Lost Pages

To be fair, I'm one of those people who walk and read. This does mean upon occasion I'll get people saying things like:

"Hey Professor, leave some books for the rest of us"

or

"Watch out, your going to get hurt"

or my personal favourite,

"BOO!" Usually occurring with a jump in front of me.

but to be honest there are some unfortunate consequences that come with walking and reading.

For instance, today I got to the end of my book and realized I was missing the last four pages - and they could have fallen out (this was a used-bookstore purchase) anywhere in the last twenty block I'd just finished walking.

So now here I am, book of short stories in hand, and am four pages short of finishing my book because those four pages are literally gone.

Luckily epl has a copy.

And I brought a back up.

Chicago Day 4

Although I'm good to go - the current Blizzard Alert
here may be asking me to extend my stay...

So here we are at the end of my trip - I've pack my bags and am writing this blog before I pack the laptop and then I attempt to disconnect from my hotel (which I'm sure will be fine - although Chicago herself (himself?  Does Chicago have a masculine or feminine identity?) seems to want me to stick around (see left).

I've got one more session at the Conference this morning and then a last swing through the exhibit hall before I say farewell to ALAMW15 and get to the warmer climates of Edmonton, Alberta, CANADA.

In the end I've had a great amount of fun, had some really interesting sessions and hit not one, not two, but THREE Used Bookstores, increasing both my Charles de Lint and Dennis Wheatley collections!

I've had some pretty amazing food, and although I'm pretty sure the chocolate used for Dunkin Donuts Chocolate Dip donut is simply a melted down candy bar, it was still pretty tasty.

Catch you on the flippity-flop y'all!

Chicago Day 3

Cramped, dusty and requiring a ladder to reach
the top = Used Bookstore Heaven

Okay, so Day three in an easy to follow 10 point list:

1) Woke up early, took great shot of the Cloud Gate
2) Had Breakfast at the Pittsfield Cafe - like stepping into historic Chicago (also super tasty!)
3) Saw Jason Segel talk about his book Nightmares!
4) Heard Jason Segel refer to The Goonies as "his people"
5) Wrote Yesterday's blog a day late
6) Immediately liked him a little bit more
7) Attended a board meeting with some lovely folks from the Reference and User Services Association (RUSA)
8) Walked to my hotel, then back to the RUSA Social, then to the Spectrum social (all in all about 10 miles)
9) Hit my third Used bookstore in Chicago (pictured right) and found a classic horror novel I've been looking for for about five years.
10) Chatted with my family over FaceTime and 

Wrote this blog for you!

Chicago Day 1

I'm currently in Chicago for the 2015 Midwinter meeting of the American Library Association, but as with many people travelling to the Second City, I have a few things to get done first...

So it's my First winter day in Chicago and what do I do?

Hit some used-book stores of course.

First up was a promising Fantasy/Horror/Science Fiction store called Buckets O' Blood.  The store was easy to find, tiny and unfortunately for me, lacking in the horror-novels-I-don't-already-own department (a common problem when you have more than a few boxes of horror novels in your garage, and basement, and in your study...)  If you're in the area it is well worth checking out, and I was happy to see it had much more than the common V.C. Andrews, Stephen King, Dean Koontz, Anne Rice selection most stores have, it just didn't have anything new for me.

Luckily for me, the next story was Open Books (pictured right), which, in addition to having a number of Charles de Lint books I was looking for (always a fun twist to have the Canadian fantasy reader come across a number of hard to find books by his favourite Canadian Fantasy author in the United States), by shopping there I also contributed to a great cause, which you can read more about here.

Next up, I finally righted the wrong I committed last time I came to Chicago and made sure I got to try some authentic Chicago deep dish pizza.  I went to Lou Malnati's and tried the Chicago classic (Made with Lou's lean sausage, some extra cheese and vine-ripened tomato sauce on Buttercrust.™) The pizza was incredible, and I'm already working at ways to ensure I branch out and don't simply eat there for the rest of my stay.


Tomorrow, The MidWinter Meeting Day 1.

Random Finds: The Pick of Girls' Stories

This morning I went out with my wife to run a few errands (we're currently looking for some additional camping supplies), when she noticed a pretty neat little book in our local Goodwill store.

This 100-odd page hardcover book, published in 1935, is called The Pick of Girls' Stories, and if you look around on the internet for it, you can find it for sale at both Amazon and on eBay, but you actually can't find anyone saying anything about the book, other than the condition their current copy is in.

The book itself, a collection of twelve short stories and four poems, seems to be aimed at young women readers, and you can bet your bottom dollar I'm going to check it out, as a father of two daughters it may have some valuable insights into the interests of young ladies.

Choosing my next Horror Series

So this week the universe answered my Necroscope question from a few weeks back, the copy I had purchased from my local used book store was a few pages shy, actually five pages, the last five pages, which meant that if I wanted to read the third book in the series I would have to find another copy.

So now I get to decide which horror series I'm going to follow next - although to be fair it may not be a specific series by one author, maybe I'll hit the award winners again or just go through my ever-increasing shelf of books I mean to get around to reading someday.

One quick stop in the horror genre I'm definitely going to be making however, is Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips series Fatale, which melds film noir-style crime stories with H.P. Lovecraft style horror.  At this point I've read the first collection and it was pretty amazing; moody, intriguing and really, really creepy.

So, while I'm looking for great horror series, if you happen to know of any, feel free to send a comment my way!

Why buy used books?

Like pretty much everyone else, I subscribe to a number of blogs that relate to things I'm interested in (my profession, genre stories, video games, etc.), and every once in a while I come across a pretty neat post somewhere else.

Yesterday I came across an infographic entitled Why Buy Used Books at The Modern MLIS which, as a used book buyer, seemed to make a lot of sense.

Enjoy!

IMAGE CREDIT
Why Buy Used Books? from http://www.thriftbooks.com

Things I've Noticed: Sometimes you don't need to keep a show you like

Over the Christmas break my wife and I finally caught up on our TV watching – catching up with a few shows that had been steadily building up on our PVR over the last few weeks (and in 1 case, months), and were finally able to check out some of the television shows we have on DVD.

The first up was Entourage. 

I purchased the first season of Entourage from a no-longer-existing store called A&B Sound in the Edmonton downtown core back in 2005; at the time I hadn’t heard anything about the show, but as I was enjoying other HBO shows like The Sopranos and Sex & The City, and the fact that the whole season retailed for $19.99, I decided to give it a shot.

Since then my wife and I have watched eight seasons of the show (which is produced by Mark Wahlberg) and have found the show to be a lot of fun and an interesting look at one view of the Hollywood lifestyle.  In the end however, we’ve decided to let our collection of the show (all 8 seasons) go on my next used-book store run.

It’s not that the show was bad – actually it was a lot of fun, and living in a house filled with women a really nice breath of “Guy-centric entertainment”, but in the end I tend to base my DVD collection on the idea that I may 1) Want to rewatch the show at a later date and 2) Have someone else in mind who might enjoy it as well.  And unfortunately the show doesn’t meet both qualifications for me.

On the plus side, I’ve now got about a foot of shelf space for future DVDs I’ll be adding to my collection, and I feel I got my moneys worth from purchasing and enjoying the series.

Things I've Noticed: Weeding your Genre Collections can be fun

I'm off to do the used-book store rounds over the weekend, and that means that right now it's time for me to begin weeding my collection of genre books, movies and games.

I know that the idea of weeding your genre collection can be frustrating (pictured right), but as with weeding a garden, weeding your collection simply means getting rid of the materials that are stopping your collection from attaining its true level of awesomeness. Basically it's a pretty simple procedure that will make your collection stand out to your friends and be of more use to you.

Bookmonkey's guide to weeding your genre collections

1. Look at your collection - in a perfect world, take it off the shelf or out of the boxes where it lives and actually go through each item, figure out what you've got. Last time I did this I found multiple copies of the same book, something I definitely did not need.

2. Figure out which stuff you are most proud of (often it is not the stuff that all of your friends also own). This could be titles by the same author, titles about the same subject or that share some other characteristic. I have found that with the exception of my author collections (Neil Gaiman and Clive Barker), my collections of genre books tend to be of the rare or hard-to-find variety.

3. Get rid of titles that you are embarrassed to still own, titles that everyone owns and titles that you can get from the local library - this will open up tonnes of space on your shelves for new things.

3a. Realize that every item you freaked out about getting rid of in step three probably means something to you - keep them. I'm not saying get rid of stuff just for the sake of getting rid of them, I'm saying get rid of stuff that is clogging up your lifestyle.

4. Understand that your collection is a living thing, it grows, shrinks, and changes by nature, so don't feel bad about doing a little pruning now and then - it's likely to give you a healthier collection overall.

5. Remember, a collection with a high level of awesomeness makes for happy monkeys (pictured left).

Thing's I've Noticed: Used Book Store shopping is an art

Like many men, I shop in a hunting style. I am not very good at all when it comes to browsing through a store and gathering what I need. I like to know what I'm shopping for, and then like a hunter I slip in at the best time (usually right after the store opens), head directly for my target and scoop it up. I tend to stay away from stores like Winners and Costco due to their constantly shifting merchandise - sometimes I can get overwhelmed in such a store and then the hunter can become the hunted (pictured above), and instead of leaving the store with the simple item I wanted, I end up leaving with bags and bags of stuff I might need.

This is infinitely worse at Used Book Stores.

As a huge fan of genre books, Used books stores (pictured right) carry a big threat for me and my wallet. I can easily spend hours looking through a store in case an item was shelved strangely. The horror novel I'm looking for could be listed under Horror, Thriller, Authors, Staff Picks, or sometimes Movie Tie-Ins.

Therefore, like I do with many things in my life, I prepare ahead. Here is my simple 5 step strategy for Used Book Store shopping.

1. Make a list

Considering how easy it is to add books to your to be read pile, it is a good idea to keep a list in your wallet of all the used books you would immediately purchase if discovered. I have a list of about 20 books that fall into this category. BTW I've checked to make sure that my public library doesn't have them, because that may save me a few bucks in the long run.

2. Have a budget

Knowing exactly how much you are willing to spend on a trip makes a huge difference. If I know that I'll only be spending $40 (the cost of a new hardcover), I will be less likely to go crazy and come home with multiple shopping bags full of books (why yes, I have been watching Hoarders on A&E, how did you know?)

3. Go on a regular schedule

In my home town we have about half a dozen really good Used Book Stores to shop in, and thankfully (for me) most of them are not within walking distance of my house. I tend to spend a day going through the various used books stores about once every three months. This allows the stores to change their product from the last time I was in and gives me time to read all the books I purchased between trips.

4. Remember to check in unexpected places

When it comes to finding your book, you have to remember that the staff in the store are only human and unless the cover of the book has a well known author, or an obvious genre image (Robot for SF, Unicorn for Fantasy, or Possessed person for Horror), the book may get misplaced. Also keep in mind that if you ask the staff, they may have boxes of books in the back that they might let you check out.

5. Go with a friend

The single greatest piece of advice I can give is to do your used book shopping with a friend, preferably a friend who is also into reading. This gives you a chance to hang out for a day, and effectively gives both of you a spotter in case the other is going a little crazy with purchases. For the last couple years I've gone with my BFF Mike, and in addition to getting a lot of book shopping done (6 or more stores in 1 day), it is a great way to see what kind of things your friend is into lately.

There you have it, my suggestions on how to make the most of a shopping trip to the Used Book Store. If you have any great tips that you think might help me, feel free to let me know, I'm always looking to improve my technique.