Archive for the ‘Books’ Category

Library Addition: Dozois Year’s Best SF 23rd

Tuesday, May 12th, 2026

While I’ve cut way back on auction bidding, every now and then something catches my eye. One of the Invaluable auction houses had an auction that featured a good bit of science fiction, and I won two lowball bids for two lots featuring multiple Dozois Year’s Best Science Fiction hardback firsts. So I ended up picking up 17 volumes, including four I didn’t already have, for about $160 including shipping. So less than $10 each. The ones not going into my library will be in the next Lame Excuse Books catalog, already in progress. Here’s the first of the four:

Dozois, Gardner, editor. The Year’s Best Science Fiction: Twenty-Third Collection. St. Martin’s Press, 2006. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine, Mylar-protected dust jacket, new and unread.

I used to buy these volumes from Willie Siros every year at Armadillocon, back when he was still alive and I was still invited. But over the years I missed a few, either because he didn’t get in copies or because the copies he got in were flawed in some way. But with the latest acquisitions, I think the only one I’ll be missing is #15.

I should be blogging the other three this week…

Library Addition: Signed Hardback First Of Gail Carriger’s Dear Lord Akeldama

Tuesday, May 5th, 2026

Subterranean Press had one of their 50% off sales, so I grabbed this.

Carriger, Gail. Dear Lord Akeldama & Parasolverse Ephemera. Subterranean Press, 2025. First edition hardback, #705 of 750 copies, a Fine copy in embossed boards, sans dust jacket, as issued, in publisher’s bag with bookmark and packed by card laid in. Material from the Soulless universe. Bought for $25 plus shipping.

Library Addition: David Aronovitz Book Catalog for Heritage Auctions

Monday, May 4th, 2026

There’s a big Heritage SF/F/H book auction coming up, this one for book dealer David Aronovitz’s collection, and Heritage sent me a big fat catalog for it. I’ve been receiving catalogs from Heritage since 2007, but haven’t recorded them previously.

(Aronovitz, David) The David Aronovitz Collection of Important Science Fiction & Fantasy Part I. Heritage Auctions, 2026. First edition trade paperback original, a Fine copy. Aronovitz is an SF bookseller who got started a lot earlier than me, all this is expensive stuff I wouldn’t have been able to bid on even if I weren’t between jobs. While I have copies of a lot of the first editions being auctioned (I have firsts of six of the ten books shown on the cover), Aronovitz generally had much nicer copies and/or more desirable states, along with manuscripts and associational copies (like I, Robot inscribed to John W. Campbell).

Previous notable Heritage SF/F/H auctions include:

  • The Jerry Weist Collection
  • The Robert and Diane Yaspan Collection
  • The Ventura Collection
  • Library Addition: Signed Illustrated First of Gail Carriger’s Souless

    Monday, April 27th, 2026

    Another Half Price Books find:

    Carriger, Gail. Soulless. Orbit, 2018. First illustrated hardback edition, a Fine- copy with a tiny little ump at heel, sans dust jacket in illustrated boards, as issued, signed by Carriger. Supplements the signed PBO. I lack the Subterranean Press signed/limited edition, which was the first separate hardback. Bought for $13.50.

    Library Addition: Two Signed “Garth Marenghi” Firsts

    Monday, April 20th, 2026

    In 2004, BBC 4 aired Garth Marenghi’s Darkplace, a horror parody series satirizing the cheapness of 1980s BBC TV shows, created by Matthew Holness and Richard Ayoade, all supposedly the work of “Garth Marenghi” (Holness), “the only writer to publish more books than he’d read.” Last year, I showed these as the Halloween offering for our regular Saturday movie group. Dwight took that as a license to buy these two signed “Marenghi” firsts and give them to me as a birthday gift.

  • “Marenghi, Garth” (i.e., Matthew Holness). Garth Marenghi’s Incarcerat. Hodder & Stoughton Coronet, 2023. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine protected dust jacket, signed by the author (as Marenghi). Received as a gift.

  • “Marenghi, Garth” (i.e., Matthew Holness). Garth Marenghi’s TerrorTome. Hodder & Stoughton, 2022. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine Mylar-protected dust jacket, signed by the author (as Marenghi). Received as a gift.

  • Library Addition: Jack London’s Little White Book of The Wild

    Tuesday, March 31st, 2026

    Another Borderlands Press Little Book came in:

    London, Jack. A Little White Book of the Wild. Borderlands Press, 2026. First edition hardback, #463 of 350 copies signed by editor John DeChancie, a Fine copy, sans dust jacket, as issued. Five stories, the only one I’ve which I’ve already read is “To Build A Fire.”

    I will have a small number of these available in the next Lame Excuse Books catalog.

    Library Addition: Signed First of Dan Simmons Hard As Nails

    Monday, March 9th, 2026

    I had the first two Joe Kurtz books (Hard Case and Hard Freeze) signed by Simmons, but the third wasn’t, so I pick this up cheap when I heard about his untimely death.

    Simmons, Dan. Hard as Nails. St. Martin’s Minotaur, 2003. First edition hardback, a Fine- copy with slight bend at heel, in a Fine dust jacket (taken from my existing copy), signed by Simmons. Bought for $14.95 plus shipping off eBay.

    Library Addition: Kolchak Meets the Classic Monsters

    Wednesday, March 4th, 2026

    This Kickstarter from 2024 finally came in.

    Aquilone, James, editor. Kolchak Meets the Classic Monsters Volume 1. Monstrous Press, 2026. First edition hardback graphic novel, a Fine copy in decorated boards, sans dust jacket, as issued, with three cards laid in. Just what the title says, the latest graphic novel featuring dogged investigative reporter of the supernatural Carl Kolchak. Brought to you by the same people who previously brought you the 50th anniversary edition graphic novel compilation and the first hardback edition of the original Jeff Rice Night Stalker novel. Bought from the Kickstarter for $32.

    Dan Simmons, RIP

    Friday, February 27th, 2026

    From David Morrell comes the sad news that Dan Simmons has died:

    Of all the modern writers I read and collect, Simmons had, next to Gene Wolfe, the most complete writer’s toolkit of any of them. Characterization, plotting, pace, point of view, voice, he was a master of them all. He could write science fiction, horror, hard-boiled mysteries and thrillers, mainstream, you name it.

    After his World Fantasy Award-winning Song of Kali in 1985, Simmons would burst on the field like a supernova in 1989 with the publication of the Hugo-winning Hyperion, the Stoker-winning Carrion Comfort and the under-appreciated Phases of Gravity, and then it was off to the races. Simmons would be one of many writers tagged “The next Stephen King!”, and Summer of Night would make it onto the bestseller lists. But Simmons wouldn’t stick to horror for long, going on to publish more science fiction and a series of acclaimed historical novels that usually contained fantastic elements.

    I met Simmons a few times, and even did an interview with him for Nova Express that, alas, had tape recorder problems, so it never appeared. He was one of the best writers of his era, in any genre, and will be missed.

    Library Addition: R. C. Matheson’s Bombyx

    Thursday, February 26th, 2026

    Another PS Publishing book came in:

    Matheson, Richard Christian. Bombyx. PS Publishing, 2025 (not shipped until 2026). First edition hardback, #58 of 200 copies signed by both Matheson and Mick Garris (who is co-credited with the story), a Fine copy in decorated boards and a Fine dust jacket. Novella of a guy graduating rehab who suddenly feels that everyone hates him.

    I will have one copy of this in the next Lame Excuse Books catalog.