Good, Better, Best Book Review & Giveaway
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I‘ve always enjoyed watching Antiques Roadshow, when someone would find out that something that was a precious treasure in their family actually turned out to be a priceless antique. Now wouldn’t that be fun? I doubt it would happen to me, but I have seen it happen on more than one occasion on the show. So, when I was contacted by the publisher of a book all about spotting treasures, asking me if I’d like to receive a copy of the book for review and get 3 copies to give away, well, I was all over that!
Carol Prisant, who used to be with Antiques Roadshow has written a colorful and concise book on how to spot real treasures when you are out there scouring the flea markets and antiques shops. Good, Better, Best: (Trade Secrets for spotting a Find) describes the levels of finding these treasures and what to look for. If you’ve got money to burn, then you might want to go for the Best category, but after looking at the prices on those, I’d say that particular one will never grace my home.
In fact, I’m not even sure I own any that would fit under the Good category either, which is reserved for the very ordinary and peasant pieces apparently. 
I did find one furniture item, the English tea table, in the book that reminded me of my mahogany piecrust table that I found at a yardsale. 
Not having any idea of its provenance, I would imagine my table is probably a reproduction from the mid-century (last century that is) and is no doubt, worth not a whole lot more than the $75 I paid for it. Well, in an antique shop, it would probably go for double or triple, so I’m sure I found a deal. And I love this table, so will probably always keep it.
I did really like looking through this book and seeing all the pictures, reading the difference between the Good, Better, Best categories and if you enjoy reading about antique pieces, you’ll enjoy this book too. With lots of color pictures and descriptions about items from glassware, furniture and collectibles, Carol covers a multitude of antique items. I don’t think I own a bit of priceless antique pieces, but I will keep them just the same. But, collectors of antiques will no doubt love this book as it gives tips for looking at items with a keen eye towards identifying where it came from and how old it might be.
And the good news is….I have 3 copies to give away to THREE of you, so all you need to do is leave a comment and you’ll be eligible for the drawing. I’ll pick 3 names at random and your book will be shipped out to you from the publisher.
And just for fun, what is your favorite antique that YOU have in your house? I’d say my very favorite piece is that kitchen cupboard I have in my breakfast area that is from the late 1800′s. It’s French, very unique and I’ve never seen another one like it.
Don’t forget to leave a comment!
{ 146 comments }
Oh, I’d love, love, love to win this one!
And my favourite antique… is our kitchen trolly from the early 1900′s that came from my father in law’s family farm.
Good morning! This book would be so helpful when I am out yard saling or at an auction. I tend to buy what I like but if I knew something was valuable and I loved it – I wouldn’t think twice if I should purchase the item or not. I might just have to buy this book if I don’t win.
I have 2 favorite antiques. One is my great grandmothers baking table (not sure if that is what it is called). It has two DEEP drawers for flour/sugar/whatever and the back holds lots of little drawers for spices? My other fave is also a family piece. Just a big old cabinet, pre-Civil War, that my great-aunt kept her stove wood in! It cleans up nicely and holds alot of table linens and candles, etc. I would love to take this book through my house and see what I have!
I love going antiquing and I would love to have this book!
What a fun book this sounds like to just browse through. I’m sure I don’t have anything either that would be qualified to be called a real treasure, but I do love the antiques that I have. I would love to win. Hugs, Marty
I love antiques, I’m sure this book would be really informative.
Hello! My favorites are some dishes we have from my husband’s grandmother!
Nothing better than a good book to read on a cold winters night. Please enter my name. Thank you.
My favorite antique is my grandmother’s sewing machine. I haven’t read a good book since grad school. I think all of those research articles destroyed my passion for reading anything but blogs, lol. Please consider me for the drawing.
Sandy
I would love to win a copy of this book! Love to go antiquing!
My favorite antique is the dresser I have that belonged to my Grandmother. I love the few antique pieces that I have; some are from family and some I have purchased, but the memories means much more to me than the appearance or value!
I love, love Antiques Roadshow and would love to win this fabulous book!
As an avid yard saler and collector of many things, I would love to own/win this book. I really enjoy your blog- Susan Stamm
What a great giveaway! I would love to win a copy of this book. I have been antiquing since I was 25, and a wise dealer and friend told that if I saved and bought one “good” piece each year, then I would have a great collection by the time I was 40. That seemed a long way off at the time, but now I’m years past that, and she was right! My favorite antique, however, is the nativity scene that my husband’s mother bought in the 1970s at a church rummage sale. You can see photos on my house tour, which is linked to your house party! Thanks so much!
I love antiques and this book sounds good. Please include me in your giveaway.
I would love this! Love antiques and antiquing!
Oh, this would help me so much! I go to flea markets and estate sales weekly and I never know if I am seeing and buying good stuff or junk, lol. Thanks!!
Do we ever get to old to learn???? What a great book for your libary. I would lov it, in mine. Love your blog too…michelle
I love antiques. I also love junkie things. Sometimes I see a treasure in that junk, if I could just find the time to bring it out!! Happy Holidays!
I would love to have this book! I’m not very good at spotting treasures–yet! Thanks for sharing.
That would be an awesome gift for my Mother-in-law! She is retired now and spends a lot of her time at the thrift stores!
That books looks very interesting and helpful. My favorite antique is an old secretasry my parents brought when they moved in with us. My family has had it all the years I can remember. It was painted green, and I recently painted it black. We did lose the mirror in the move, but it can be replaced.
Sheila
I really like that book. I’m always looking for a little help when I go out looking for “finds.”
I love antiques. My favorite would be a tie between a complete set of 12 Wedgewood Blue transferware of the US Naval Academy that my grandmother bought in 1952 when my dad was a student there and an old secretary that my mom recently gave me.
Oh please choose me. CHOOSE ME!! I would love to have this book. I, too, have been a huge fan of Antiques Roadshow and enjoy learning all I can about how to spot a true find. My favorite antiques are Pie Birds. I have a small collection. Some are probably not worth so much in money, but they are priceless to me. Thanks Rhoda!
I enjoy everything about antiques. While my collection is small, the pieces I have are very meaningful to me. I would love to receive a copy of the book you are giving away. Please enter my name in your drawing.
I have nothing antique right now, but I’d love to have a copy of this book so that I’m better prepared for next year’s yard sales and might be able to pick up some good, wait, “best” items!
I love antiques but my favorite is my great grandmothers table. I cherish it and I am honored to have it! Thanks for the opportunity! Angela
My favorite antique is an old seed box I purchased when we lived in Iowa. It’s in great shape and I’ll treasure it always.
I love antiques, but have none! I tried buying an antique table but didn’t know how to negotiate it very well!
My favorite antique is an old chair that we received. It has been in my husband’s family for a while. Wehad it recovered.
This book looks like a lot of fun to read. I love Antiques Roadshow too! I love your blog!
I would LOVE to win this book! I love to mix in at least one antique piece in each room of my house.
Cool giveaway! The book looks like it has a really great format!
My fav ‘antique’ is the mirror I normally have on my fireplace mantel. Not knowing how old it is, I really don’t know if it’s rated antique or not, but it sure looks like it! Here’s the link…
http://funkyjunkinteriors.blogspot.com/2009/09/yup-im-bringing-woodtones-back.html
I’ve had many ‘real’ antiques over the years, however as my homes have changed, so have the contents. I use to have this amazing what I called a ‘little house on the prairie’ dresser that I stored in the front entry. It was the type that was a little on the taller side, and had an attached oval mirror on it’s side in between two tiny side drawers. It was amazing. I got it from an antique auction for a song. And a very tall big armoire with really nice carvings was another from an auction that stored hanging clothes. I miss those pieces but they wouldn’t have worked where I currently live anyway.
Thanks for the little trip down memory lane!
Donna
My favorite antique is my mom’s 2 parlor chairs that I inherited. They are covered in the original sage green velvet and I have a gentleman’s and a ladies… one of each!
ooh, I have this book on my shopping list… sounds so interesting. I doubt I’d find much in my house that would fall into any of those categories, furniture-wise that is, but it’s still food to know what you’re looking at when you’re shopping. Thanks for the opportunity to win it, Rhoda!
Oh! I just love books like this! Although we definitely don’t own anything in the ‘good’ catagory either, maybe the ‘throw this shabby junk to the curb’ catagory
I think my favorite antique in our house right now is the farm writing desk we picked up at an antique market for $60, it’s so worm, it wiggles, the top has a split but it’s just so fabulously loved.
Cheers!
My fingers are crossed that I WIN one of these books!! Love your blog . . . reading it is part of my daily routine!
My fav at the moment would have to be the secretary desk, which is definitely not a fine antique, but I like it.
Love Antique Road Show. They were in Dothan last week. Would enjoy a copy of this book. Thank you.
Oh!! Pick me!! Pick me!!
Let’s see…my favorite antique in my house? Ummm, that would have to be my husband!! Oh, I’m only kidding…he knows I adore him. I really don’t have any antiques…but what I do have is an old Singer sewing machine that belonged to my Grandmother….very similar to the one in your guest room Rhoda. I really treasure it because I remember watching my grannie going to town on that ole’ thing when I was just a very young girl
Wow – I have just the spot on my bookshelf for that informative book! I wish I could say that I have a family “treasure” (my mom had atrocious taste!) LOL! However I recently came across a family photo from ~1950 and would love to have the barkcloth floral curtains in the living room again!
.. My current fav antique is an orginal seed chest from an old hardware store in my husband’s home town ($50!!!!), along w/ the original 5 measuring “scoops” and seed labels on the 18 deep drawers – I’ve had it in 3 homes now and in each home I move to I need to make sure I have enough room for it! Love your blog -
OH, my, I don’t know if I can choose! My grandfather’s ladderback chair with rush cane seat is on top of my list or my grandmother’s Coats & Clark spool chest. I also have a chair that was my grandmother’s. Channel back for lack of a better description. See…I need that book to help me learn all the correct terms. We also have my husband’s nursery rocker that belonged to his great grandmother. It is also a ladderback with rush cane. Beautiful rocker with a rhythmic squeak that lulled our 2 babies to sleep.
Beckie in TN
Hey Rhoda!!
I’d love to win!
Thank you for entering my name in your giveaway! The book sounds fun! One special piece of furniture I have is a rocking chair that was my grandmother’s. I recently purchased a chair that I thought was interesting but not sure if it is an antique!!
This is exactly what I have always needed. I never know if what I’m looking at is a good, better or best! Thanks for the opportunity!
Thank you again for another great giveaway, you are the best!! I have a few antiques in my home but I must say mine is a french marble clock with a bronze statue of a lady. I love antique clocks, ooooh, I forgot I also love my french marble entry hall table, OK I love them all but I will only mention two,hehe. Kathysue
I’m not sure I’ve got any antiques IN my house – but the house is 100 years old with really awesome original woodwork, does that count?
Thanks for the giveaway! Looks like a fabulous book.
I would love to win this book. I LOVE antiques! I love going to estate sales and antique stores and always wonder how much something is really worth. My favorite piece in my house is probably my armoir my parents bought me when I was still living at home. They found it at an estate sale. Thanks for the fun giveaway.
No antiques, but would love the book to start hunting them down! Thanks!
First of all, this book just went onto my Christmas wish list, secondly, my favorite antique is definitely my handmade Ohio shaker-style solid cherry farm cupboard. I got a few years ago at a barn sale and it is heavy as heck. I also love my mahogany bedroom dresser that was my grandparent’s. I have at least one “antique” in every room in my house! Life is better with old stuff around.
Oh pls enter my name….we have a beautiful roll top desk from the 1920′s (I know things have to be 100 yrs old to be considered but they’re OLD to me
) we had it all re-done and it is quite lovely…..we also have a beautiful sofa from the 1940′s with the wood trim etc….we also sent that out and had it done over….those are my 2 fave pieces !!
years ago I was offered my Grandmother’s Singer sewing table, I think you have one Rhoda , and I didn’t take it as well as her dining room set….I kick myself each time I am reminded of it….but I won’t today cuz I don’t want any black and blue marks right before Xmas….lol
Thanks for the chance….fingers crossed…
Kathy
ps I LOVE that piece in your kitchen…I have that same bowl
Well, this certainly sounds like our kind of book
I would love this book. We have a few antiques that belonged to my grandmother, and even though I seldom purchase antique furniture (it’s expensive!), I do have an affinity for “old things.”
My favorite antique piece of furniture in our home is a chiffarobe that used to be in the attic bedroom of my grandmother’s house. It survived a fire, and sometimes when you open the door, you can still smell smoke. Now it holds craft items, fabric and some linens.
My favorite antique is an old desk that I found at a consignment store. Just love it!
Great question, since I love antiques, my favorite would probably be a china doll that my Mother played with as a little girl. She is still intact, but her age is showing.
I’ve never left a comment but I love your blog and when I saw you were giving away a book on antiques I thought I’d leave a comment. My grandmother collects antiques and thanks to her, I’ve started collecting antique dishes.
GREAT book! I think my favorite antiques are those that remind me of being in my Grandmothers’ houses… I have a few of the pieces from their estate sales, and they make me smile when I see them. I LOVE antiques, it reminds us of where we’ve been, and how far we’ve come.
What a great book! I have two pieces that I have wondered about for years. One is from my Scottish Great Grandmother and is a mahogany secretary from the late 1800′s or maybe early 1900′s. She brought the piece with her when she came to America. The other is a tall dresser with a little detailed tilting mirror at the top. It stands over six feet tall, so I don’t think many women could even see themselves in the mirror. I have no idea of the age. My mother left it to me and I think she bargained at an auction for it back in the ’70s. I love imagining all of the old stories from which this furniture came. Now, wouldn’t that be fun to know?!
Good, Better, Best sounds like a fabulous book. Thank you for the opportunity to become the new owner of it. Your piecrust table is beautiful, what a nice find for $75!
My favorite ‘ not quite antique’ is my Paul McCobb mid-century modern table and chairs. I spotted the set in an antique store and fell in love. Paid $800 for the table and six chairs. I thought I would have buyers remorse but was elated instead when I found the twin to my purchase on http://www.1stdibs.com for $5800.00!!!!!!!!!!!!! I love antiques and mix styles and periods and don’t care if is really antique. If it speaks, I listen! This book sounds like one that will join my stack of favorites on the wonderful little mahogany table next to my bed.
I love your piecrust table. I need to get out and get around our area and find some more goodies like that. I think my favorite antique item in our home is a very unique rocking chair from my husband’s family. The back is so intricately carved and beautiful. I never found anything like it. I’ve begged my husband to let me paint it, but like most men, he loves the wood look. I keep imagining it a soft shade of white or turquoise with a beautiful new upholstered seat for the guest room. It’s still a beautiful piece as it is.
This is my kind of book. I am a book-junkie anyway, so I would love to win! The french buffet is to die for. Gorgeous piece! I have a lot of favorite pieces in my house, but one of them is the bow front French country buffet that’s in my dining room.
Great blog. I would say my favorite antique in my house is my 1920/1930 sofa and chair that I had redone in a sage color faux mohair. Not only does it fit into my decorating scheme but it is also very comfy.
Wow! this sounds like my kind of book….please add my name to the hat…..thanks Pat H
My favorite piece is a desk that my father used in his office. It is about 100 years old.
Probably my favorite is the old floor model radio that was in my father’s family when he was growing up. It needs tubes that I’ve never been able to find but still I love the idea that he sat and listened to stories on it when he was a kid. We also have a smaller radio that was my husband’s granparents radio and it still works. I have a pub table and breakfront from an old English pub and the furniture that was in my husband’s room when he was a kid. It was from his grandparents home and the dresser still has the original price tag of $12 on the back. We love our antiques for their sentimental value but it would be interesting to read the book.
Sign me up! I would love a copy!
Thanks…
XO,
Sheila
My pet antique is an old French library that holds books in my Living Room. I think this book would be a good addition to my design library.
My mom has kept most of our family’s antiques at her house, but I did buy an older sewing machine at an estate sale several years ago (it’s one of the hide-in-the-table kind). It has gone on the fritz in the last couple months, but I’m going to keep it whether we fix it or not because I love how it looks.
I would love a copy of this book to read before my next estate sale!
Thanks for a wonderful giveaway. The book looks great!!! I have lots of antique pieces of furniture, but my all time favorite is the oak corner cabinet that belonged to my Grandmother that I have in my living room. As a child it was in my Grandmother’s kitchen and she would put leftover biscuits in the bottom area and we could get one out if we got hungry. She also kept her butter and jam in there to eat with her biscuits. In the top part (which has glass doors) she kept her dishes. I have special treasures in my corner cabinet that belonged to both of my Grandmothers and I keep my good china in there too. This piece of furniture brings to mind many awesome memories of sweet times spent with my darling Grandmother who loved to cook on her woodstove and make her wonderful biscuits and rolls!!! Love & blessings from NC!
My favorite antique is a small glass basket that belonged to my great grandmother. I have been very fortunate and my grandmother took great care of many family heirlooms.
I was given many pieces of glassware and some furniture when my “Nanny” died. I would love to know the value of some of them just for curiosity purposes. Thanks for the chance to win.
My favorite antique is a blanket chest I found on ebay and drove to Gastonia, NC to pick up. I dragged my Dad with me since he had the truck. Great piece of furniture and great memories.
Oh please I would love that book. We have several old pieces in our home,mostly belonging to my grandmother and my husbands grandmother. A few things we have found at flea markets and such. Love to read your Blog .Yours is one of the first I started reading.
I’ve always loved old things, so would love to get a copy of this book. I’d have to say that my favorite antique is my great-grandmother’s Bible that I rescued from my uncle’s estate sale. We also have some treasured family photos that qualify as antiques.
Wow, what a neat book, Rhoda! I think my favorite antique is my grandfather’s Seth Thomas black adamantine mantel clock, from the late 1800′s/early 1900′s. Or maybe a set of coin silver spoons made in New Jersey in the 1860′s. Anyway, I’d love to win one of the books!
Please add my name to the drawing. I love the thrill of the hunt at flea markets, thrift shops, and garage sales. This book looks fabulous! Rhoda, I love your blog. Thank you for sharing!
This is wonderful! My favorite thing to do on warm summer weekends …stroll thru garage sales..flea markets ….Goodwill and Antique shops.. go home and find a place for that wonderful treasure! My mother was an Antique dealer as was my Uncle…yep…the bug bit me! Have fun poking around!! : ) I would love the book too!
My favorite antique is the Eastlake Victorian loveseat I had re-upholstered. I love it. My Mother bought it years ago at an auction and it sat dilapidated in her garage for years. Now it graces my bedroom!
Would love to read the book.
Hello – my fav antique is a 1800′s hutch table. It was the first antique my husband and I bought 30 years ago. We were supposed to be Christmas shopping, but found a little consignment shop and fell in love with the piece. It can be a dining table or with the table top pulled up, it is a bench. Now it’s my craft table!
Hi Rhoda – I follow your blog all the time and it is one of my favorites. I would say my favorite antique is a pie cabinet or cupboard that I found in a junk store and stripped the mint green and pink paint off of and was told that it is 100 years old. I paid 125.00 for it and an appraisor said it was worth around 1000.00. I have never entered a contest before but I this looks like a great book. Your home is beautiful.
Since I have found your site, I am so happy to find out that my love of “finds” isn’t just my own, strange trait…there are other people who share my love of the hunt. Now, isn’t this book just written for all the hunters among us?
Anytime there is a give away, I always enter with high hopes. Who knows, this may be my lucky day! Love your site, wish you lived next door!
My favorite is a pedestal marble top side table inherited from my husbands aunt.
My favorite antique is an old level that was my Grandfathers. I’m sure it’s not worth much to anyone but me, but who cares. I would love this book!
I love spending an afternoon perusing the antique shops and checking out flea markets on the weekends. It would be great to have this book, so maybe I’ll know what I’m looking at, lol. I have an antique secretary desk that I love, found it in an antique shop in MD about 25 years ago. Also have a fullsize solid wood bedroom set that I snagged at an auction for $35 for the whole set!! That’s one of my best deals.
Thanks for giving the chance to win this nice prize.
Oh Rhoda, I love antiques especially Victorian Pressed/Pattern glass. I collect American Pattern Glass celery vases and sometimes, just sometimes, I find other pieces of glass that need a home. Antiquing is addictive and very relaxing!
Hi Rhoda,
The only antiques I own are my dinnerware and that’s only b/c I’ve been married so long! I love shopping for them and plan to buy a dining room set. I also have my grandfather’s pipe set with the glass jar and his reading glasses which are priceless.
Thanks for the giveaway as I love reading and especially would love learning more about antiques.
I would love this book. I have several antiques that would definitely fit only in the “good” category, but are pieces from my husband’s family passed down from his fraternal grandparents so they are priceless to us: An old Edwardian period oak dresser and oak barley twist table held together with pegs. I also have lots of antique chachka from my great-great grandmother, and silver and china as well. Thanks for the opportunity, Rhoda. Also, the fiction sounds just up my alley. I’ll have to check the library for both books you mentioned by that author.
Great book for a giveaway! My favorite piece is just a simple old pine dresser of my great grandparents.
oh this would be fun!!!! I’ll keep my fingers crossed that MAYBE I’ll win…
my favorite antique…FAVORITE??? :\ How could I ever pick…just….one!
Merry Christmas!
Hi Rhoda!
Haven’t chatted with you in forever, but I do stop by once in awhile! And I would love to win one of your books in the giveaway!
My favorite antique is a bed that belonged to my grandparents.
Not many antiques in my family – just run-of-the-mill old stuff! However……….I’m on a mission to own some pieces that my neices and nephews would be happy to inherit. It’s a nice dream – just hope they grow up with an appreciation for classics since I don’t currently own anything remotely modern or comtemporary!! The book sounds like a good reference manual.
The book would be a gem to own. We have an antique chest in our bedroom that has been down thru the generations. It is old and scuffed but has lots of character.
My fav is an old closet that has 3 sections. Two sections have the original mirrored doors and the center is intricately carved drawers. These all fit in a base and it’s capped off by a beautiful crown molding piece. I’m guessing it’s turn of the century. I found it at an estate sale. It wasn’t for sale but the contents were. I asked about the piece, left my phone number and one year later got a phone call from the owner that said he was ready to sell. It sits in my entry way and makes a grand statement!
I cherish my grandmother’s mahagony side table, probably from the mid 1850′s. Love it — and would love the book, too!
I have my great-grandmother’s sugar and creamer from the 1800s…LOVE IT.
I treasure antique pieces of furniture and just wish they came with a written history attached!