Book Hauls!

[Extollager]

Again, it has been a while, but as I recall, some of Tolstoi's shorter works might suit you. And I'll add my vote for Gogol... well worth reading; if nothing else, for his darkly humorous outlook on life, humanity, and the way the universe works....

There are only a few books that have made me almost weep and gasp from laughter, and Gogol's Dead Souls* is one of them. The others would include Waugh's Decline and Fall and Amis's Jake's Thing.

*In the Pevear-Volokhonsky translation, that is. I read the Penguin first (Magarshack?) and I don't remember being knocked out by its funniness. I'm referring to Dead Souls Part One -- Part Two is also in the book, but that I haven't read or not as often.

 

[HoopyFrood]

Was mooching past a second hand book market stall yesterday and had a quick look over everything as I went. Was a few steps past it when I looked back and saw something. Cue pavement dancing as I dithered (was supposed to be going to work) but had to stop and buy it.

It was our own Toby Frost's Space Captain Smith, for a mere 50p. I've been hearing good things about it from around here, so I had to get it.

 

[Rothgar]

I went a little overboard this morning, it's been a while since I hit up the bookstores.

Picked these up second hand.
PKD - The Game-Players of Titan
PKD - Flow my Tears the Policeman Said
RAH - Between Planets
RAH - Orphans of the Sky
Mervyn Peake - Titus Groan
Mervyn Peake - Gormenghast

And the rest were new.
NK Jemisin - The Broken Kingdoms
Jim Butcher - Side Jobs
Jim Butcher - Changes
Steven Erikson - Crack'd Pot Trail
Suzanne Collins - The Hunger Games

 

[dask]

Love these old Mentor science books. The cover looks like it would have felt right at home on the cover of an old Astounding.

 

[dlsevern]

recently picked up the Dune series up to the fifth book, Sanderson's Mistborn, Frank Belknap Long's Night Fear, Kevin J. Anderson's Map of all Things, Fredric Brown's Honeymoon in Hell and Space In My Hands, Agatha Christie's Endless Night, and Stephen Donaldson's gap series

 

[j d worthington]

Just received in the mail the final, bonus volume of the Clark Ashton Smith set from Night Shade Books: The Miscellaneous Writings of Clark Ashton Smith. I know some are less than interested in this, given that none of these (save The Hashish-Eater) have been considered major works and, in fact, several of them are very close to juvenile works; but having read some of these before, I would say that it is a valuable addition to the collection of his work, and several are of interest in themselves; even some of the "juvenile" works, such as "The Rajah and the Tiger" or "The Malay Kreese", have much to offer, being really fine examples of a certain type of tale.

At any rate, it has been a long process, but the series is now complete, and a lovely set it is....

 

[thatollie]

It's been a whole month since I made a serious haul, only two books since this time last month.

The Maker of Universes - Philip Jose Farmer (adding to the copy of A Private Cosmos I bought last month)

Weird Shadows from Beyond - edited by John Carnell and containing stories by Mervyn Peake, Theodore Sturgeon, Michael Moorcock and Brian Aldiss.

 

[j d worthington]

It's been a whole month since I made a serious haul, only two books since this time last month.

The Maker of Universes - Philip Jose Farmer (adding to the copy of A Private Cosmos I bought last month)

Weird Shadows from Beyond - edited by John Carnell and containing stories by Mervyn Peake, Theodore Sturgeon, Michael Moorcock and Brian Aldiss.

Both quite nice books. I'll be interested in hearing your thoughts, especially on that anthology....

Aaaannnnd.... when I got home from work tonight, I found one heck of a package waiting on the front porch for me, from Hippocampus Press. To wit:

Twisted in Dream: The Complete Weird Poetry of Ann K. Schwader
A Weird Writer in Our Midst: Early Criticism of H. P. Lovecraft, ed. by S. J. Joshi
An Epicure in the Terrible: A Centennial Anthology of Essays in Honor of H. P. Lovecraft (rev. & updated), ed. by David E. Schultz & S. T. Joshi
Tempting Providence & Other Stories, by Jonathan Thomas
From the Cauldron, by Fred Phillips (another book of weird verse)
Ten Years of Hippocampus Press: 2000-2010, by Derrick Hussey, S. T. Joshi, and David E. Schultz
Dim-Remembered Stories: A Critical Study of R. H. Barlow, by Massimo Berruti
The Nemesis of Night (A Novel in the Shaman Cycle), by Adam Niswander
Reflections in a Glass Darkly: Essays on J. Sheridan Le Fanu, ed. by Gary William Crawford, Jim Rockhill, and Brian J. Showers
SIN & ashes, by Joseph S. Pulver, Sr.
The Shadowy Thing, by H. B. Drake
A Monster of Voices: Speaking for H. P. Lovecraft, by Robert H. Waugh
The Tindalos Cycle, ed. by Robert M. Price
The Undying Thing and Others, by Barry Pain
Letters to James F. Morton, by H. P. Lovecraft (ed. by David E. Schultz and S. T. Joshi)
Weird Words: A Lovecraftian Lexicon, by Dan Clore
Lovecraft Annual, Nos. 4 & 5
Dead Reckonings (A Review of Horror Literature), Nos. 7-10

 

[yaxomoxay]

I just ordered ”A means to freedom”, the letters of HP Lovecraft and Robert E. Howard.
Hope it's good....so far I loved HPL's epistolary w/ Wandrei and from NYC.

 

[j d worthington]

I just ordered ”A means to freedom”, the letters of HP Lovecraft and Robert E. Howard.
Hope it's good....so far I loved HPL's epistolary w/ Wandrei and from NYC.

I've not read the entirety of the Lovecraft/Howard correspondence, but I have read a reasonable selection; if you enjoyed those two volumes, I would imagine you will find these at least equally as interesting, if not more so....

 

[Fried Egg]

I just shelled out full price for Robert Aickman's "Powers of Darkness". Very expensive for a collection of just six stories, two of which I have read before, but this is a very fine edition with stories that I can't find elsewhere at a reasonable price so what the hell?

 

[Diggler]

I haven't been buying any books lately due to saving for a holiday to The US in May. But seeing cheap books makes me all sentimental and I have to buy them.

The City and The City by China Mieville

A friend loaned me a copy of this, so to buy a hardcover copy for $10, I just had to have it!

Armageddon's Children by Terry Brooks

I can't stand fantasy stories. I can watch them on TV, but I just can't read them. This claimed to be post-apocalyptic, so that suckered me in. Hopefully it's not too bad.

 

[gully_foyle]

I found the SF Masterworks version of The Difference Engine by William Gibson and Bruce Sterling. I've been keen to get my hands on this one for a very long time.

 

[dask]

Couple of freebies at the library today.

 

[Warren_Paul]

Armageddon's Children by Terry Brooks

I can't stand fantasy stories. I can watch them on TV, but I just can't read them. This claimed to be post-apocalyptic, so that suckered me in. Hopefully it's not too bad.

That's one of his better ones actually. I enjoyed it.

Terry brooks wrote a series called The Word and the Void which is based in present day (at the time) with fantasy elements. (modern/contemporary fantasy). But he also wrote another series based in the 'World of Shannara'.

Armegeddon's children (first in a 3 book series) ties the two together, showing that Shannara is actually post-apocalyptic earth and based after The Word and the Void. I would have probably read The Word and the Void first, but not completely needed.

 

[dask]

Did some book hunting today:

 

[K. Riehl]

Picked up 1st editions of Bill the Galactic Hero by Harrison and Agent of the Terran Empire by Anderson.
Completed the years 1944, 1945, 1958, and 1937 of Astounding Pulp magazine

Bought Shadows in Flight by Card and won a ebay bid for a fine copy of An Earthman on Venus by Farley, Avon 1st paperback

 

[dask]

Completed the years 1944, 1945, 1958, and 1937 of Astounding Pulp magazine

Pulp paradise!

 

[j d worthington]

Dask: Several of those look quite interesting. Would you mind drawing up a list of the TOC of Points of View and the Runyon and sending it to me?

 

[nomadman]

The Dog Said Bow Wow by Michael Swanwick
253 by Geoff Ryman
The Dragons of Babel by Michael Swanwick
We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson
King Rat by China Mieville
American Gods by Neil Gaiman
Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman
This Immortal by Roger Zelazny.

I've never read Gaiman before, so I imagine those two are good places to start. The first Swanwick is a collection and contains some pretty fun pieces. The Zelazny title is one I've ordered three times before. The first one got lost in the post, the second one vanished soon after it arrived and the third one was defective and had to be sent back. Wonder what's going to happen this time?