Posts Tagged ‘Half Price Books’
Wednesday, January 11th, 2023
More first editions bought in the Metroplex from Half Price Books and Recycled Books.
Gingrich, Newt and William R. Forstchen. Never Call Retreat: Lee and Grant: The Final Victory. St. Martins, 2005. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket, signed by Gingrich. Bought from Half Price Books for $7.99.
Hubbard, L. Ron. Ole Doc Methuselah. Theta Press, 1970. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine- dust jacket with age-darkening to white portions. Fixup novel of linked stories originally published 1946-1950. Strangely, there is no printing at all on the spine or cover of the book itself. Currey, page 256. Bought for $12 from Recycled Books.
Kelly, James Patrick. Think Like A Dinosaur. Golden Gryphon Press, 1997. First edition hardback, a Fine- copy with about 3/8″ slight abrasion or fade to the very top of the front cover, in a Fine- dust jacket with slight wrinkling at head and heel and slight edgewear at points and top of dust jacket, inscribed by Kelly: “To Katelein/Keep writing/+/:/Yr pal/Jim/ 4/19/98.” Short story collection. Supplements a perfect but unsigned copy. Bought for $11.49.
Miller, John J. (George R. R. Martin). Wild Cards: Death Draws Five. iBooks, 2006. First edition hardback, a Fine- copy with slight bumping at head and two small indents to bottom boards and slight bumping at top points in a Fine- dust jacket with slight bumping at head and top points. Solo Wild Card novel by Miller. At some con years back, Miller told me this was actually the rarest Wild Cards book. Precedes the Tor edition by 15 years. Bought from Half Price Books for $11.48.
Smith, Michael Marshall. The Servants. Earthling Publications, 2007. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine- dust jacket with a small wrinkle to the bottom of the front flap. Precedes the UK and Eos editions. Bought from Half Price Books for $7.99.
Stross, Charles. Empire Games. Tor, 2016. First edition hardback, a Fine- copy with bumping at head and heel in a Fine- dust jacket with bumping at head and heel. Merchant Princes novel. Bought from Half Price Books for $4.99.
Tags:Charles Stross, George R. R. Martin, Half Price Books, James Patrick Kelly, John J. Miller, L. Ron Hubbard, Michael Marshall Smith, Newt Gingrich, Recycled Books, Science Fiction
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Wednesday, January 4th, 2023
This is the first wave of books I bought in the Metroplex. Most of the books I bought were at various Half Price Books stores, but a couple of these came from Recycled Books in Denton.
Adams, Richard. Watership Down. Macmillian, 1972. First American edition hardback, a Very Good copy with name marked out in black marker on front free endpaper, spine slightly worn, and slight staining at top edge, in a Very Good- dust jacket with one pinhead puncture to spine in “w,” small closed punctures along rear bottom spine join, a few pinhead dots of black staining to rear cover, shallow chipping at head, and age darkening to spine; slightly rough, but the page block is nice and square, and the UK first generally lists for well over a grand. Pringle, Modern Fantasy 51. Moorcock, Epic Pooh, pages [12-13-ish; the pages are unnumbered] (Mike is not a fan). Bought for $9.99.
Anderson, Poul and Gordon R. Dickson. Star Prince Charlie. Putnam’s, 1975. First edition hardback (no statement of printing on copyright page, as per Currey), a Fine copy in a Fine first state (slash between names on spine barely visible) dust jacket. Currey, page 13.
Anthony, Patricia. Gods Fires. Ace Books, 1997. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket, inscribed by Anthony: “Hey-/Remember all those Wednesday nights over/on Walhat Hill, Jane?/Now we/only run/into each/other at cons. I miss/you sometimes! Email/me.” Then she’s altered her printed name to read “www.Patricia-Anthony.com”. Anthony died in 2013 and that domain is no longer active. Possibly an associational copy. Replaces an unsigned copy.
Chabon, Michael, editor. McSweeney’s Enchanted Chamber of Astonishing Stories. Vintage Books, 2004. First edition trade paperback original, a Fine copy. Anthology with stories by Stephen King, Peter Straub, Margaret Atwood, etc. Companion to McSweeny’s/Chabon’s Thrilling Tales volume, which I also have. Bought for $7 from Recycled Books.
Dozois, Gardner, editor. The Very Best of the Best. St. Martins, 2019. First edition hardback, a Fine- copy with slight bends at head and heel in a Fine- dust jacket with slight curl at head and heel. A best of best of collection.
Tags:Books, Fantasy, Gardner Dozois, Gordon Dickson, Half Price Books, Michael Chabon, Patricia Anthony, Poul Anderson, Richard Adams, Science Fiction
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Thursday, December 29th, 2022
In the Metroplex, I found a set of six Borderlands Little Books at Half Price Books for $120. I bought that, incorporated three I didn’t have into my own library, and am listing the other three (including their Ligotti volume, which is worth more than $120 all on its own these days) through Lame Excuse Books.
Malerman, Josh. A Little Red Book of Requests. Borderlands Press, 2019. First edition hardback, #290 of 500 signed copies, a Fine copy, sans dust jacket, as issued. This came out the year after the Bird Box movie, so I imagine it disappeared very quickly.
Nolan, William F. A Little Gray Book of Shadows. Borderlands Press, 2018. First edition hardback, #290 of 500 signed copies, a Fine copy, sans dust jacket, as issued.
Waggoner, Tim. A Little Aqua Book of Marine Tales. Borderlands Press, 2018. First edition hardback, #290 of 500 signed copies, a Fine copy, sans dust jacket, as issued.
I have enough of these now that I’m thinking I should try to pick up a full set. Of the really “difficult” ones, I think I only lack the Gaiman volume.
Tags:Books, Borderlands Press, Half Price Books, Horror, Josh Malerman, small press publishers, Tim Waggoner, William F. Nolan
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Wednesday, December 7th, 2022
Here are three books I bought in Austin-area Half Price Books stores. (The books I bought over Thanksgiving week in the Metroplex will be coming later.)
Chabon, Michael. A Model World and Other Stories. Morrow, 1991. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket, signed by Chabon, with review slip laid in. Short story collection, and Chabon’s second book. Bought for $10.
Roy, Arundhati. The God of Small Things. Flamingo, 1997. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. Booker Prize winner. Bought for $7.99.
Weinstein, Sol. Loxfinger: A Thrilling Adventure of Hebrew Secret Agent Oy-Oy-7. Pocket books, 1965. First edition trade paperback original, a Very Good copy with two quarter-sized sticker pulls on front cover, the top one affecting the letters “ER” at the end of the title. The first in a series of Jewish James Bond parodies, published during a boom for Bond parodies. Weinstein was evidently a gag writer for several well-known comedians in the 1960s. This looks so silly that ever since I saw this title in a book catalog some quarter century ago, I’ve wanted to own a copy, and $5 seems like a fair price to pay. But I should probably read Goldfinger first to really appreciate it…
Tags:Arundhati Roy, Books, Half Price Books, James Bond, Michael Chabon, Parody, Sol Weinstein
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Wednesday, October 5th, 2022
Another Half Price Books find:
Hill, Joe. NOS4A2. HarperCollins, 2013. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine- dust jacket with a slight bit of crimping at head and heel. Magic girl vs. Rolls Royce-driving vampire. Basis of a TV show. Bought for $13.04.
Tags:Books, Half Price Books, Horror, Joe Hill, vampires
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Friday, January 7th, 2022
Three more reference works:
(Ballard, J. G.) McGrath, Rick. Deep Ends: A Ballardian Anthology 2018. Terminal Press, 2018. First edition hardback, a Fine copy, sans dust jacket, as issued. Collection of essays on Ballard, including David Pringle’s continuing, invaluable “Ballard/Moorcock Chronology,” of which Moorcock himself says “I frequently trust his memory over my own.” Bought from Amazon.
Gaiman, Neil (with Leslie S. Klinger). The Annotated American Gods. Morrow, 2019. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. Annotated version of Gaiman’s Hugo, Nebula and World Fantasy Award-winning novel, made into the acclaimed TV series of the same name. This edition follows the text of the 10th Anniversary edition, but the annotations note where it differs from the first edition (among other things). Bought for $24.99 from a Houston-area Half Price Books. I will have one copy of this available in the next Lame Excuse Books catalog.
(Gibson, William) Westfahl, Gary. William Gibson. University of Illinois Press, 2013. First edition trade paperback original, a Fine copy. Critical companion to Gibson’s work. Bought at Half Price Books for $12.49.
Tags:Books, David Pringle, Fantasy, Gary Westfahl, Half Price Books, J. G. Ballard, Neil Gaiman, reference works, Science Fiction, small press publishers, William Gibson
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Tuesday, December 22nd, 2020
Three Half Price Books purchases:
Finn, Mark. Gods New and Used. Clockwork Storybook, 2001. First edition trade paperback original, a Fine copy, signed by Finn, with a “Signed by Author at Book People” sticker on it. Collection of linked stories. Bought at Half Price Books for $10.
(Heinlein, Robert A.) Patterson, William H., Jr. Robert A. Heinlein In Dialogue With His Century — Volume 2: The Man Who Learned Better | 1948—1988. The second half of Patterson’s mammoth biography. Bought at Half Price Books for $17.49.
Moorcock, Michael. The White Wolf’s Son. Warner Aspect, 2005. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. Elric/von Beck novel. Bought at Half Price Books for $7.98.
Tags:biography, Books, Clockwork Storybook, Fantasy, Half Price Books, Mark Finn, Michael Moorcock, reference works, Robert A. Heinlein, Science Fiction, small press publishers
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Sunday, January 19th, 2020
Most of these were Half Price Books purchases:
Caro, Robert. The Years of Lyndon Johnson: The Passage of Power. Knopf, 2012. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine- dust jacket with slight bumping at head, heel and points. The fourth volume of Cato’s award-winning Johnson biography. Bought from Half Price Books for $9.99.
Haber, Karen, and Leigh Brackett. Thieves Carnival/The Jewel of Bas. Tor, 1990. First edition paperback original, a Fine copy, new and unread. Sort of assembling a complete Leigh Brackett collection as targets of opportunity present themselves. Bought at Half Price Books for $1.99.
(Lovecraft, H.P.) Joshi, S. T. The Madness of Cthulhu. Titan Books, 2014. First edition paperback original, a Fine- copy with a edgewear at head and heel. Joshi 200, IX.11.a. Bought for $3 at Half Price Books.
Piercy, Marge. Woman on the Edge of Time. Knopf, 1976. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine- dust jacket with slight crease to top front flap. Pringle, SF 100 81. Bought from Half Price Books for $6 in a coupon sale.
Rusch, Kristine Kathryn. The Gallery of His Dreams. Axolotl/Pulphouse, 1991. First edition hardback, #297 of 300 signed, numbered copies, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. Additional inscribed by Rusch to Texas science fiction writer carrier Richerson: “For Carrie —/A very good/writer — Send me stories!/Kristine Kathryn Rusch/ 6/22/91.” In fact, Rusch did publish some of Richerson’s work in both Pulphouse and in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, making this something of an associational copy. Bought for, IIRC, $6.39 (20% off $7.99).
Silverberg, Robert. Moonferns & Starsongs. Ballantine Books, 1971. First edition paperback original, a Fine- copy with just a couple of touches of edgewear, otherwise apparently new and unread. Short story collection. Bought from a Half Price Books in Houston for $2.40.
Sturgeon, Theodore (with Dough Moench and Alex Nino). Theodore Sturgeon’s More Than Human: The Graphic Story Version. Byron Preiss Visual Publications, 1978. First edition hardback, a Near Fine- copy with bump to bottom points, slight bumping at head and heel, and one scratch and edgewear to front cover pasted-on color illustration, sans dust jacket, as issued. Signed by Sturgeon. Graphic novel adaptation of Sturgeon’s fix-up novel. I have been unable to find a limitation on the signed/limited edition of this book. Bought off eBay for $29.99.
VanderMeer, Jeff. Borne. MCD/Farrar Straus Giroux, 2017. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket, with bookmark for the Southern Reach trilogy laid in. Bought from Half Price Books for $9.99.
Wagner, Karl Edward. The Year’s Best Horror Stories XVI. DAW, 1988. First edition paperback original, a Fine- copy with sight edgewear. Includes “Neighborhood Watch,” an early, rarely reprinted Greg Egan story. Bought from Half Price Books for $1.99.
Tags:Cthulhu, Greg Egan, H. P. Lovecraft, Half Price Books, Jeff VanderMeer, Karl Edward Wagner, Kristine Kathryn Rusch, Leigh Brackett, Pulphouse, S. T. Joshi, small press publishers
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Monday, December 23rd, 2019
Bought this at a Half Price Books coupon sale last month:
Stephenson, Neal, and Nicole Galland. The Rise and Fall of D.O.D.O. HarperCollins, 2017. First edition hardback, one of an unknown number of copies with a special signature page signed by both authors bound in, a Fine copy in a Fine- dust jacket with wear at points and a “Signed Copy” sticker taped to heel (in addition to the gold “Signed First Edition” sticker that seems standard now). Same ISBN (978-0-06-240916-4) as the trade edition. Bought at Half Price Books during a coupon sale for $10.
Tags:Books, Fantasy, Half Price Books, Limited Editions, Neal Stephenson, Science Fiction
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Monday, October 21st, 2019
Two bought at Half Price Books, two at a small used bookstore in South Austin called Good Buy Books.
Brunner, John. The Great Steamboat Race. Ballantine Books, 1983. First edition trade paperback original, a Fine copy (save very light age darkening to the paper), new and unread. I had a proof of this, but not the TPO itself. Brunner reportedly spent five years working on this, generally to the detriment of his career. Bought for $5.
Fortean Times. Strange Days #1: The Year in Weirdness. Cader Books, 1996. First edition trade paperback original, a Fine- copy with the barest trace of wear at points. Non-fiction about Fortean and other weird events. Bought for $6. Oddly enough, I already had volume 2.
Pournelle, Jerry. Birth of Fire. Laser Books, 1976. First edition paperback original, a Fine copy, new and unread. Laser Books #23. Currey (1979), page 409. Have a reprint of this inscribed to me, but lacked this true first edition. Bought for $1.59 after discount.
Powers, Tim. The Skies Discrowned. Powers. Timothy. Laser Books, 1976. First edition paperback original, a Fine copy, new and unread. Laser Books #28. Berlyne, A1a. Powers’ first novel. I already had a copy of this inscribed to me, but this is an absolutely perfect copy. Bought for $1.59 after discount.
Tags:Fortean, Half Price Books, Jerry Pournelle, John Brunner, paranormal, Science Fiction, Tim Powers
Posted in Books, Science Fiction | No Comments »
