Posts Tagged ‘Half Price Books’
Monday, April 28th, 2025
I came across this in a Half Price Books store, and was either unaware it existed or had forgotten about it.
Crowley, John. Great Work of Time. Bantam, 1991. First edition paperback original thus and first separate edition, original publish as one of four novellas in Novelty two years before, a Fine- copy with edgewear. His World Fantasy Award-winning time travel novel, it which an initial time travel effort to keep the British Empire intact eventually results in radical changes up the line. Bought from Half Price Books for $1.79.
I think Bantam may have been the only mainstream SF publisher of the late 1980s and early 1990s who would put out novellas in paperback form, as I know they did a few others.
Note that I still have copies of the signed, limited hardback edition available through Lame Excuse Books.
Tags:Books, Fantasy, Half Price Books, John Crowley, Science Fiction, Time Travel, World Fantasy Award
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Monday, April 14th, 2025
Two more Half Price Books finds, both signed.
Eggers, Dave. A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius. Simon & Schuster, 2000. First edition hardback (full “1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2” numberline), a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket, signed (with initials) and dated (“3/6/00”) by Eggers. His debut novel. You have to admire the chutzpah of the title. Bought for $13.50.
Hill, Joe. The Fireman. William Morrow, 2016. First edition hardback, a Fine- copy with slight bend at head and heel in a Near Fine- dust jacket with two creases running the length of the front flap. Supplements an unsigned first and the signed, limited, slipcased PS Publishing edition. Bought for $13.04.
Tags:Books, Dave Eggers, Half Price Books, Horror, Joe Hill
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Wednesday, April 9th, 2025
Another Half Price Books find:
McDonald, Ian. Hopeland. Tor, 2023. First edition hardback, a Fine-/Fine- copy with slight bumping to top points. Looks a bit New Weird-ish. ISDFB says the Tor edition precedes by a couple of days. Bought from Half Price Books for $13.49.
Tags:Books, Fantasy, Half Price Books, New Weird, Science Fiction
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Friday, February 21st, 2025
Two more paperbacks bought at the local Half Price Books.
Brackett, Leigh. The Reavers of Skaith. Ballantine Books, 1976. First edition paperback original, a Fine- copy with a trace of edgewear. I now have all three Skaith books, thanks to a previous Half Price Books purchase. Currey, page 53. Bought for $1.34.
Brackett, Leigh. The Starman of Llyrdis. Ballantine Books, 1976. First edition paperback original thus under this title, (a reprint of the 1952 Gnome Press hardback The Starman), a Near Fine copy with edgewear and a large bookstore stamp inside the front cover, otherwise nice and square. Currey, page 53. Bought for 67¢.
Tags:Books, Half Price Books, Leigh Brackett, PBO, Science Fiction
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Thursday, December 19th, 2024
Another DFW Half Price Books purchase.
Resnick, Mike. Walpurgis III. Signet, 1982. First edition paperback original, a Fine- copy with slight edgewear, inscribed on the insider cover by Resnick to Horseclans author Robert Adams: “For Bob Adams/From Mike/Resnick.” Bought for $8.
The book is so tight I didn’t want to risk cracking it by scanning the inside cover, so this crappy iPhone snap is all you get of the inscription.
This is the second associational PBO I have inscribed to Roberts by another writer.
Tags:Associational Copy, Books, Half Price Books, Mike Resnick, PBO, Robert Adams, Science Fiction
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Wednesday, December 18th, 2024
Five more hardback first editions bought at Half Price Books in the DFW metroplex.
Fraser, George MacDonald. Flashman and the Mountain of Light. Knopf, 1990. First American edition, hardback, a Fine- copy with slight bumping at head and heel in a Fine- dust jacket with slight bumping at head and heel and age-darkening to top edge of front flap. Flashman up to his usual tricks on the India frontier. Bought for $7.99.
Novik, Naomi. The Golden Enclaves. Del Rey, 2022. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. “Lesson Three of the Scholomance.” Bought for $13.99. In the past year I’ve picked up all three of these volumes at Half Price Books.
Rand, Ayn. Ideal: The Novel and the Play. new American library, 2015. First edition hardback, a Fine- copy with slight bend at head and heel in a Near Fine+ dust jacket with slight wrinkle at top right front cover and slight bend at head and heel. Previously unpublished novel and play, both featuring the same plot and characters, neither of which Rand was happy enough with to publish. Bought for $7.99.
Westerfeld, Scott. The Risen Empire. Tor, 2003. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine Mylar-protected dust jacket. Space Opera. Replaces a slightly less attractive copy. Bought for $5.99
Whitehead, Colson. The Underground Railroad. Doubleday, 2016. First edition hardback “1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2” numberline and “First
Edition” stated), a Fine copy in a Fine- dust jacket with a trace of wear at points and a “OPRAH’S/2016 SELECTION/BOOK CLUB” sticker (apparently as issued for some copies) and no barcode sticker over original. An alternate history/slipstream novel in which the underground railroad for escaped slaves is a literal railway underground, with stations along the way, and a different timeline from our own. Pulitzer Prize, National Book Award and Arthur C. Clarke Award winner. Bought for $13.99.
Tags:Ayn Rand, Books, Fantasy, George MacDonald Fraser, Half Price Books, Naomi Novik, Pulitzer Prize, Science Fiction, Scott Westerfeld
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Tuesday, December 17th, 2024
Two more Half Price Books purchases from the Metroplex, these being science fiction reference works.
(Bradbury, Ray) Jonathan R. Eller and William F. Touponce. Ray Bradbury: The Life of Fiction. Ken State, 2004. First edition hardback (“08 07 06 05 04 5 4 3 2 1” numberline), a Fine- copy with a small binding flaw where a small rectangle of the black endpaper covering is missing from the top of the rear inside cover near the gutter, in a Fine dust jacket. Massive 570-page biography of Bradbury. Eller and Touponce are the ones editing the Critical Editions of Bradbury stories. This has had at least one printing since. Bought for $38.
(Heinlein, Robert A.) James Gifford. Robert A. Heinlein: A Reader’s Companion. Nitrosyncratic Press, 2000. First edition trade paperback original (“First Edition/First printing, 8 May 2000”) on copyright page, presumably simultaneous with the hardback edition (also listed on the copyright page), a Near Fine+ copy with slight crease to bottom front corner. Critical companion covering all of Heinlein’s works. Hugo Award nominee. Bought for $9.99.
Tags:biography, Books, Half Price Books, James Gifford, Jonathan R. Eller, Ray Bradbury, reference works, Robert A. Heinlein, Science Fiction, William F. Touponce
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Monday, December 16th, 2024
Now that I’ve sent out the latest Lame Excuse Books catalog, I finally have time to list additions to my own library that I found in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. This post includes all the signed hardbacks, and all were bought at various DFW-area Half Price Books.
Allston, Aaron. Star Wars: Fate of the Jedi: Outcast. Del Rey, 2009. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine- dust jacket with the tiniest little crimping at head and heel, inscribed by Allston: “To Chris: May the/Force be with you!/Aaron Allston/2011/10/8.” Bought for $7.99.
Braunbeck, Gary A. In the Midnight Museum. Necessary Evil Press, 2005. First edition hardback, #118 of 450 signed, numbered copies, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. Braunbeck is the only writer in this post I don’t (or didn’t) know personally. Bought for $10.
Bryant, Edward. The Baku. Subterranean, 2001. First edition hardback, #221 of 500 signed, numbered copies, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. I think I passed on this when it first came out because I thought $35 was too pricey for what was essentially a 28 page novelette that had already been published in Night Visions 4 (plus an introduction and teleplay of same). Oh those younger, more innocent times. Bought for $10.
Cadigan, Pat. Patterns. Ursus Imprints, 1989. First edition hardback, 162 of 400 signed, numbered copies, a Fine- copy with slight bumping at head and heel in a Near Fine+ dust jacket with a thin 2″ long scratch on rear near spine and slight edgewear. Supplements a trade edition inscribed to me. Bought for $7.99.
Lethem, Jonathan. You Don’t Love Me Yet. Doubleday, 2007. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket, signed by Lethem. Supplements an unsigned copy. Bought for $9.99.
Tags:Aaron Allston, Books, Ed Bryant, Gary Braunbeck, Half Price Books, Horror, Jonathan Lethem, Necessary Evil Press, Pat Cadigan, Science Fiction, signatures, signed, small press publishers, Ursus Imprints
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Tuesday, September 17th, 2024
Three used books, two of which were bought extremely cheaply.
Asimov, Isaac. Foundation’s Edge. Doubleday, 1982. First edition hardback (“First Edition” stated and gutter code of M36 on page 365), a Very Good copy with bumping at head and heel, slight creasing to spine, a few tiny nicks to bottom boards, in a Very Good dust jacket with several tackhead-sized abrasion spots to bottom front panel, bumping at head and heel, and shallow loss of points. Hugo Award winner. Replaces a Book Club edition bought and read before I started collecting first editions, and supplements a copy of the Whispers Press signed/limited edition. Usually this would not qualify as a sufficiently attractive to pick up, but it was literally $1 at a garage sale from a storage unit.
King, Stephen. Storm of the Century. Book-of-the-Month Club, 1999. First hardback edition, being a trade paperback original, a Fine-/Fine- copy with slight bumping at head and heel and just a trace of wear at dj points. The BOMC is the first hardback, but I’m not sure there are any points to determine first vs. later printings. Collings, Horror Plum’d: An International Stephen King Bibliography and Guide, A64.b. Bought for $1.
Ruff, Matt. Lovecraft Country. Harper, 2016. First edition hardback, a Near Fine+ copy with bump at heel, sans dust jacket, as issued. Basis of the HBO TV series. Bought for $13.49 from Half Price Books.
Tags:Books, Cthulhu, Half Price Books, Horror, Isaac Asimov, Science Fiction, Stephen King
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