Category Archives: book sales

I Scored!

At the Friends of the Library Book Sale.  Why? What did you think I meant?

Some of you people need to get your minds out of the gutter.

Here’s what I picked up (click to enlarge).  Paperbacks were fifty cents (when did keyboards stop containing the cents symbol?) and hardcovers a dollar.

Some of these are duplicates, such has the REH titles, the Frazetta, The Saberhagen Dracula books, the SF Hall of Fame, some of the Bova and Drake.  In some cases I wasn’t sure which ones I had and in others I was upgrading.  The Hecate’s Cauldron was a steal for $0.50; the last time I checked, it was selling for around $20 on ABE.

My main objective was to fill in gaps in Bova’s Grand Tour series, and I managed to pick up a couple I didn’t already have.  Most of them, though, are upgrades or reading copies of titles I have that are signed.  Everything else was gravy.

Not bad for $23.50 total.

At 75% Off, I Couldn’t Resist

Copy of 20141009_133837The second hand bookstore that’s going out of business has now reduced inventory to 75% off.  This is like offering catnip to cats.  I’ve broken the titles up into 4 loosely related groups.  Makes it easier to see them in a picture that way.

First, Joel Rosenberg.  I’ve never read any of his books, but years ago a friend recommended them.  They look like a lot of fun.  Not all of them are Guardians of the Flame series, but most of them are.  I think I got the whole set.  The other two (D’Shai and Hour of the Octopus) seem to be a blend of fantasy and mystery.

20141009_133650The next group is general fantasy, with an emphasis on sword and sorcery.  The Glen Cook is a reading copy.  The copy I have is signed.   I’m in the process of obtaining more of Kurtz’s Deryni novels.  I’m not sure I’ll read all of them, but I’ve heard the earlier ones are good and aren’t as depressing as the later books.  The Oron books I’m not too sure about.  David C. Smith has written several different S&S series, but I’ve not read any of them.  I know nothing about this series.  The Hour of the Dragon is, of course, something I’ve got other copies of, but I thought I would grab this one on general principles.

20141009_133437I’ve got the Chad Oliver volumes of Classics of Modern Science Fiction, but,  hey, this Chad Oliver.  These were originally published when I was in college, although the first few volumes may have come out when I was in high school.  It’s been too long to be sure.  Not all of the volumes appealed to me at the time (still don’t), so I didn’t try to collect them.  I may try to accumulate a set and see if I can get anything for it on ebay.  The Leinster I hadn’t seen in this edition.  I also love the cover of Medea, although I’ve got a trade paper copy of this one.  It’s hard to go wrong with a Freas cover.

20141009_133932The final selection is science fiction.  I’ve been eyeing the Mike Shepherd/Moscoe books for a while.  (Shepherd and Moscoe are the same person.)  I’ve liked pretty much everything I’ve read by Michael Bishop.  My reading has been confined to short stories mostly, so I thought I would give his novels a try.  Ditto for Robert Thurston.  Simak is always worth reading.  I’ve got this particular title, but still.  Finally, I read some of the shorter pieces that make up The Expediter in high school when they were published in Analog and thought I’d see if they were as good as I remembered.

The store is still open, although some of the best stuff is starting to disappear.  (I missed a set of H. Rider Haggard because I waited.  Blasted cash flow.)  I’m sure I’ll pop in again before too long.

More Bookstore Closing Acquisitions

I posted recently about one of the local used bookstores (currently there are 4: 2 good, 1 decent, 1 not worth bothering with) closing and some of the titles I picked up.

You know I went back.  The store will be open for a little while yet.  Here’s what I picked up this time.

More AcquisitionsI couldn’t resist the cover of the Howard pastiche by Offutt, even though I doubt I’ll read it.  The People of the Mist is an upgrade of my existing copy.  The Starfollowers of Coramonde is a later edition, but the Darrell K. Sweet cover matches the one on the first novel in the series.

I loved Sean Stewart’s Galveston some years back, but I haven’t read any of his other books.  The Tanith Lee speaks for itself.  The third row contains the first 3 of 4 in Lawrence Watt-Evans Lords of Dus series.

The last row is a reading copy of one of Evangeline Walton’s books that was part of the BAF series.  The Zahn is part of a series that looks like a lot of fun.  And the Paul Preuss because I wanted some solid science fiction in the old style.

But the gem of this little collection is the volume in the upper left of the picture.  It’s Whispers, edited by Stuart David Schiff.  It’s a collection of stories published in his groundbreaking small press magazine of the same title.  I’ve got a copy of this already, but I couldn’t pass this one up.  The contents include “Sticks” by Karl Edward Wagner, “The Barrow Troll” by David Drake, “The Dakwa” by Manly Wade Wellman, plus stories by Robert Bloch, Fritz Leiber, William F. Nolan, Hugh B. Cave, Dennis Etchison, Joseph Payne Brennan, Ramsey Campbell, Richard Christian Matheson, Brian Lumley, and many others.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go reread “Sticks”.

Recent Acquisitions

There are a few used book stores here in town.  Two are pretty good, one is so-so, and I’m not sure the fourth isn’t a front for something else.

Anyway, the one I consider the best is closing.  The owner doesn’t have a lease but owns the storefront.  As a result, he’s not in any hurry to shut his doors.  This is good, because he’s got a pretty thorough inventory.  It’s one of the great second hand stores where there are stacks of books in all the aisles, and a few minutes to see if a particular title is to be had turns into the better part of an afternoon.

Acquisitions 1I passed through the other day and picked up a few things.  At the moment everything is half off.  That percentage will increase as times goes on and the day the store shuts its doors for good draws nigh.  You know I’ll be going back. Continue reading

Announcing Adventures Fantastic Books

I thought I’d let you know that I’ve added a bookstore to the site, or at least a link to a bookstore.  It’s there on the upper right.  This is something entirely new, so it may undergo a number of changes before it’s all settled.  In other words, Adventures Fantastic Books is very much a work in progress.  In the interest of full disclosure, I should tell you that I’m part of the Amazon Associates program, and everything in the bookstore is through Amazon.  I get a small pittance from each title sold through Adventures Fantastic Books.  Right now there are four categories, although I plan to expand.  The fantasy and science fiction categories will allow you to purchase any title in those categories Amazon currently stocks.  As a result, some of the titles in the fantasy section may not be the type of fantasy I focus on here.  But there’s Search feature that will allow you to find anything in that category or in science fiction.

I could only include titles that I hand choose, but that will take a while, especially as there’s so much fantasy and science fiction out there.  Each title has to be entered by hand, and there is a limit to how many items I can include, on the order of 500 or so.  While I could put a wide selection in that way, it’s a time consuming process.  I’m adding items by hand in the other two categories, Historical Adventure and Featured Books.  I’ll be adding more to these categories, but right now Historical Adventure has titles by Robert Low, Harold Lamb, Ben Kane, Bernard Cornwell, Conn Iggulden, Scott Oden, and others.

The Featured Books will change frequently; probably not every day (although it’s a thought) but at least once a week.  Right now all the titles that were shortlisted for the David Gemmell Awards are there.

I’m learning as I go here, and I’d appreciate your feedback.  Please feel free to let me know what works and what doesn’t.  Should the book most recently reviewed be the Featured Book?  Are there categories you would like to see added?  Are there authors in Historical Adventure I’ve overlooked?  I’m intending to add categories for History and perhaps Detective or Pulp Fiction.  Are there any other categories I should include? 

Whether you buy anything through Adventures Fantastic Books or not, thank you for your support, comments, and taking the time to read this blog.