking to get some knowledge about the Presidency. Expanding on what Mike Bentley said upthread about older editions of books, it's updated after every Presidential election so I'm sure you could find a pretty cheap older copy that still has plenty of good info in it. A quick check on Amazon suggests you can get a copy that ends with GW Bush for as little as 11 cents plus shipping.

[Black-throated Antshrike]

Um.. Any books used for AP Histories are normally really good too have.

Modern Physics or 21st Century Physics textbooks are absolutely amazing(It let me get all but two Physics tossups at HTF Mirror at Whitman).

Mythology- Prose Edda, Donna Rosenbergs' "World Mythologies"

theres probly a crap load more of books that I can't think of right now

edit: You can get most of these on Amazon for less than $2

[David Riley]

If this chain store in your area, I would recommend a concern called Half-Price Books. They have a huge selection, including a $1.00 discount area, and many classics. The merchandise is well-organized.

[Edward Elric]

If this chain store in your area, I would recommend a concern called Half-Price Books. They have a huge selection, including a $1.00 discount area, and many classics. The merchandise is well-organized.

Second This Wholeheartedly. Half-Price has a great selection and fair prices.

[itsthatoneguy]

I meant to put this in that other thread, but I really enjoy The Penguin Opera Guide and bring it to every tournament. I have the older version (1995), which you can get on Amazon for $0.01 + shipping. It includes descriptions of 99% of the operas that come up in quizbowl (but not Treemonisha, for some reason) and short bios on their composers. I can't tell you how many points this thing has earned me over the years.

Also, for any team that comes to the Ann Arbor area and has some time to kill, I recommend going to the Dawn Treader bookshop of David's books. Both are incredible stores.

[David Riley]

I can vouch for Dawn Treader, where I spent many weekend afternoons when I lived in Ann Arbor (1989-90, so it's been awhile).

As for Treemonisha, after a surge of popularity in the seventies, I don't think it is in the repertoire of many opera companies now, though it may be in university workshop productions.

[AKKOLADE]

I like the resource recommendations, so please keep those coming, but I'm also looking for specific books as well, so if you have suggestions for those, please post them!

[Smuttynose Island]

Astronomy: From the Earth to the Universe is great for Astronomy although it's not cheap new.
The AMSCO for U.S. History is great for picking up U.S. History knowledge.