Posts Tagged ‘Half Price Books’
Wednesday, December 20th, 2023
Four more items for the Lansdale collection, three by Joe R. Hisownself, one an anthology he’s in.
Aquilone, James, editor. Dead Detectives Society. Monsterous Books, 2023. First edition trade paperback original, a Fine copy, with extras bag including three cardstock illustrations and a Dead Detective’s Society Membership card. Includes stories by Joe and Kasey Lansdale, Nancy Collins, Kevin J. Anderson, etc. Bought off Kickstarter for $32.
Lansdale, Joe R. (as Ray Slater). Texas Night Riders. leisure, 1983. First edition paperback original, a Fine- copy with tiny loss at very tip of top rear outer corner and some foxing to inside covers, otherwise tight, square and apparently unread. This is far and away the best copy I’ve ever seen. Supplements a less attractive copy of the PBO inscribed to me, the Chivers Press large print (and first hardback edition) inscribed to me, and both the lettered and numbered editions of the Subterranean signed/limited edition. Isajenko, A003.a. Bought for $40 from Half Price Books.
Lansdale, Joe R. (illustrated by Ted DiLucia). Incident On and Off a Mountain Road. Crystal Lake Publishing, 2023. First edition hardback (“10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1” numberline), a Fine copy in decorated boards, sans dust jacket, as issued. Illustrated version of the dark suspense novelette originally published in Night Visions 8 and later adapted as an episode of the Showtime Masters of Horror TV anthology series. Amazon seems to be the main fulfillment avenue for this book, so I provided an Amazon link above.
Lansdale, Joe R. and Keith Lansdale. Prisoner of Violence. Dark Regions Press, 2023. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in decorated boards, sans dust jacket, as issued, into which I’ve laid a signature plate by Joe and Keith Lansdale. Graphic novel that was announced several years ago, but only recently came out. I have copies of this available through Lame Excuse Books.
Tags:Books, Dark Regions Press, Half Price Books, Horror, James Aquilone, Joe R. Lansdale, Kasey Lansdale, Keith Lansdale, Kickstarter, Nancy Collins, Western
Posted in Books, Horror, Kickstarter | No Comments »
Monday, December 18th, 2023
All these were bought at various Half Price Books locations, the Delany in Austin and the other three in various stores in the Dallas Metroplex.
(Bradbury, Ray) Eller, Jonathan R. Becoming Ray Bradbury. University of Illinois Press, 2011. First edition hardback, a Fine- copy in a Fine- dust jacket with slight bumping at head, heel and points. Biography of Bradbury that made use of his personal notes and correspondence. Bought for $17.49.
Delany, Samuel R. (edited by Kenneth R. James). In Search of Silence: The Journals of Samuel R. Delany Volume 1, 1957-1969. Wesleyan University Press, 2017. First edition hardback (“5 4 3 2 1” numberline), a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. Selections from Delany’s journals when he was first making his mark on the SF field. Bought for $9.95.
(Lovecraft, H. P.) Houllebecq, Michel. H. P. Lovecraft: Against the World, Against Life. Cernunnos, 2019. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. Critical analysis of Lovecraft and his work by the French writer and critic. Introduction by Stephen King. Bought for $9.95.
Shatner, William (with Chris Kresski). Star Trek Memories. HarperCollins, 1993. First edition hardback, limited issue, one of 4,500 signed, numbered copies, a Fine copy in a Fine slipcase, sans dust jacket, as issued, still in shrinkwrap. Non-fiction memoir of his time on the original Star Trek TV series. Bought for $65, less than cover price and less than a fourth of what it lists for these days.
I have one copy of the Delany available through Lame Excuse Books.
Tags:Books, Fantasy, H. P. Lovecraft, Half Price Books, Horror, Michel Houllebecq, Ray Bradbury, Samuel R. Delany, Science Fiction, Stephen King, William Shatner
Posted in Books, Fantasy, Horror, Science Fiction | No Comments »
Monday, September 11th, 2023
Only theme here is that I bought all of these on a day trip to San Antonio:
Bradbury, Ray (Jonathan R. Eller, editor). The Collected Stories of Ray Bradbury: A Critical Edition: Volume 2: 1943-1944. Kent State University Press, 2014. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine- dust jacket with just a tiny bit of wrinkling at heel. Bought from Half Price Books for $37.49, considerably more than the $15 I paid for the first volume, but this one doesn’t seem to have been nearly as widely remaindered.
Jeter, K.W. Star Wars: Hard Merchandise. Bantam Spectra, 1999. First edition paperback original, a Fine- copy with just a trace of wear at points. The third book in the Bounty Hunter Wars trilogy, and evidently the hardest one to find. Supplements a signed first of the SFBC Bounty Hunter Wars Trilogy I bought from the Fred Duarte estate sale. I supposed now I need to find a PBO first of Slave Ship, the second in the trilogy, but it seems the easiest to find of the three. Bought from Half Price Books for $4.49.
Mundy, Talbot. Full Moon. D. Appleton-Century, 1935. First edition hardback (“(1)” on page 312), a very Good copy with slight spotting to top and bottom page block edges (and possibly side, but it’s hard to tell with deckled edges), slight concavity at top of spine, slight bend at head and heel, light foxing to inside covers, and a few penciled notes front and back, in a Very Good dust jacket with shallow chipping at head, heel and points, spine faded, top rear flap corner clipped (but front panel and price intact), wear along front fold edge, slight dust staining to white rear panel, one 1/2″ closed tear to top front and one 1/4″ closed tear to rear bottom, and slight foxing to flaps; not pristine, but nice for the age. Oriental adventure with magic set in India. Grant, Talbot Mundy: Messanger of Deastiny, page 184. Day, Talbot Mundy Biblio, page 5. Bleiler, Checklist (1978), page 145. Bought for $40 at Antiquarian Book Mart in San Antonio.
Tags:Books, Fantasy, Half Price Books, K. W. Jeter, PBO, Ray Bradbury, Science Fiction, Star Wars, Talbot Mundy
Posted in Books, Fantasy, Science Fiction | No Comments »
Monday, June 12th, 2023
Here are three first edition hardbacks, all bought at Half Price Books.
Calvino, Italo. Invisible Cities. Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1974. First English language edition, a Near Fine+ copy with small name to front free endpaper, slight bumping at head and heel and uneven fading at top and bottom edges, in a Very Good+ dust jacket with two closed 3/4″ tears at top front cover, shallow chipping at head, crease to front inner flap, slight bumping at points, and traces of wear to reflective silver surfaces along spine board join, front edge-fold and rear cover (slightly exaggerated in the scan). Important slipstream work of European fantasy, or what John Clute would call “Fantastika.” Bought for $45.
Gibson, William. Agency. Berkley, 2020. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. Sequel to The Peripheral. Bought for $9.99.
Heinlein, Robert A. Off the Main Sequence: The Other Science Fiction Stories of Robert A. Heinlein. Science Fiction Book Club, 2005. First edition hardback (stated “First SFBC Science Fiction Printing, October 2005”; the SFBC is the only edition), a Fine copy in a Fine dust jacket. Short story collection, including three (“My Object All Sublime,” “Pied Piper,” and “A Tenderfoot in Space”) that were previously uncollected. Bought for $5.95.
Tags:Books, Fantasy, Half Price Books, Italo Calvino, Robert A. Heinlein, Science Fiction, Slipstream, William Gibson
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Tuesday, January 24th, 2023
Paperbacks are the final batch of books I picked up in the Metroplex. I generally don’t picked up unsigned paperbacks these days, but so many of these were perfect or near perfect examples at very attractive prices. All these are from Half Price Books.
Brackett, Leigh. The Ginger Star. Ballantine Books, 1974. First edition paperback original, a Fine- copy with slight wear at heel, edges and points, otherwise a tight, square copy. Currey, page 52. Bought for $2.
Brackett, Leigh. The Hounds of Skaith. Ballantine Books, 1974. First edition paperback original, a Near Fine+ copy with slight bumping to bottom corner and a trace of edgewear, otherwise a tight, square copy. Currey, page 52. Bought for $2.
Brunner, John. The Productions of Time. Signet, 1967. First paperback original, a Fine- copy with slight darkening to pages and a trace of edgewear to points. 1967 Nebula nominee for Best Novella. De Bolt, The Happening Worlds of John Brunner page 203. Currey, page 72 (he says the text was “badly edited” without Brunner’s approval). Bought for $2.99.
Davidson, Avram. Rogue Dragon. Ace, 1965. First edition paperback original (no statement of printing and 40¢ cover price, as per Currey), a Fine- copy with just a trace of edgewear at top outer point, but tight and square with bright white portions of cover. Currey, page 131. Replaces a slightly less attractive copy. Bought from Half Price Books for $5.
Davidson, Avram. Rogue Dragon. Ace, 1965. First edition paperback original (no statement of printing and 40¢ cover price, as per Currey), a Fine- copy with a tiny crease across the Ace logo at head, otherwise tight and square. Currey, page 131. Replaces a slightly less attractive copy. Bought for $3.
Harrison, Harry. The Man From P.I.G.. Avon/Camelot Original, 1968. First edition paperback original, a Near Fine copy with one spine crease and usual mild age-darkening of pages. Currey, page 225. Bought for $1.99.
Tags:Avram Davidson, Books, Fantasy, Half Price Books, Leigh Brackett, Science Fiction
Posted in Austin, crime, Fantasy, Science Fiction, technology | 2 Comments »
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
Posted in Books, Science Fiction, technology | No Comments »
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
Posted in Books, Horror | No Comments »
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
Posted in Books, Horror | No Comments »
