Archive for December, 2025

Library Addition: Signed First of Stephen Hunter’s Night of Thunder

Wednesday, December 10th, 2025

Another DFW find:

Hunter, Stephen. Night of Thunder. Simon & Schuster, 2008. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine, Mylar-protected dust jacket, signed by Hunter. “A Bob Lee Swagger novel.” Bought at a Dallas Half Price Books for $6.49, which is a quarter of the original selling price.

When book hunting, it’s usually a good idea to check out any book that already has a Mylar dust jacket protector…

Library Addition: First of Ted Chiang’s Exhalation

Monday, December 8th, 2025

I already had the signed, limited edition of this, but the true first disappeared before I was aware of its existence.

Chiang, Ted. Exhalation. Knopf, 2019. First edition hardback, a Fine- copy with slight bend at head and heel in a Fine- dust jacket with slight bend at heel and a trace of haze rubbing. Short story collection, Ted’s second. Includes such Hugo and Nebula-winning stories as “The Merchant and the Alchemist’s Gate” (which he brought to a Turkey City Writer’s Workshop I hosted, despite it being, like all Ted’s short fiction, annoyingly perfect already), “Exhalation,” and “The Lifecycle of Software Objects.” Bought for $13 at Half Price Books.

New Book Catalog Real Soon Now

Sunday, December 7th, 2025

Drop me a line if you want a copy…

Library Addition: Signed First of Aaron Allston’s Betrayal

Friday, December 5th, 2025

Another Metroplex find:

Allston, Aaron. Star Wars: Legacy of the Force: Betrayal. Del Rey, 2006. First edition hardback, a Fine- copy with slight bend at head and heel and slight bumping at points, in a Fine- dust jacket with trace of bumping at points, signed and dated (“2006/6/24”) by Allston. Bought at Half Price Books for $9.99.

Aaron died in 2014.

Library Addition: Signed First of Diana Wynne Jones’ Minor Arcana

Thursday, December 4th, 2025

Another Metroplex Half Price Books find.

Jones, Diana Wynne. Minor Arcana. Gollancz, 1996. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine dustjacket, signed by Jones, with sales slip laid in. Bought at a Half Price Books for $14.99 from a store that had a lot of Jones, some of which I picked up and will be in the already-in-progress Lame Excuse Books catalog. I kept this one because I like short story collections and I didn’t have a signed Jones in my collection.

Library Addition: Signed James A. Michener First

Wednesday, December 3rd, 2025

I was in the DFW Metroplex over Thanksgiving week, and did a lot of book shopping at various Half Price Books. I found quite a few things, some for myself, some for the already-in-progress Lame Excuse Books catalog. Here’s one outside what I usually collect, but a cheap signed edition from a notable author is usually a pretty good thing to pick up.

Michener, James A. The Eagle and the Raven. State House Press, 1990. First edition hardback, an unnumbered copy of 350 numbered copies signed by Michener and illustrator Charles Shaw, a Fine copy in a Fine Mylar-protected dust jacket. Novel of the clash between Sam Houston and Santa Ana, and unlike most Michener works, this one comes in at a sprightly 210 pages. Bought at a Half Price Books for $9.99.