Library Additions: Four Paperbacks (Brunner, Pournelle, Powers)

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.

  • Halloween Horrors: Mickey Mouse in The Haunted House

    October 16th, 2019

    Coming just one year after “Steamboat Willie,” “The Haunted House” was already the fourteenth Mickey Mouse animated short, as Walt Disney wasted no time getting his studio up to speed after splitting with Winkler Pictures.

    Hope you like dancing skeletons and xylophone music…

    Halloween Horrors: The Ghost of Stephen Foster

    October 14th, 2019

    Enjoy a ditty by the Squirrel Nut Zippers accompanied by some fine animation aping the “rubber hose” style of classic Betty Boop.

    Ten Years of Blogging

    October 13th, 2019

    Evidently I’ve been posting here for ten years, since my first post is dated October 12, 2009. Going back over those early posts, I’m struck by just how many of the links are dead. Also, I used to blog more about sports, which I largely stopped doing because there are a ton of other places that cover it, and I seldom have time to watch sports anymore.

    My very first “library addition” post doesn’t show up until November 15 of the same year…

    Halloween Horrors: Tarantula Stampede

    October 12th, 2019

    Have a fear of spiders? Maybe you don’t want to hear that it’s tarantula mating season, with thousands of the eight legged creatures on the move in search of a mate:

    But don’t worry, this amorous arachnid stampede is only happening in the far-flung locale of [checks notes] the San Francisco Bay area

    (Hat tip: Derek Johnson)

    Library Addition: Two Joe R. Lansdale Firsts

    October 11th, 2019

    Two books, one a small press signed/limited edition that I’ll have in the next Lame Excuse Books catalog, the other anthology I just missed picking up when it came out:

  • Lansdale, Joe R. The Big Book of Hap and Leonard. Short, Scary Tales Publications, 2019. First edition hardback, #101 of 400 signed, numbered copies, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. Collection of Hap and Leonard stories. Includes everything in the Tachyon Hap and Leonard trade paperback, plus several additional pieces. I’ve also laid the three SST stickers affixed to the tissue paper wrapping the book ships with, because that’s just the sort of hairball I am.

  • Lansdale, Joe R., editor. Crucified Dreams: Tales of Urban Horror. Tachyon Press, 2011. First edition trade paperback original, a Fine copy. Reprint anthology. Some good stories in here.
  • Halloween Horrors: (More) Scary Nurse Stories

    October 10th, 2019

    Remember those scary nurse stories I mentioned a few years ago?

    Well, here’s thirteen more.

    A sample:

    I was working in an icu. had a patient who would only repeat what was said to her and was with her all night. One time I went in the room and she started telling me all the ways she died. “I died because of a narcotic overdose, I died because I took too much insulin, I died on a sunny Sunday afternoon,” etc. Then later she looked up at the ceiling and said “they’re all still there.” I ran out of that room as fast as I could.

    Library Addition: Signed/Limited Edition of Michael Chabon’s Telegraph Avenue

    October 8th, 2019

    Another Chabon I was missing:

    Chabon, Michael. Telegraph Avenue. Harper, 2012. First edition hardback, a Near Fine copy with a bump at head and a pinhead red remainder mark at heel, in a Fine- dust jacket with wrinkling along that bump, with Chabon’s signature sheet bound in. ISBN is the same as the trade edition. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a presigned edition remaindered by a major publisher before. Maybe it got mixed in with the regular titles, or maybe it was due to the bump. Bought from Half Price Books for $12 (marked down from $15).

    Halloween Horrors: Japanese Hell Temple

    October 2nd, 2019

    If you find yourself in east Osaka, Japan, you can visit Senkoji Temple, a shrine dedicated to giving you a glimpse of Hell, including hearing the voices of the damned:

    Halloween Horrors: Watch Nightmare Bob Ross Unpaint the Centipede Tree

    October 1st, 2019

    Welcome to the Halloween Season!

    Someone unleashed Deep Dream on reversed Bob Ross and the result is Grade A Nightmare Fuel: