Forget the best new books of 2008! What were last year's top ten most sought-after out-of-print books in the United States? According to Bookfinder.com, which tracks rare and o.p. book trends , the number one title was John L. Parker's 1978 cult classic distance running novel, Once a Runner,. Second place was held by that perennial erotic favorite, Madonna's Sex  (1982), and taking the third spot was Nora Roberts's Promise Me Tomorrow (1984), a novel Roberts describes as mediocre and refuses to reprint. (Librarians, if your collection owns a copy, put it under lock and key as used copies are selling for $80 to $185.)

Interestingly three of the titles on the list are returning to print this spring: Once a Runner (April 2009); A Lion Called Christian (April 2009), a 1972 memoir about a pet lion by Anthony "Ace" Bourke and John Randall; the authors'  YouTube video about their reunion with Christian was a big hit; and Catherine Anderson's 1991 romance, Comanche Heart (June 2009), a follow-up to the reissued, New York Times best-selling Comanche Moon.

Probably the most unusual book on the list was Charles Hayward's century-old Carpentry for Beginners (1900); despite the convenience offered by today's power tools, carpentry techniques obviously  remain unchanged after 108 years. And two other how-to titles also made the top ten list: Robert Wearing's Woodworker's Essential Shop Aids and Jigs (1992) and June Hemmons Hiatt's The Principles of Knitting (1989)  As the Bookfinder blogger noted, " Publishers produce new instruction manuals every year, but when trying to hone your skills tried and true advice is worth its weight in gold—and I believe it after looking at the price for some of these books." So weed your DIY collections carefully!