Night Tapes are a UK-Estonian band, and “Helix” sounds a bit like Mallory to me.
Shoegazer Sunday: Night Tapes’ “Helix”
December 14th, 2025Library Addition: Signed First of Stephen Hunter’s Night of Thunder
December 10th, 2025Another 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
December 8th, 2025I 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
December 7th, 2025Drop me a line if you want a copy…
Library Addition: Signed First of Aaron Allston’s Betrayal
December 5th, 2025Another 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
December 4th, 2025Another 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
December 3rd, 2025I 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.
Library Addition: Richard Middleton’s A Little Green Book of Ghastly Tales
November 10th, 2025Another Borderlands Little Book:
Middleton, Richard. A Little Green Book of Ghastly Tales. Borderlands Press, 2025. First edition hardback, #462 of 350 numbered copies (Borderlands: “we only print 350 copies but if anyone has matching numbers above 350, we make sure they continue to get it”) signed by editor Nicholas A. Psaltso, a Fine copy, sans dust jacket, as issued. Collection from this British writer and poet who died young, including his most famous story, “The Ghost Ship.”
I’ll have copies available in the next Lame Excuse Books catalog, which will probably be out in early December (Thanksgiving is too close to the end of the month to get it out in November).
Shoegazer Sunday: His Name is Alive’s “Blue Moon”
November 9th, 2025I’m not sure if this is technically Shoegaze or not, but it’s close enough. Here’s His Name Is Alive’s cover of Big Star’s “Blue Moon.”
Halloween Horrors: Making Fiends Halloween
October 31st, 2025Once upon a time, there was a great little web series called Making Fiends that turned into a swell TV series. Both versions told about the dynamic between Vendetta, an evil little girl that makes fiends, and Charlotte, who thinks Vendetta is her best friend despite the latter loathing her.
Here’s a video of the Halloween episode.
Alas, Nickelodeon cancelled the TV show after only one season. I’m glad I bough the DVD when it was available, as its now out of print and people are asking ridiculous amounts for it…