It was interesting to note that, other than Larry, almost all the booksellers I spoke to in C.R. said that they have a huge problem finding good books. Larry tells me that he has gone to most of the English language bookstores in Costa Rica and offered to sell them his good quality, relatively current duplicates and sale paperbacks for $1.00 a book and they declined to buy because they don't want to come to Alajuela. Having searched in vain for a book to read in some of those small town bookstores I wondered what the heck their problem was. If I were a bookseller there I'd be at his shop once a month restocking. It isn't a long distance to anywhere from anywhere in C.R. and hotels are cheap, so you could go to Alejuela from almost anywhere, stock up, spend the night for about $25, and go home to your store with some new books for those desperate tourists such as my husband and I. Larry told us that he sometimes takes his truck, which is fitted out with bookshelves, and goes to the beach to sell books to the tourists. The others really should take him up on his offer as none of them really carry any good, current books and the tourists are crying for them. I would have killed to have him show up at Montezuma with his truck full of books when I snapped closed the last page of my last paperback. If you want to see what Larry has to offer, go to www.goodlightbooks.com.
We ran out of time, but we heard that there were several more bookstores in Puerto Viejo on the Caribbean Coast, so now we have an excuse to go back. Oh boy! Ta, ta 'til then.
Sotheby’s Fine Manuscript and Printed Americana 27 January 2026
Sotheby’s, Jan. 27: An extraordinary pair of books from George Washington’s field library, marking the conjunction of Robert Rogers, George Washington, and Henry Knox. $1,200,000 to $1,800,000.
Sotheby’s, Jan. 27: An extraordinary letter marking the conjunction of George Washington, the Marquis de Lafayette, and Benjamin Franklin. $1,000,000 to $1,500,000.
Sotheby’s, Jan. 27: Virginia House of Delegates. The genesis of the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights. $350,000 to $500,000.
Sotheby’s Fine Manuscript and Printed Americana 27 January 2026
Sotheby’s, Jan. 27: (Gettysburg). “Genl. Doubleday has taken charge of the battle”: Autograph witness to the first day of the Battle of Gettysburg, illustrated by fourteen maps and plans. $200,000 to $300,000.
Sotheby’s, Jan. 27: President Lincoln thanks a schoolboy on behalf of "all the children of the nation for his efforts to ensure "that this war shall be successful, and the Union be maintained and perpetuated." $200,000 to $300,000.
Sotheby’s, Jan. 27: [World War II]. An archive of maps and files documenting the allied campaign in Europe, from the early stages of planning for D-Day and Operation Overlord, to Germany’s surrender. $200,000 to $300,000.
![<b>Sotheby’s, Jan. 27:</b> [World War II]. An archive of maps and files documenting the allied campaign in Europe, from the early stages of planning for D-Day and Operation Overlord, to Germany’s surrender. $200,000 to $300,000.](https://ae-files.s3.amazonaws.com/AdvertisementPhotos/9d2762bc-9f26-47ef-96de-1c28070e19f6.png "<b>Sotheby’s, Jan. 27:</b> [World War II]. An archive of maps and files documenting the allied campaign in Europe, from the early stages of planning for D-Day and Operation Overlord, to Germany’s surrender. $200,000 to $300,000.")