The Book Thread: October 25th, 2026 [MP4]

Good morning, ‘rons and ‘ronettes. It’s time once again for the monthly MP4-hosted Sunday Book Thread. Dress for men, as always, is country club casual. Women, it’s time to break out the latest fall fashions:

So ask the barman for a cocktail, covfefe or tea and let’s get started!

The Moon Under Water

In 1946, George Orwell wrote an essay, “The Moon Under Water,” in which he described his favorite London pub. It was quiet, with friendly middle-aged barmaids who knew their customers’ names, had good yet inexpensive lunches and, of course, the perfect pint of stout. The sad reveal, however, was that the ‘Moon’ didn’t exist; it was only Orwell’s vision of what would be the perfect pub.

Why do I bring this up? A few weeks ago, I traveled out to western Massachusetts to visit a used bookstore that was highly recommended on Facebook (yes, I know – more fool me). It was OK, but certainly not worth the four-hour round trip. The selection was eclectic, which I like, though it was a sobering experience to look through the ‘English history’ section and see that I already own most of the titles! But the place was infested with leftist slop – ‘No Kings’ flyers, ICE denunciations, pride flags, &c – and both the staff and customers ran the gamut from A to B in that they were snotty, pot-aroma’d college students, Karens in peasant dresses and jangling bracelets or man-bunned hipsters in locally-sourced clothes and carefully trimmed artisanal beards.

While I came away with a couple of good books, I was ultimately disappointed and angry at myself for wasting time visiting out west when there is a very good Used Book Superstore only half an hour away.

So what makes a good used bookstore? For me, the perfect one was the late Avenue Victor Hugo Books in Lee, New Hampshire. A converted barn with narrow aisles, tomes in every conceivable category tightly-shelved and overflowing, bundles of old sheet music and magazines, classical music at just the right volume, chairs to settle into while leafing through a possible purchase and an owner who loves books and has a story about every one you bring to the counter. And no posters, flyers or handwritten screeds damning everyone to the right of Pol Pot!

But, sadly, AVHB is now only an online business.

What makes a good bookstore for you? Which would you recommend? Which do you hate?

Posted by: Open Blogger at 09:00 AM

Comments

(Jump to bottom of comments)

1 Tolle Lege

Posted by: Skip at October 25, 2026 09:00 AM (Ia/+0)

2 Nooded.

Posted by: Nazdar at October 25, 2026 09:00 AM (NcvvS)

3 Spent a little time with some pulp stories. Read a Dash Hammett short featuring his "Continental Op." A character with no name solving a hit and run crime.

Still working through "1776."

Posted by: OrangeEnt at October 25, 2026 09:01 AM (1Ff7Z)

4 Mornin', book fagz!

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at October 25, 2026 09:01 AM (kpS4V)

5 William The First, His life and times
Paul Wiegler, English reprint 1929

His parents were King Frederick William III and Queen Louise.
Becoming King himself one day

Posted by: Skip at October 25, 2026 09:02 AM (Ia/+0)

6 Congratulations on your callout on Insty

Posted by: San Franpsycho at October 25, 2026 09:02 AM (RIvkX)

7 I actually don't know of any used book store. There may be one about a mile away, but I've never been to it.

There's a couple of antique shops in So. Utah that always have books available. That's the last place I've been.

PS: now that Sarah posted about your latest Theda Bara book, MP, now you can track the sales boost.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at October 25, 2026 09:05 AM (1Ff7Z)

8 Used bookdtore are neat in you never know what gem you will find. Besides Ebooks, used books are my main source. Don't think I have been in a new book store inat least 20 years.

Posted by: Skip at October 25, 2026 09:05 AM (Ia/+0)

9 Morning, MP4, and congrats on the new Theda Bara.

Howdy, Horde.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at October 25, 2026 09:05 AM (q3u5l)

10 But the place was infested with leftist slop – ‘No Kings’ flyers, ICE denunciations, pride flags, &c – and both the staff and customers ran the gamut from A to B in that they were snotty, pot-aroma’d college students, Karens in peasant dresses and jangling bracelets or man-bunned hipsters in locally-sourced clothes and carefully trimmed artisanal beards.
=====

Ace-level cruelty

Posted by: San Franpsycho at October 25, 2026 09:06 AM (RIvkX)

11 Morning, Book Folken!

I thought Larry McMurtry's bookstores in his home town of Archer City, TX, would be a good visit in 2014 when I was coming back from Palo Duro Canyon. Not in late May, it wasn't. No air-conditioning (though it was relatively dry there). The books were almost all hardcovers and thus out of my price range. I never thought I'd leave a bookstore quickly, but those two I did.

There were several nice places with used books, chairs and tables, and even coffee in Denver in '97-'01. No idea if they are still there, or what they might have become (probably, considering Denver's politics, they're much like the one MP4 describes). There was a coffee/bookshop in Salina, KS, when I was there in April this year.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at October 25, 2026 09:06 AM (wzUl9)

12 Congratulations on your callout on Insty

Congrats MP4. I'll be picking it up this week on Kindle+.* If I understood correctly the last time I asked, that means you get paid about the same as a purchase as long as I read it through, which I certainly will.

* (apparently the new name for Kindle Unlimited, I guess because it was never actually "unlimited.")

Posted by: Oddbob at October 25, 2026 09:07 AM (vTZFs)

13 Morning, Horde...How goes it?

Congratulations to MP4 for releasing a new Theda Bara mystery novel!

As for my own reading, I finished Robin Hobb's Farseer Trilogy and I'm about 70% of the way through Book 1 of the Liveship Traders series. Should get through Book 2 by the next Sunday Morning Book Thread, I think.

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at October 25, 2026 09:08 AM (FZ29D)

14 That was a garbled mess
Used book stores are neat in. You'll never know what gem you will find. Besides Ebooks, used books are my main source, don't think I have been in a new book store at least 20 years.

Posted by: Skip at October 25, 2026 09:09 AM (Ia/+0)

15 Morning, MP4, and congrats on the new Theda Bara.

Howdy, Horde.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at October 25, 2026 09:05 AM (q3u5l)

He's also promo'd on Sarah's site.

https://accordingtohoyt.com/

Posted by: OrangeEnt at October 25, 2026 09:09 AM (1Ff7Z)

16 *What makes a good bookstore for you?*

Covefe is mandatory.

Posted by: Quarter Twenty at October 25, 2026 09:09 AM (ujjRM)

17 Anyway! I've been reading a collection of four novels, Women Mystery Writers: The 1950s:

Charlotte Armstrong, Mischief (made into a good film, Don't Bother to Knock w/ Richard Widmark and Marilyn Monroe). Exciting.

Patricia Highsmith, The Blunderer, filmed as A Kind of Murder w/ Patrick Wilson. As always with Highsmith, for me anyway, the book and film start out on a high and interesting note, and fall into chaos and seem to be dragged out by the end.

(cont.)

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at October 25, 2026 09:10 AM (wzUl9)

18 Mornin', book fagz!
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at October 25, 2026 09:01 AM (kpS4V)

I'm sporting a black armband in honor of Miss Lindsey.

I know it's a shock, but Sen. Graham... was gay. I'm sure he won't win re-election now.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at October 25, 2026 09:11 AM (1Ff7Z)

19 I'm sorry your experience was disappointing, Poppins. Used book stores should be havens.

I've been to some wonderful examples:

The granddaddy of used book emporiums has got to be John K. King Used and Rare Books in Detroit. Levels of wondrous things! I'd be there most weekends if it wasn't a bit of a drive.

Gramp's Attic Books in Ellicott City was/is a small store with a terrific spread of goodies. History, travel, nautical, children's classics, literature and poetry. Gramps was usually there reading away himself and there was no pressure to buy.

Ann Arbor has a couple nice stores.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at October 25, 2026 09:12 AM (kpS4V)

20 I haven't been to a bookstore in over 10 years. I think the last time I went was a Barnes & Noble.

Posted by: dantesed at October 25, 2026 09:12 AM (Oy/m2)

21 MP4's description of the disappointing bookstore in western MA doesn't narrow the field very much. Was it Book Mill in Montague, Broadside or Raven in Northampton, or Federal Street Books in Greenfield? (This is by no means an exhaustive list but those are the worst offenders.)

Posted by: Trimegistus at October 25, 2026 09:13 AM (78a2H)

22 Also in Women Mystery Writers: The 1950s:

Margaret Millar's Beast in View, a study of multiple personality. Not bad, and certainly readable, with a better payoff than Highsmith's.

Fools' Gold by Dolores Hitchens, in which two young punks with a record plan to steal cash from an old woman's closet. I haven't finished it yet, but it's quite readable as well.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at October 25, 2026 09:13 AM (wzUl9)

23 Stratford Ontario is famous for it's Shakespeare film festival. When we went there in high-school, it had TONS of bookstores you could just get lost in.

Basically, large very old houses were gutted, bookshelves put up in every room in the house and it was a beautiful giant maze.

Columbus, Ohio had a nice store like that too.

Posted by: Stateless - Ralphy - 106 years old! Puppy at heart! at October 25, 2026 09:13 AM (Sco7b)

24 Any book-ron passing through Omaha should check out Jackson Street Books. It's huge, dusty, dimly lit, and packed to the rafters. Going there is like an easter egg hunt -- you're guaranteed to find something interesting.

As a general rule, if I'm looking for some specific thing, I search online. If I just want to roll the dice, I go some place like Jackson St.

Posted by: Oddbob at October 25, 2026 09:14 AM (vTZFs)

25 Wolfus, have you checked out that realtor? He covers the whole of central Indiana. Might find something there.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at October 25, 2026 09:14 AM (1Ff7Z)

26 I got your new Theda Bara book and it will be my next read. Beautiful cover, as per usual.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at October 25, 2026 09:15 AM (kpS4V)

27 Good Sunday morning, horde!

I'm reading the Hound of the Baskervilles. I need to start earlier in the day; at bedtime, when I'm already tired, the language is too much.

I had started it on audio, but there was too much Acting! Yes! Thank you! for me, so switched to print.

Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! at October 25, 2026 09:16 AM (CjHsb)

28 I read Double Tap: A Mitch Rapp Novel by Don Bentley. Before Vince Flynn passed away, he said that he would like to write four prequels to his Mitch Rapp series. This is the fourth one written by other authors. In this thriller, Rapp is tasked to stop Saddam's chemical weapons from going from Iraq to Syria. I didn't think the writing was up to Flynn's standards, but it's still an adequate escape novel.

Posted by: Zoltan at October 25, 2026 09:16 AM (KUWG/)

29 I haven't been to a bookstore in over 10 years. I think the last time I went was a Barnes & Noble.
Posted by: dantesed at October 25, 2026

***
I don't visit the one on my side of the river much. Their magazine racks have quite a range of subjects, but the ones I'd be most interested in buying are no longer carried or are always out. They have loads of "fantasy" books (read: romantasy or huge trilogies), manga, and a certain amount of mystery. Good luck trying to find an Ian Fleming (unless i's just reissued), a John Dickson Carr, or an Ellery Queen there.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at October 25, 2026 09:16 AM (wzUl9)

30 There were a few used book shops that I frequented in Chicago before moving out of Illinois in the mid 80s. The Aspidistra was the largest of the lot -- good selection, and the owner seemed to know his stuff. Gone now. Couple of smaller ones in Rogers Park that didn't last very long, but they were there long enough for me to scrounge up a few William Goldman titles in hardcover that I was missing. My favorite was Hanley's Book Shop, specialized in sf, fantasy, and some mystery, and carried quite a few specialty presses in the field. Heaven. Also gone, and the building isn't even there any more. Believe it's now parking for a large fruit market. There had been one called Stein's Book Shop. That dealt largely with civil service exam guides (police HQ a few blocks away) but had a decent sf rack; somebody dragged the lady who owned it into the back room and strangled her for the cash in the register.

If the selections were good, that was enough. Didn't pay too much attention to any flyers.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at October 25, 2026 09:17 AM (q3u5l)

31 Wolfus, have you checked out that realtor? He covers the whole of central Indiana. Might find something there.
Posted by: OrangeEnt at October 25, 2026

***
OE, thanks, I looked at the YT channel and his website. I can try writing him. Franklin, IN, does not seem to have a lot of properties in my price range, at least via Zillow. Perhaps he will know of something.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at October 25, 2026 09:18 AM (wzUl9)

32 Anybody been to the huge John K. King used bookstore in Detroit? I've been wanting to check it out if I ever make it back there.

Posted by: Biff Pocoroba at October 25, 2026 09:18 AM (JzUSu)

33 Congratulations on your callout on Insty
Posted by: San Franpsycho at October 25, 2026 09:02 AM (RIvkX)

Many thanks. Sarah's always been good to me. Hope is translates into sales!

Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing (aka Eloquent Depression) at October 25, 2026 09:18 AM (qRla/)

34 Review of new Theda Bara mystery up at Instapundit.
Instalanche, incoming?

Posted by: Way, Way Downriver at October 25, 2026 09:19 AM (zdLoL)

35
Congrats, MP4 on the new book and the excellent

highlighting over at Insty's that will definitely help sales.

Nice!

Posted by: naturalfake at October 25, 2026 09:19 AM (YSUhf)

36 With the approach of Halloween, I had planned to crack open a classic horror story that I received last Christmas.

But ... a book that I've had for a couple of years caught my eye. Horror story sidelined by "Bulldog Drummond," a 1920 thriller by Sapper, the pen name for Herman Cyril McNeile, who was a British Army officer in the Royal Engineers at the time.

The story thus far: A small group of industrialists sponsor a mastermind's plan to bring down Britain through means not yet specified. Former British officer Hugh "Bulldog" Drummond, bored with peacetime, advertises for employment that must be adventurous. He takes an assignment from a young woman whose father is under the thumb of a master criminal whom she suspects is behind sensational homicides. Much adventure awaits, I hope.

Posted by: Weak Geek at October 25, 2026 09:19 AM (BIvcv)

37 .... and both the staff and customers ran the gamut from A to B in that they were snotty, pot-aroma’d college students, Karens in peasant dresses and jangling bracelets or man-bunned hipsters in locally-sourced clothes and carefully trimmed artisanal beards.

I went to a clone of that shop in Flagstaff AZ. After being sneered at - twice - over a simple question, I got a cart, rounded up a few thousand bucks worth of cheap books and took them Sneery McManBun to check out. After he scanned and rang up my hundreds of books, I told Sneery "Never mind, asshole" and walked out.

The Most Petty Chickenshit Passive Aggressive moment of my life. Still makes me smile.

Posted by: retropox at October 25, 2026 09:20 AM (PMboN)

38 I'm reading a book about Lewis & Clark, plugging away at Eric Flint's "1632" series, and for a change of pace I downloaded a collection of "essays" (=blog posts) called "A Samurai in Modern America" by a Japanese blogger who uses the handle Nobunaga. They're a hoot -- basically deadpan descriptions of various aspects of American food and culture, told as though the writer is an actual 16th century samurai. It's quite the celebration of Americanness, as Nobunaga finds the buried code of honor in things like "finish it and it's free" steak challenges and Girl Scout cookie sales.

Posted by: Trimegistus at October 25, 2026 09:20 AM (78a2H)

39 Perfessor Squirrel found a used bookstore just two doors down from our 2023 ArkanOklaMoMe meeting venue. It was a great place to gather and I picked up a couple of titles.

Posted by: Emmie, celebrating 250 years of God's grace at October 25, 2026 09:21 AM (OlzlW)

40 My favorite bookstore was in the Orange County Mall in Middletown NY probably a Barnes & Noble. When it was a rainy day in the summer it meant I got to go through their science fiction paperbacks, all of them, while everyone else wandered around the mall.

Posted by: San Franpsycho at October 25, 2026 09:21 AM (RIvkX)

41 Oahu had Jelly's Books and Records (three outlets) which were great for my SF&F fix. There was also Revolution Books for the red diaper babies (admittedly, they had a good selection).

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at October 25, 2026 09:22 AM (kpS4V)

42 In Lincoln, I recommend Bluestem Books. Not huge but still considerable, good mix of subjects, friendly proprietor, old dog, and a lack of conspicuous LGBTXYZ banners. Although to be fair, I barely notice them any more unless they are egregious. Which they are at most other used book stores in Lincoln.

Posted by: Oddbob at October 25, 2026 09:22 AM (vTZFs)

43 Posted by: Trimegistus at October 25, 2026 09:13 AM (78a2H)

It was Book Mill. And Greenfield was such an annoying town just to drive through that I turned for home and didn't stop until I got there.

Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing (aka Eloquent Depression) at October 25, 2026 09:22 AM (qRla/)

44 These days if I hit a used book shop it'll be The Book Guy on my infrequent visits to Joplin MO. Nice selection, decent prices, and the owner is a nice guy who knows his stuff. Recommended if you're in the area.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at October 25, 2026 09:23 AM (q3u5l)

45 Moe's Books on Telegraph Ave. in Berkeley was a spectacular used book store. Moe, the owner, would wander around smoking a big fat cigar. He was a lunatic leftist but his store stocked everything, which was to his credit.

Now? Who knows, but back in the day it was fantastic!

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at October 25, 2026 09:23 AM (k5CNB)

46 Good morning fellow Book Threadists. I hope everyone had a great week of reading.

Posted by: JTB at October 25, 2026 09:23 AM (yTvNw)

47 I tried listening to Where The Red Fern Grows (Wilson Rawls) on audiobook, but gave up after a couple of hours. The plot was moving tediously slow, the protagonist's hillbilly voice was grating, and he had begun talking with his two hound dogs as if they were human.

Back to feeding my Joe Pickett series addiction.

Posted by: Quarter Twenty at October 25, 2026 09:24 AM (ujjRM)

48 There's a charming bookstore in the Uptown/Carrollton area here, Blue Cypress Books. Run by two women, it's two stories, with their fantasy and mystery sections upstairs, so you can look down on the street as if you lived in Holmes's London. They even have a mascot, a cat of course, who spends a good deal of his time on a cushion on one level or the other.

They don't have a lot of used paperbacks, and their hardcovers are not cheap, but I've bought a couple of items there.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at October 25, 2026 09:24 AM (wzUl9)

49 32 Anybody been to the huge John K. King used bookstore in Detroit? I've been wanting to check it out if I ever make it back there.
Posted by: Biff Pocoroba at October 25, 2026 09:18 AM (JzUSu)
---

Do it! You'll need a map, which they provide.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at October 25, 2026 09:24 AM (kpS4V)

50 I think that the last used bookstore that I went to was an eccentric Half Price bookstore in an old house on Broadway where it backs on Breckenridge Park. I did a book event there. The place was indeed a maze, packed to the ceiling with books.
I'll get a copy of the new Theda Bara, in a bit! I've enjoyed the previous installments!
Currently making an effort to sit outside in the covered screen porch in the afternoons, now that it has cooled off - and reread some of the classic books in print that I have on my shelves. Currently about two-thirds through Tolkien's The Two Towers. The cats keep me company, and I try to keep them from nibbling on the potted plants...

Posted by: Sgt. Mom at October 25, 2026 09:24 AM (Ew3fm)

51 Of course, when bookstores are mentioned, the majestic Powell's in Portland should always be mentioned. They have a great section on 20th century German history.

Posted by: San Franpsycho at October 25, 2026 09:25 AM (RIvkX)

52 In this day and age, you give someone a book and the use it for toilet paper!

Posted by: SaveYer Books at October 25, 2026 09:26 AM (d1f3k)

53 Remember last week when we were reminiscing about cheap paperbacks with subscription cards and ads messing up the page turn and binding? Well, I got the Ben Bova novel "When the Sky Burned" (1973) and it's got a cigarette ad right smack in the middle (Kent/Kent Menthol, if you care).

The story itself is about two human pathways. The Earth was scorched by a solar flare, then scarred by nuclear war. Now only scattered outposts remain. On the moon, a domed colony retains its tenuous civilization but is dependent on covert trips to Earth for fissionable material to keep the system running.

Now one young man is traveling back to get the fuel and capture the ruthless barbarian attacking their salvage trips -- his father, who refused to return years ago and is now an emperor of a savage land.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at October 25, 2026 09:26 AM (kpS4V)

54 But ... a book that I've had for a couple of years caught my eye. Horror story sidelined by "Bulldog Drummond," a 1920 thriller by Sapper, the pen name for Herman Cyril McNeile, who was a British Army officer in the Royal Engineers at the time.

The story thus far: A small group of industrialists sponsor a mastermind's plan to bring down Britain through means not yet specified. Former British officer Hugh "Bulldog" Drummond, bored with peacetime, advertises for employment that must be adventurous. He takes an assignment from a young woman whose father is under the thumb of a master criminal whom she suspects is behind sensational homicides. Much adventure awaits, I hope.
Posted by: Weak Geek at October 25, 2026

***
Drummond, along with John Buchan's Richard Hannay, is a direct literary ancestor of James Bond.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at October 25, 2026 09:26 AM (wzUl9)

55 Columbus, Ohio had a nice store like that too.
Posted by: Stateless - Ralphy - 106 years old! Puppy at heart! at October 25, 2026 09:13 AM (Sco7b)

Sounds like the Book Loft in German Village, south side of Columbus. I haven't been there in years.

I kinda like shops like that, but kinda not. They overwhelm me. But the finds can be worth it.

Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! at October 25, 2026 09:27 AM (CjHsb)

56 Bookstores as political commentary. Because nothing can be just about the thing you love, it has to conform and confirm your political opinions.

The best bookstore does not need political posters or other stupid shit- it just has to have good books, presented appealingly.

There were two Hawley-Cooke book stores in Louisville. One in St Matthews and one off... Bardstown Rd, iirc. The one in St Matthews is the one I normally went to before I could drive. It was a converted dept store (think one big room like a Penny's or Sears.) And it was just books. Books as far as the eye could see. My Mom and Aunt would drop me off before they went on to the two malls right near by.

Sci-Fi and fantasy were on the left hand side in the rear corner area. History was on the right corner. And I never got tired of browsing those and everything in between. No coffee (except what you brang with you.)

The other one was a more store store as it was more deep than wide. I liked it, but it also was not the 'here, find something you like' presentation.

The 'chain' (two stores) was bought out by Borders in the late 90s/early 2000s. And coffee and other shit came in.

Posted by: Aetius451AD at October 25, 2026 09:27 AM (Y/06r)

57 That's a nice photo of you on the back cover, MP4. Classy! 🧐

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at October 25, 2026 09:27 AM (kpS4V)

58 Now? Who knows, but back in the day it was fantastic!
Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at October 25, 2026 09:23 AM (k5CNB)
=====

No Books in Oakland.

Posted by: San Franpsycho at October 25, 2026 09:27 AM (RIvkX)

59
Half-Price Books here in Texas used to be uniformly excellent.

Books new, old, very old could be found when roaming the packed aisles. Great prices and printings from every corner of the Anglosphere.

Buuuuuut, I guess the ownership changed and went corporate because it's almost all best-sellers new or a few years old.

I guess they just pulp the books they don't expect to sell by next wednesday.

Posted by: naturalfake at October 25, 2026 09:27 AM (YSUhf)

60 MP4,
The new Theda Bara book arrived a couple of day ago but haven;t had a chance to start it. That's this week's reading and I'm looking forward to it.

Posted by: JTB at October 25, 2026 09:27 AM (yTvNw)

61 Baldwin's Book Barn

I thought the photo at the top of the post was it!

it's awesome

there's an incredible one in Eagles Mere PA

and every year Arden Fair in Arden DE hosts a huge book sale - always get something pretty great for very little. they also have an area of "bag full" for $5

Posted by: Black Orchid (j+aD2) at October 25, 2026 09:28 AM (qBivk)

62 It is a sad truth that most people who start used bookstores are the kind of people who think they are fighting fascism by putting up an "In This House We Believe . . . " yard sign just like the ones all their neighbors have.

Your best bet is to find the ones run by obsessive book nerds. Cheap location, no amenities. In western Massachusetts I recommend Quaboag Book Shop (formerly Book Bear) in West Brookfield, and Grey Matter/Troubador Used Books in Hadley. Neither one has coffee or even a place to sit down, but they both do have a hell of a lot of books.

Posted by: Trimegistus at October 25, 2026 09:28 AM (78a2H)

63 I'm looking into jailbreaking a Paperwhite rev 13 due to ads and updates. Looking for deshitification remedies.

Posted by: UnKindled at October 25, 2026 09:28 AM (d1f3k)

64 I think that the last used bookstore that I went to was an eccentric Half Price bookstore in an old house on Broadway where it backs on Breckenridge Park.

That was the coolest one! And there was another place in an old Victorian somewhere nearby. Those two were my introduction to used books shops.

Posted by: Oddbob at October 25, 2026 09:28 AM (vTZFs)

65 Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at October 25, 2026 09:26 AM (kpS4V)
=====

If you liked that you will probably like Millenium

Posted by: San Franpsycho at October 25, 2026 09:29 AM (RIvkX)

66 Baldwin's is just up the road from me

Arden (an amazing little artists' community) is just down the road

and Eagles Mere is where we vacation at least once a year

I have way too many books as a result!

Posted by: Black Orchid (j+aD2) at October 25, 2026 09:30 AM (qBivk)

67 I love the women's fall fashions in the post. I think the dresses are actually flattering. The hats on the other hand, are typically ridiculous. At least they are amusing even if that wasn't the intention.

Posted by: JTB at October 25, 2026 09:31 AM (yTvNw)

68 Bulldog Drummond, a character almost forgotten now, but who had a good run of matinee movies in the 30’s.

Posted by: Tom Servo at October 25, 2026 09:31 AM (jTKPp)

69 My thanks to all of you who've bought my new book. I hope you enjoy it - though I don't like saying it, I think it's the best thing I've ever written.

Don't forget to leave a review, please!

And don't forget all the other wonderful Horde authors!

Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing (aka Eloquent Depression) at October 25, 2026 09:31 AM (qRla/)

70 oh! Annapolis has a really nice little used book shop in the little downtown area. lots of history books!

not woke

Posted by: Black Orchid (j+aD2) at October 25, 2026 09:32 AM (qBivk)

71 Not a lot of reading this week. A Simenon. One of Joe Lansdale's Hap & Leonard novels, around the middle of the series; there are occasions where he suffers from Stephen King syndrome (character thinking or characters in conversation, presumably, but feels more like a lecture to the reader) but not yet unbearable to the point I stop reading. First book in that series is still the best, I think.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at October 25, 2026 09:33 AM (q3u5l)

72 Several decades ago, I became stranded in a small town because of breakdown, located a used bookstore, and selected what I thought looked best from their rather meager selection. It was Dean Koontz' False Memory. I loved it and after that I read a shit load of Koontz. On a similar occasion, I chose Brit farmer turned historian Martin Middlebrook's The Nuremburg Raid about a Brit night raid gone wrong. I read a shit load of Middlebrook after that.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Where's My Cookie? at October 25, 2026 09:34 AM (ndZc7)

73 Good used bookstore? Book Trader, when it was on South Street in Philadelphia. Good selection, and you could bring in your books for a small amount of credit.

Lost its lease and moved to N 2d Street in in Old City, to very cramped premises.

Posted by: Wethal at October 25, 2026 09:34 AM (3itbc)

74 Half-Price Books here in Texas used to be uniformly excellent.
[ ... ]
I guess they just pulp the books they don't expect to sell by next wednesday.

I guess it varies by store but most of the newer ones have become basically a giant remainder rack. As for the unsold/unsellable they used to hold an annual giant "by the pound" sale in San Antonio. They also sort by size and color to sell to interior decorators, which somehow offends me more than pulping even though it's none of my business either way.

Posted by: Oddbob at October 25, 2026 09:35 AM (vTZFs)

75 Are you repeating yourself when you say lunatic leftist?

Posted by: dantesed at October 25, 2026 09:35 AM (Oy/m2)

76 yeah Book Trader is still hanging on!

Posted by: Black Orchid (j+aD2) at October 25, 2026 09:35 AM (qBivk)

77 I read a short story, well a chapter in a novel consisting of a series of short stories, and the coda to the chapter included the line "the rest of the women successfully terminated their pregnancies." That put a sneer on my face, but did not cause me to rage-quit the book. Because even if the author was trying to preach with that line, he was doing so in the most apologetic and half-hearted way possible. The women in question were not just pregnant because of rape, they were slaves of an abusive master, deliberately impregnated for the purpose of creating blood-sacrifices of the proper heritage. The main character (meekly) offered the counter-argument that the children didn't deserve to be...given up on. And the deed was done via ingesting a miscarriage-inducing herb, which only worked if done 'early enough.' Several women were too far along for this, and did carry the child to term...

One could speculate that the author felt forced to include The Message(tm) in his book in order to get published, but tried to do so in the most limited way possible. Or maybe I'm just overthinking things...

Posted by: Castle Guy at October 25, 2026 09:35 AM (3v7ra)

78 If it doesn't have a cat, it's not a proper used book store.

Posted by: Obi at October 25, 2026 09:35 AM (BoGgW)

79 In 1891, Oscar Wilde published his horror novel The Picture of Dorian Gray, which is a frightening look at degeneracy.

As he story opens, Dorian is having his portrait painted by Basil Hallwood, and through him Dorian is introduced to Lord Henry Wotton. Wotton's motto is that the pursuit of pleasure is the only goal in life, and Dorian becomes enthralled with the idea. He offers to sell his soul in return for his portrait to age and suffer the temporal effects of his lifestyle, and indeed as Dorian falls into a life of sensuality the painting ages instead of him for the next several years.

When Basil later visits him to warn him about his lifestyle, Dorian shows him the portrait suffering all of the effects, horrifying him, and to keep the secret Dorian kills Basil. By now, he has an evil reputation everywhere, and he is being stalked by a man whose love killed herself over him. Dorian resolves to redeem his life, and goes to his attic to see if his portrait might recover. When he sees it is worse than ever, he stabs the portrait with the very knife he used on Basil. Reacting to his scream, his servants find his body, disfigured horribly, but his portrait is pristine.

Posted by: Vashta Nerada at October 25, 2026 09:36 AM (0U5gm)

80 Rodgers Book Barn
467 Rodman Rd, Hillsdale, NY 12529
Phone: (51

325-3610
Rodgersbookbarn dot com

Best book store I ever set foot in!

Posted by: Biblion Scolakes at October 25, 2026 09:36 AM (d1f3k)

81 Do it! You'll need a map, which they provide.
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes
_________

How is the neighborhood? Looked sketchy from online search.

Posted by: Biff Pocoroba at October 25, 2026 09:37 AM (JzUSu)

82 Bramble book shop is my favorite in Chester Co Pa.
Star Books in Royersford is another

Posted by: Skip at October 25, 2026 09:37 AM (Ia/+0)

83 Are you repeating yourself when you say lunatic leftist?

I like alliteration. (SWIDT?)

Posted by: Oddbob at October 25, 2026 09:37 AM (vTZFs)

84 https://tinyurl.com/33jr26bn
Bramble has a cat

Posted by: Skip at October 25, 2026 09:38 AM (Ia/+0)

85 83 Are you repeating yourself when you say lunatic leftist?

I like alliteration. (SWIDT?)
Posted by: Oddbob at October 25, 2026 09:37 AM (vTZFs)

Like there's no lunatic right, yeah right!

Posted by: Biblion Scolakes at October 25, 2026 09:38 AM (d1f3k)

86 I finished reading a comic book collection; "Excalibur Omnibus 3." It's an X-Men spin-off set in the UK. For me, the book is pure nostalgia. Excalibur 101 was half of the first comic book purchase I ever made. It was the coda for a big event, and (because I didn't see a lot of back-issued back then) this is the first time I've read everything that had led up to that issue. Those lead-up stories were....a mixed bag. A full review in the next comment. (So I don't get cut off halfway through)

Posted by: Castle Guy at October 25, 2026 09:39 AM (3v7ra)

87 As far as my own reading, I haven't done much lately. Oh, I've been buying books, just not reading them. I'm trying to get my attic set up for writing and do some tidying around the house that got delayed because of the new book.

Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing (aka Eloquent Depression) at October 25, 2026 09:41 AM (qRla/)

88 Bulldog Drummond, a character almost forgotten now, but who had a good run of matinee movies in the 30’s.
Posted by: Tom Servo at October 25, 2026

***
There was an attempt to revive interest in the character with Deadlier Than the Male, a 1960s Bond-era flick with Richard Johnson (who would have made a good Bond, and was considered for it) and Elke Sommer. Not sure if it's enjoyable on its own or as a Bond spoof.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at October 25, 2026 09:41 AM (wzUl9)

89 No Books in Oakland.

Posted by: San Franpsycho at October 25, 2026 09:27 AM (RIvkX)

Is that the name of a store, or a comment about the reading habits of Oaklanders?

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at October 25, 2026 09:41 AM (k5CNB)

90 And Greenfield was such an annoying town just to drive through that I turned for home and didn't stop until I got there.
Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing (aka Eloquent Depression) at October 25, 2026 09:22 AM (qRla/)

Yeah, anything Greenfield has gotta suck.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at October 25, 2026 09:41 AM (1Ff7Z)

91 When I still lived there, 'Murder By The Book' was a fine Houston bookshop, with both New and Used tomes on the shelves.
There was another Old and Rare Books spot in the Rice Village many years ago, which carried many hardbacks and full sets of classic series. I purchased my first set of Churchill's WWII books there. Conveniently, it was just a short walk from my favorite watering hole back then, 'The Gingerman.' Good times...

Posted by: Brewingfrog at October 25, 2026 09:43 AM (nqTZF)

92 Not gonna bother to url-shrink it but check the post at Powerline titled "Banned Books" for a chuckle.

Posted by: Oddbob at October 25, 2026 09:44 AM (vTZFs)

93 MP4 is around number 1400 in cozy, bookstore, and library mysteries. Too bad you can't figure out the sales numbers by ranking.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at October 25, 2026 09:44 AM (1Ff7Z)

94 Is that the name of a store, or a comment about the reading habits of Oaklanders?
Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at October 25, 2026 09:41 AM (k5CNB)
=====

If you have to ask, my snark has failed.

Posted by: San Franpsycho at October 25, 2026 09:45 AM (RIvkX)

95 Cincinnati - The Ohio Bookstore downtown.

Lexington, Ky - Black Swan Books.

Posted by: Biff Pocoroba at October 25, 2026 09:45 AM (JzUSu)

96 Ah used book stores. In Connecticut along the shore line there is the legendary Book Barn. They have overflowed their original site in East Lyme. It consists of a house, a few reasonably large sheds, and scads of shelving outdoors that are covered. Three more small shops were assimilated into the borg nearby and have specialized collections. Quite large, best around.
Deep sadness that another favorite, Whitlock's, closed a couple of months ago. They were in an old turkey shed and a barn. The shed had a floor like a dirt bike oval. Many good books obtained there over the years as they would get to clean out Yale professor collections when they came up for grabs. I have a signed copy of Whitman's complete poems, some old fairy tale books, a Dana edition on geology of New Haven when he was a Yale professor when the state of knowledge was pretty rudimentary, and many others. Book Barn is definitely worth a trip.

Posted by: diana pool at October 25, 2026 09:45 AM (2ftGe)

97 The story thus far: A small group of industrialists sponsor a mastermind's plan to bring down Britain through means not yet specified.

Posted by: Weak Geek at October 25, 2026 09:19 AM (BIvcv)

Unchecked barbarian immigration?

Posted by: OrangeEnt at October 25, 2026 09:46 AM (1Ff7Z)

98 Nobunaga. They're a hoot -- basically deadpan descriptions of various aspects of American food and culture, told as though the writer is an actual 16th century samurai. It's quite the celebration of Americanness, as Nobunaga finds the buried code of honor in things like "finish it and it's free" steak challenges and Girl Scout cookie sales.
Posted by: Trimegistus at October 25, 2026 09:20 AM (78a2H)

Nobunga is on Xitter. Such a delight to run across his posts!

Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! at October 25, 2026 09:46 AM (CjHsb)

99 A new used bookstore opened near me about a year ago. It’s the only one in our area. My wife and I took a ride there only to pull up and see the gay flags and anti-ICE signs. We never got out of the car.

Posted by: Uncle Slayton at October 25, 2026 09:46 AM (qGRps)

100 There used to be actual used paperback stores in my area. And does anyone remember when there were such animals as "New Paperback Book" stores? They sold only brand-new paperbacks. I got several of my Man From U.N.C.L.E tie-in originals at those, as well as a new edition of Ellery Queen's Greek Coffin Mystery.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at October 25, 2026 09:46 AM (wzUl9)

101 Posted by: Oddbob at October 25, 2026 09:44 AM (vTZFs)

Powerline link. It's a good one!

https://is.gd/NYjZhJ

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at October 25, 2026 09:47 AM (k5CNB)

102 Thanks for the Book Thread, MP4!

And congratulations on your new book, featured this morning by Sarah Hoyt!

Posted by: Legally Sufficient at October 25, 2026 09:47 AM (D/6p1)

103 Just for reference, the top photo is of the late Avenue Vitcor Hugo Books. It was (and still is) in Lee, NH, about 45 minutes north of me. I could easily spend a couple of happy hours there, but no more, alas. Outside of Boston, eastern MA is not a bookstore-friendly place.

Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing (aka Eloquent Depression) at October 25, 2026 09:48 AM (qRla/)

104 There was a used bookstore in Houston, around Spring Branch, west of the loop. It was an old 1920s era house, with uneven floors, and floor to ceiling books in every room. It had some vague sense of sorting by category, so it could take hours to find the type of book you were looking for. I found quite a few gems there. I imagine that gentrification has eliminated that place, along with all of the other old houses.

Posted by: Vashta Nerada at October 25, 2026 09:48 AM (0U5gm)

105 Hanley's Book Shop in Chicago had a cat, but I don't recall cats in the others I hung around in.

Haven't been there in forever, but Frugal Muse in Darien (Chicago suburb) had a pretty good selection. Think there was a Half-Price not too far from there which was also pretty good.

THE book shop for me wasn't a used book store. That was Kroch's & Brentano's main store on Wabash in the Chicago Loop. I was a steady customer there from the mid 60s until I left Chicago in 85, and the last 9 of those years I worked there. That place was great.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at October 25, 2026 09:48 AM (q3u5l)

106 Excalibur Omnibus 3 is a comic book run that is half good, and half not. The first half is pretty bad; it lives down to the stereotype of 'just a comic book.' The stories were over-the-top and bombastic, with no time spent dwelling on why things happened, or the dealing with the fall-out of events. Matters were made worse by repeatedly switching writers. Events, or even entire characters, were memory-holed as new writers didn't care about, or perhaps even know about, what had come before...

Things got markedly better at the halfway point, when the title finally got a long-term writer. This writer toned down the stakes, kept a bit more consistency from one story to the next, and had everything lead up to a big climax. Ironically, the 'good' writer was Warren Ellis, who in any other context would be on my personal blacklist. He is bitter, vulgar, and his stories and characters revel in depravity. But he was decent here, presumably because the editor told him that an X-Men comic was no place for his natural filth. And he may have been in a better mood because he was allowed to put a self-insert character in the book, and to ship his OC with the team hottie...

Posted by: Castle Guy at October 25, 2026 09:48 AM (3v7ra)

107 In 1891, Oscar Wilde published his horror novel The Picture of Dorian Gray, which is a frightening look at degeneracy.

-
Someone should write a mirror image book, The Media on Joe Biden, a wise philosopher king on screen, a corrupt, degenerate, drooling idiot in life.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Where's My Cookie? at October 25, 2026 09:49 AM (ndZc7)

108 "Dress for men, as always, is country club casual. "

crocs and cravats?

Posted by: Bilwis - Wizard of Clwyd at October 25, 2026 09:49 AM (r7+Q7)

109 The used bookstore in town is decent. Most of the employees are pleasant and helpful but look like rejects from a 1960s Hippie commune. I can deal with that. The selection is huge but, for my needs, hit or miss. I can look for a complete works of Plato or Tennyson without luck. That surprised me. But I scored good condition hardcovers of all the Patrick O'Brian Aubrey books and most of the historical novels (and there are a LOT of them) by Bernard Cornwell. And all for a dollar each. Took two trips to the car carrying them all. That was a banner day.

Posted by: JTB at October 25, 2026 09:49 AM (yTvNw)

110 skip I'll have to check out bramble

I don't get up to spring city very often

maybe if we go to the outlets!

Posted by: Black Orchid (j+aD2) at October 25, 2026 09:50 AM (qBivk)

111 btw I hate to say it but I'm reading those Dungeon Crawler Carl books lol

they are ..goofy

Posted by: Black Orchid (j+aD2) at October 25, 2026 09:50 AM (qBivk)

112 As to the original topic of this thread...I do so much book searching online that I really don't have much opinion of bookshops. That may also be because I live in a fairly remote town, whose one bookshop is a bit too touristy for me, and doesn't carry too much that matches my interests...

Posted by: Castle Guy at October 25, 2026 09:50 AM (3v7ra)

113 A good bookstore has a lot of books. That sounds obvious but I've been to a lot that had basically just current year book slop and knick knacks, we have one in town like that 'We Be Bookin'.

I'd say a balance of new releases but with a hefty backlog of used books is ideal. I mostly read old books as there has been little in modern Sci Fi worth reading and modern fantasy, though it has a few standouts still working, is also fraught. The cream rises to the top and I prefer to let time sort out the quality from the crap. But honestly, the 70's and 80's 'crap' is still way better than most anything written today.

I admit to a soft spot in my heart for 80's sci fi and fantasy, if a bookstore has a lot of them, I'll cut them slack for their politics.

Posted by: Mark Andrew Edwards, Buy ammo at October 25, 2026 09:51 AM (s1VwS)

114 111 btw I hate to say it but I'm reading those Dungeon Crawler Carl books lol

they are ..goofy
Posted by: Black Orchid (j+aD2) at October 25, 2026 09:50 AM (qBivk)

A lot of my younger relatives love it.
I'm...hesitant. The author basically went from sucking up to Critical Drinker to bashing him once his book deal took off. I know most authors are....well never mind, if you know you know....but it rubbed me the wrong way.

I still won't buy S. M. Stirling books, after meeting him.

Posted by: Mark Andrew Edwards, Buy ammo at October 25, 2026 09:52 AM (s1VwS)

115 The story thus far: A small group of industrialists sponsor a mastermind's plan to bring down Britain through means not yet specified.

Posted by: Weak Geek at October 25, 2026 09:19 AM (BIvcv)
*
Unchecked barbarian immigration?
Posted by: OrangeEnt at October 25, 2026

***
It could be. Drummond's creator was very much a pro-British, anti-foreigner type, I've read, having served in WWI. Wiki says he liked to describe villains with double adjectives, "such as 'filthy, murdering Boche,' and 'stinking, cowardly Bolshevik.' "

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at October 25, 2026 09:53 AM (wzUl9)

116 70 oh! Annapolis has a really nice little used book shop in the little downtown area. lots of history books!

not woke
Posted by: Black Orchid (j+aD2) at October 25, 2026 09:32 AM (qBivk)
----
That one near the naval academy? It's beautiful! Great selection of antiquarian books.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at October 25, 2026 09:53 AM (kpS4V)

117 70 oh! Annapolis has a really nice little used book shop in the little downtown area. lots of history books!

not woke
Posted by: Black Orchid (j+aD2) at October 25, 2026 09:32 AM (qBivk)
---

Eh, it's fine. Even dined at a hipster cafe nearby.

I'm still here, right?

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at October 25, 2026 09:56 AM (kpS4V)

118 btw I hate to say it but I'm reading those Dungeon Crawler Carl books lol

they are ..goofy
Posted by: Black Orchid (j+aD2) at October 25, 2026 09:50 AM (qBivk)
---
My boss turned the freshman composition class she teaches into a "Dungeon Crawler Carl" themed course. Apparently the students really enjoy it.

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at October 25, 2026 09:57 AM (FZ29D)

119 Not surprised the troll doesn't read.

Posted by: San Franpsycho at October 25, 2026 09:57 AM (RIvkX)

120 67 I love the women's fall fashions in the post. I think the dresses are actually flattering. The hats on the other hand, are typically ridiculous. At least they are amusing even if that wasn't the intention.
Posted by: JTB at October 25, 2026 09:31 AM (yTvNw)

I like the one in the bottom left corner. Would wear. If I must wear a hat, I'm choosing the short stovepipe instead.

Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! at October 25, 2026 09:58 AM (CjHsb)

121 This is all literary. Well, fiction anyway. JB Priztker in his Buzz Lightyear Halloween costume.

https://tinyurl.com/mr2rjcvd

I wonder if Biden had it to do all over again, would he name Hunter Buzz?

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Where's My Cookie? at October 25, 2026 09:58 AM (ndZc7)

122 btw I hate to say it but I'm reading those Dungeon Crawler Carl books lol

they are ..goofy
Posted by: Black Orchid (j+aD2) at October 25, 2026 09:50 AM (qBivk)

A lot of my younger relatives love it.
I'm...hesitant. The author basically went from sucking up to Critical Drinker to bashing him once his book deal took off. I know most authors are....well never mind, if you know you know....but it rubbed me the wrong way.

I still won't buy S. M. Stirling books, after meeting him.
Posted by: Mark Andrew Edwards, Buy ammo at October 25, 2026 09:52 AM (s1VwS)

Never meet your heroes...or something like that.

All of the kiddos are reading or perhaps have finished reading the Dungeon Crawler Carl books.

They really plowed through them and loved the series.

I haven't read them yet but from their descriptions, it sounds like the writer was clever enough to get that big hill of suspension of disbelief out of the way right at the beginning.

If you buy into that, the rest follows "logically', plus being humorous is a nice bonus always.

.

Posted by: naturalfake at October 25, 2026 09:59 AM (YSUhf)

123 Eh, it's fine. Even dined at a hipster cafe nearby.

I'm still here, right?
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at October 25, 2026 09:56 AM (kpS4V)
=====

Tofu Loaf?

Posted by: San Franpsycho at October 25, 2026 09:59 AM (RIvkX)

124 Thought I still love bookstores and libraries, I'll be honest...I haven't been visiting them much in the past decade. Nothing political, just my TBR pile is so daunting that I could just read what I own now and be busy for years. After 19 bookcases, I figure I should taper things off.

I still buy kindle books though, that's a different discussion

Posted by: Mark Andrew Edwards, Buy ammo at October 25, 2026 09:59 AM (s1VwS)

125 I think my enjoyment of The Brokenwood Mysteries on TV had me looking at another New Zealand mystery series on Kindle+ (formerly Unlimited). 'The Retired Assassin's Guide to Country Gardening: A New Zealand Paranormal Cozy Mystery' is just absolutely charming and enjoyable. Naomi Kuttner has done a really nice job with the 3 available and 4th upcoming 'paranormal cozy mystery' and I find it refreshing to read without glaring grammar and spelling mistakes. 1/2

Posted by: mustbequantum at October 25, 2026 09:59 AM (qGmRV)

126 Thought I still love bookstores and libraries, I'll be honest...I haven't been visiting them much in the past decade. Nothing political, just my TBR pile is so daunting that I could just read what I own now and be busy for years. After 19 bookcases, I figure I should taper things off.

I still buy kindle books though, that's a different discussion
Posted by: Mark Andrew Edwards, Buy ammo at October 25, 2026 09:59 AM (s1VwS)
----
I'm starting to get the same way, though I do make exceptions if my recent purchase of 15 or so Robin Hobb books is any indication...

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at October 25, 2026 10:01 AM (FZ29D)

127 108 "Dress for men, as always, is country club casual. "

crocs and cravats?

Posted by: Bilwis - Wizard of Clwyd at October 25, 2026 09:49 AM (r7+Q7)
----

Go-to-hell pants!

https://tinyurl.com/yc8xty9p

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at October 25, 2026 10:01 AM (kpS4V)

128 @44 --

Here's one more recommendation for The Book Guy in Joplin. The city has a second used-book store just north of town, but I don't recall its name.

I will never stop promoting my home away from home, Gardner's in Tulsa. Books, comics, CDs, and LPs. The room arrangement is a maze, but you can eventually get to the checkout counter.

My ideal bookstore would have the wares solely on the middle shelves, so I would not have to crane or kneel to see the titles. As it would waste shelf space, that will never happen.

It also would have every comic in perfect alphabetical order. Yes, I'm a dreamer.

Posted by: Weak Geek at October 25, 2026 10:02 AM (ej74d)

129 One place I'd like to browse through if I was ever in the area is Mystery Pier Books in West Hollywood. Specializes in rare first editions (and I understand you can find a lot of shooting scripts for movies there too), but from what I've seen of prices on their web site a peasant such as myself couldn't afford to breathe the air in that store.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at October 25, 2026 10:02 AM (q3u5l)

130 Hey, I wear casual khakis and a long-sleeved, collared shirt with the sleeves rolled up most of the time, including for the Book Thread. Jeans and boots, usually, when I go out.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at October 25, 2026 10:03 AM (wzUl9)

131 Bulldog Drummond, a character almost forgotten now, but who had a good run of matinee movies in the 30’s.
Posted by: Tom Servo at October 25, 2026 09:31 AM (jTKPp)

Saw a parody play, Bullshot Crummond.

https://tinyurl.com/y7xnv3n5

It was funnier the further away I got from it.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at October 25, 2026 10:03 AM (1Ff7Z)

132 And don't forget all the other wonderful Horde authors!
Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing (aka Eloquent Depression) at October 25, 2026 09:31 AM (qRla/)

Maybe Perfessor could make a list, like the recommended by.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at October 25, 2026 10:05 AM (1Ff7Z)

133 Anyway, I have a question or point to ponder --

Kiwi's apparently don't use the short 'e' sound; Debbie (deh' bee) is Deebee, etc. I was thinking of the toquesters (tohk) north of us and their 'oo' (took) and oot and aboot.

Any other English-based country pronunciations?

Posted by: mustbequantum at October 25, 2026 10:06 AM (qGmRV)

134 47 I tried listening to Where The Red Fern Grows (Wilson Rawls) on audiobook, but gave up after a couple of hours. The plot was moving tediously slow, the protagonist's hillbilly voice was grating, and he had begun talking with his two hound dogs as if they were human.

Posted by: Quarter Twenty at October 25, 2026 09:24 AM (ujjRM)

I read a lot of 'a boy and his dog' books when I was growing up. "Where the Red Fern Grows" was the only one that I remember actively disliking. Although that may have been for the ending, rather than what made you give up on it...

Posted by: Castle Guy at October 25, 2026 10:06 AM (3v7ra)

135 I frequent a couple of thrift stores for my used books. One of them, lately, has a giant shipping gaylord full of next to the shelved books, but I don't typically have time to dig through that. And I'd never get to the bottom of it.

I have discovered some of my favorite authors completely by chance at the Volunteers of America.

Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! at October 25, 2026 10:06 AM (CjHsb)

136 Several decades ago, I became stranded in a small town because of breakdown, located a used bookstore, and selected what I thought looked best from their rather meager selection.
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Where's My Cookie? at October 25, 2026 09:34 AM (ndZc7)

Mayberry North Carolina, was it? Had to wait on a part from Mount Pilot?

Posted by: OrangeEnt at October 25, 2026 10:07 AM (1Ff7Z)

137 Banhammer time!

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at October 25, 2026 10:08 AM (kpS4V)

138 Yay book thread! East Lansing is home to the legendary Curious Books, though for how much longer it is hard to say. The proprietor has to be close to 100, but it is the platonic ideal of a bookstore - dense, vertical, and packed with crazy stuff. Rare editions under glass up front, a wall of pulp sci-fi, lots of obscure stuff culled from the university faculty.

The Archives was a spillover location that closed not long ago. The staff are appropriately snooty because the have the honor of working for a local legend.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at October 25, 2026 10:09 AM (ZOv7s)

139 111 btw I hate to say it but I'm reading those Dungeon Crawler Carl books lol

they are ..goofy
Posted by: Black Orchid (j+aD2) at October 25, 2026 09:50 AM (qBivk)

I'll cop to enjoying these. I got sucked in. I read the first three in a binge, but they get pretty intense, so now I take a break in between volumes. I've never been a video gamer, but I used to watch the kids play, and it feels like that.

I suspect it's going to veer into hard-left antifa territory soon, but I hope not.

Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! at October 25, 2026 10:09 AM (CjHsb)

140 Maybe Perfessor could make a list, like the recommended by.

Seems like there was one but it hasn't been mentioned in years. I was thinking the same thing about the book shop recommendations.

And I just had the best idea that will never happen. We could have a nationwide roving Book-ron MiniMoMe at used bookshops. Just pick a shop and a date once a month and whoever shows up, shows up.

Posted by: Oddbob at October 25, 2026 10:10 AM (vTZFs)

141 I have discovered some of my favorite authors completely by chance at the Volunteers of America.
Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! at October 25, 2026

***
The occasional serendipitous thrift-store find. Just this year at a thrift/antique place benefitting animal rescues, I bought a hardcover edition of Richard Bradford's Red Sky at Morning, one of my favorite novels, even though I already have a paperback.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at October 25, 2026 10:11 AM (wzUl9)

142 Any other English-based country pronunciations?
Posted by: mustbequantum at October 25, 2026 10:06 AM (qGmRV)
---
In the African ex-colonies, if you ask for "water" the locals will not know what you are talking about. They drink "wattah."

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at October 25, 2026 10:11 AM (ZOv7s)

143 Old Editions Book Shop in North Tonawanda, NY (just north of Buffalo) is an easy place to spend a couple of hours.

The wife was in Boston a few years back and send me some pics from Brattle Book Shop (in business since 1825 or something). I picked out five books just from her pics and had her grab them. She said I would love it. Haven't been yet because Boston.

Posted by: Taro Tsujimoto at October 25, 2026 10:11 AM (5YmYl)

144 "The sad reveal, however, was that the ‘Moon’ didn’t exist." Not one pub meets Orwell's simple req. in all of London? Pfui! That's on good old Georgie.

We've two local used book shops - one pays $ or trades for credit on future purchases, the other for trade credits only. My preference is the money trader - .50 to $2.00 for paperbacks (usually $1) and $2-4 for hard covers (he says people now hate heavy/unwieldy books, and is quite picky about book condition. He's a trustafarian prog, but posts no leftist gibberish on doors or street placards.

Posted by: 13times at October 25, 2026 10:12 AM (fnZRl)

145
TJM, has a stalker.

It must be tsundere love.

Posted by: naturalfake at October 25, 2026 10:13 AM (YSUhf)

146 As some here may recall, I used both stores for research regarding China, and the owner commented on my purchases and advised me that a professor was liquidating his collection and that as fast as I cleared the shelves, he would refill them with additional books.

I obtained a lot of excellent out of print sources, including Pu0Yi's memoirs, From Emperor to Citizen, which is an excellent read. One of the fascinating aspects as that when it shifts into his time under communism, the voice changes completely and it is obvious that his masters are writing the text. But the first part they pretty much left alone.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at October 25, 2026 10:14 AM (ZOv7s)

147 Has anyone else here stumbled across the "Malfoid" phenomenon? It's in the Venn diagram where memes and fanfiction meet, and it's absolutely blowing up some corners of the internet.

Basically some nerds started jokingly speculating about what if Draco Malfoy was a girl, so that the character's rivalry with Harry Potter covered a romantic tension (in effect, "normalwashing" the VAST corpus of gay Harry-and-Draco porn fanfic).

What I find interesting is that this makes the whole Potter story a LOT better thematically. When she finally takes his side to help destroy Voldemort it completes the circle of his mother's sacrifice.

It also fixes the utterly lame romance with Ginny Weasley. ("Harry Potter and the Girl Whose Entire Family Already Liked Him" isn't an exciting title.)

The switch also works because Rowling didn't do a good job of writing how boys bully each other. Draco in the books is already a Mean Girl anyway, so Draconica can basically do all the same stuff and say all the same things -- just with a lot more furtive backward glances afterward.

Probably the best "for beginners" intro is Malcolm and Simone Collins's "Based Camp" episode on the topic.

Posted by: Trimegistus at October 25, 2026 10:14 AM (78a2H)

148 The wife was in Boston a few years back and send me some pics from Brattle Book Shop (in business since 1825 or something). I picked out five books just from her pics and had her grab them. She said I would love it. Haven't been yet because Boston.

Brattle has been on my list for years. I keep meaning to go, but the hassle of getting into Boston and parking keeps me away.

Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing (aka Eloquent Depression) at October 25, 2026 10:15 AM (qRla/)

149 Mayberry North Carolina, was it? Had to wait on a part from Mount Pilot?
Posted by: OrangeEnt

You could just go to Floyd's and read back issues of magazines.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Where's My Cookie? at October 25, 2026 10:15 AM (ndZc7)

150 Are you repeating yourself when you say lunatic leftist?

I like alliteration. (SWIDT?)
Posted by: Oddbob at October 25, 2026 09:37 AM (vTZFs)

Luckily, we duly love it.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at October 25, 2026 10:15 AM (1Ff7Z)

151 125 ... "I think my enjoyment of The Brokenwood Mysteries on TV had me looking at another New Zealand mystery series on Kindle+ (formerly Unlimited). 'The Retired Assassin's Guide to Country Gardening: A New Zealand Paranormal Cozy Mystery' is just absolutely charming and enjoyable. Naomi Kuttner has done a really nice job"

mustbequantum,
Thanks for the suggestion. Mrs. JTB is a fan of the Brokenwood Mystery program. Just ordered a Kindle edition of the first in the Retired Assassin series. Sounds like something she would enjoy.

Posted by: JTB at October 25, 2026 10:16 AM (yTvNw)

152 147 Has anyone else here stumbled across the "Malfoid" phenomenon? It's in the Venn diagram where memes and fanfiction meet, and it's absolutely blowing up some corners of the internet.

yes! I agree with all points. Having Draco be a girl fixes some of JK's weakest plot mechanics

Posted by: Black Orchid (j+aD2) at October 25, 2026 10:17 AM (qBivk)

153 I tried listening to Where The Red Fern Grows (Wilson Rawls) on audiobook, but gave up after a couple of hours. The plot was moving tediously slow, the protagonist's hillbilly voice was grating, and he had begun talking with his two hound dogs as if they were human. Posted by: Quarter Twenty at October 25, 2026 09:24 AM (ujjRM)
I read a lot of 'a boy and his dog' books when I was growing up. "Where the Red Fern Grows" was the only one that I remember actively disliking. Although that may have been for the ending, rather than what made you give up on it... Posted by: Castle Guy at October 25, 2026 10:06 AM (3v7ra)
=====

NO MORE DEAD DOGS! (Title of a very good middle-school novel.)

Posted by: mustbequantum at October 25, 2026 10:17 AM (qGmRV)

154 No Books in Oakland.

Posted by: San Franpsycho at October 25, 2026 09:27 AM (RIvkX)

Is that the name of a store, or a comment about the reading habits of Oaklanders?
Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at October 25, 2026 09:41 AM (k5CNB)

Redin? Dat white stuff.

Posted by: Sarsaparilla Jones-Jones at October 25, 2026 10:18 AM (1Ff7Z)

155 Inspiring rhetoric for our time.

Kamala: "I was a United States Senator, so I know what happens in those rooms. In those rooms there are conversations that happen, where it's important for certain people to stand up and speak, to help at least encourage a certain conscience about what we should care about, in terms of the work we do in the halls of Washington D.C., and with some clarity about how it will actually play out in the streets of America."

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Where's My Cookie? at October 25, 2026 10:19 AM (ndZc7)

156 There is a used book store in a small town near me which I have never visited, due to its limited (and possibly variable?) hours. Maybe this next weekend...

Congrats on the new book and the book pimps, MP4! Another copy will be going to my Kindle.

Posted by: Helena Handbasket at October 25, 2026 10:19 AM (jb8Ss)

157 There are still some bookstores left in the French Quarter here despite rising rents: Beckham's, which used to have a Himalayan cat in residence, Faulkner Books close to my boyhood home, Dauphine Street Books (which is on Chartres, another street entirely), and a few others. Since I never get down there any more -- it's impossible to park without paying, for one thing -- I haven't been to any in years.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at October 25, 2026 10:19 AM (wzUl9)

158 Used to have three or four used book stores just east of downtown OKC. The old fashioned kind. Shelves stuffed with every kind of book. I have no idea if they're still there.

Posted by: Dr. Pork Chops & Bacons at October 25, 2026 10:19 AM (g8Ew8)

159 I recommend Robert's Bookshop in Lincoln City OR, it has pretty much everything from manga and collectable books, through every genre to aviation repair manuals in the back. The sci-fi is large, and the mystery/detective section is even larger.
Robert's has various pikes and spears hung above the cash register, and before the daughter started taking more time working there he had Dillon Precision Blue Press calendars hung behind the cashier's station.
They will also sell you a "mystery box" of sci-fi if you are willing to take a chance of reading through not so wonderful books.

Another is Escape Books on Triangle street in Salem, OR. Scotty and Maria work hard and have a good used bookstore. Lots of science fiction, and all quality books

Posted by: Kindltot at October 25, 2026 10:20 AM (rbvCR)

160
I'm currently reading a mystery that I'm having trouble getting through, because -

although the mystery is interesting, the writing is clean and excellent, the people seem real,

the pace is deadly, at least for me. A very casually told story. Negative bonus -I think I may already have it figured out. Negative bonus 2 - Lots of 12 Step stuff which I don't find interesting at all.

the book is "A Long Line of Dead Men" by Lawrence Block, with his Mathtew Scudder character.

The plot centers around a men's club of 30 men that meet annually until they all die. Then the last surviving member sets up a new group of 30 and so on and so on.

Now, it appears that someone may be murdering the members.

I'm about 70% through it. Hopefully it finally picks up in the last third.

Posted by: naturalfake at October 25, 2026 10:20 AM (YSUhf)

161 NO MORE DEAD DOGS! (Title of a very good middle-school novel.)
Posted by: mustbequantum at October 25, 2026

***
I recall a novel in the Reader's Digest Condensed Books in the Sixties: A Day No Pigs Would Die. Not sure I read it, and if I did I remember nothing but the title.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at October 25, 2026 10:21 AM (wzUl9)

162 Lots of 12 Step stuff which I don't find interesting at all.

Posted by: naturalfake at October 25, 2026 10:20 AM (YSUhf)

AA is for quitters!

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at October 25, 2026 10:21 AM (k5CNB)

163 I'm going to open a special troll book store that stocks nothing but romance paperbacks and beat up Readers Digest condensed books.

Posted by: Amelia Bedelia Plays Baseball at October 25, 2026 10:22 AM (/mANu)

164 Naturalfake, I've read all the Scudder novels and don't recall any being slow or "deadly" in their pacing.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at October 25, 2026 10:22 AM (wzUl9)

165 I normally only glance over the Amazon recommendations emails that I get sent...they usually miss the mark. But, late last week one of them caught my eye. They recommended "Heroes of Atlantis and Lemuria," by Manly Wade Wellman.

Manly Wade Wellman. That name just made me laugh. Doubly so because it's an actual name, rather than a pen-name. I think his work was brought up on this thread last year. Anyways, I may just pick up the featured e-book..

Posted by: Castle Guy at October 25, 2026 10:23 AM (3v7ra)

166 Oops. The stores were west of downtown OKC.

Posted by: Dr. Pork Chops & Bacons at October 25, 2026 10:23 AM (g8Ew8)

167 Fantasy book idea. A troll wishcasts on a smart military blog and makes a rat's ass worth of difference in the real world.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Where's My Cookie? at October 25, 2026 10:23 AM (ndZc7)

168 155 ... Anonosaurus Wrecks,

Please don't quote Kamala Harris in the book thread. The quotes upset my digestion after a pleasant breakfast. And her attempts, probably her best efforts, to use the English language is a cause of existential despair.

I think I'll go read some Thomas Sowell and get the Kamala taste out of my head.

Posted by: JTB at October 25, 2026 10:25 AM (yTvNw)

169 My go-to these days is the Used Book Superstore in Burlington MA, about 30 minutes away. The last time I was there, they had almost the entire run of Tom Swift Jr books for sale. I was tempted to buy them, but the stories are repetitive and not so enjoyable when you're an adult. I did get two 1910 "Tom Swift" books, though, which I find much more pleasant to read.

Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing (aka Eloquent Depression) at October 25, 2026 10:25 AM (qRla/)

170 The Big Chicken Barn
1768 Bucksport Road
Ellsworth, Maine 04605
Coastal Route 1
207-667-7308

Went to Maine several weeks back and stumbled on this mega used book store.

Posted by: book worm at October 25, 2026 10:25 AM (d1f3k)

171 Naturalfake, I've read all the Scudder novels and don't recall any being slow or "deadly" in their pacing.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at October 25, 2026 10:22 AM (wzUl9)

De gustibus and all that jazz.

Posted by: naturalfake at October 25, 2026 10:26 AM (YSUhf)

172 Has anyone else here stumbled across the "Malfoid" phenomenon?
Posted by: Trimegistu
---
So that's what was buzzing all over X and filling it with AI slop. Never read the books but my wife and kids loved them, though they hated it when the one guy got killed apparently arbitrarily just to raise dramatic tension.

My sense was that she just rewrote the same book seven times with a new Maguffin and then had people die because there was Danger. While I generally hate the gal-swapping, in some instances it works really well.

See also: The Front Page vs His Girl Friday. The latter is much superior and Rosalind Russel was hawt.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at October 25, 2026 10:26 AM (ZOv7s)

173 Kiwi's apparently don't use the short 'e' sound; Debbie (deh' bee) is Deebee, etc. I was thinking of the toquesters (tohk) north of us and their 'oo' (took) and oot and aboot.

Any other English-based country pronunciations?
Posted by: mustbequantum at October 25, 2026 10:06 AM (qGmRV)

When I met New Zealand Frank a few years ago at the big shindig in Corsicana, he said "happy to meet you." But all I heard was "hippie," and I had to ask him to repeat himself three times! I didn't think I was dressed like a hippie, and I wasn't sure what he was getting at. NZ accent meets hearing impairent. LOL

Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! at October 25, 2026 10:27 AM (CjHsb)

174 FWIW.

Pearl Buck's The Good Earth falls into public domain 1 Jan. 2027.

Posted by: 13times at October 25, 2026 10:27 AM (fnZRl)

175 I tried the Dungeon Crawler books but I just couldn't continue because it seemed every other sentence dropped "F-bombs". I guess it was too much for me. If the the language was toned down even 25%, I probably could have powered through.
I'm almost done with William Forstchen's One Second After series.
My next book will be Lonesome Dove for my book club. I watched the mini-series.

Posted by: lin-duh at October 25, 2026 10:28 AM (VCgbV)

176 Half Price Books has yet to fail me. I visit the different Dallas-area outlets on my way to and from TxMoMes, always ending with a stop. I always find something to my tastes.

And this past June in Fort Worth -- where I went to see Rush -- a found a real prize: a hardback collection of Chuck Dixon's Winterworld comics. These are rare.

Such nice, clean shops. I wish we could get one.

Posted by: Weak Geek at October 25, 2026 10:28 AM (FfG3x)

177
Manly Wade Wellman. That name just made me laugh. Doubly so because it's an actual name, rather than a pen-name. I think his work was brought up on this thread last year. Anyways, I may just pick up the featured e-book..
Posted by: Castle Guy at October 25, 2026

***
Wellman's work goes back to the late Twenties. Says Wiki, "In 1946 Wellman won the Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine Award over William Faulkner for his Native American detective tale 'A Star for a Warrior.' Apparently Faulkner was quite upset to be second fiddle to a science fiction and horror writer. Faulkner indignantly wrote to the editors of the magazine, proclaiming that he was the father of the French literary movement and the most important American writer in Europe."

I've read the Faulkner story ("An Error in Chemistry") and the Wellman. Wellman's was better.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at October 25, 2026 10:28 AM (wzUl9)

178 All of the kiddos are reading or perhaps have finished reading the Dungeon Crawler Carl books.

They really plowed through them and loved the series.

Posted by: naturalfake at October 25, 2026 09:59 AM (YSUhf)

Isn't that the one with a lot of profanity in it? Or is that some other set of books?

Posted by: OrangeEnt at October 25, 2026 10:29 AM (1Ff7Z)

179 ...so that the character's rivalry with Harry Potter covered a romantic tension (in effect, "normalwashing" the VAST corpus of gay Harry-and-Draco porn fanfic).

Ohhhh, is that what the kerfuffle is about? I have seen a mention of Malfoid while browsing other pop media related Youtube content but not being aware of the fanfic angle, it made no sense to me.

Posted by: Oddbob at October 25, 2026 10:29 AM (vTZFs)

180 Castle: Manly Wade Wellman was a great writer. I think you're going to like what you've ordered.

Posted by: Trimegistus at October 25, 2026 10:29 AM (78a2H)

181 Long time since I read him, but Manly Wade Wellman was pretty good. A couple of his short stories became Twilight Zone episodes IIRC. Check out his collections Who Fears the Devil? and Worse Things Waiting. Nice stuff.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at October 25, 2026 10:29 AM (q3u5l)

182 "I was a United States Senator, so I know what happens in those rooms. The level of corruption is breathtaking. You will never find a more amoral, self-dealing group of people. It's important that we restock it with more corrupt people, otherwise something useful might get done."

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at October 25, 2026 10:29 AM (ZOv7s)

183 What makes a good bookstore for you?

------

A section in the back with a door made of beads. Publications wrapped in brown paper. Etc.

Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at October 25, 2026 10:30 AM (BI5O2)

184
Reading The Hall of Uselessness by Simon Leys (the pseudonym of Pierre Ryckmans), a Belgian-born Australian Sinologist. A collection of essays covering China (old and new), authors (Chesterton, Gide, Hugo, Balzac), plus the politest and most devastating essays on Christopher Hitchens' book on Mother Theresa and on the life of André Malraux.

Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at October 25, 2026 10:32 AM (eRlcH)

185 The Big Chicken Barn
1768 Bucksport Road
Ellsworth, Maine 04605

Three hours north of me. That's definitely a weekend trip.

Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing (aka Eloquent Depression) at October 25, 2026 10:32 AM (qRla/)

186 Manly Wade Wellman. That name just made me laugh. Doubly so because it's an actual name, rather than a pen-name. I think his work was brought up on this thread last year. Anyways, I may just pick up the featured e-book..
Posted by: Castle Guy
----

Jake from the channel BookMortem loved the way that name rolled off the tongue, and spent one episode randomly saying "Manly Wade Wellman!"

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at October 25, 2026 10:32 AM (kpS4V)

187 >>> 182 "I was a United States Senator, so I know what happens in those rooms. The level of corruption is breathtaking. You will never find a more amoral, self-dealing group of people. It's important that we restock it with more corrupt people, otherwise something useful might get done."
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at October 25, 2026 10:29 AM (ZOv7s)

LOL

"Excuse me, Miss, I speak Kamala."

Posted by: Helena Handbasket at October 25, 2026 10:32 AM (jb8Ss)

188 169 ... "I did get two 1910 "Tom Swift" books, though, which I find much more pleasant to read."

I've read several of the original Tom Swift books as an adult. They are still a fun read because they capture the sense of wonder and excitement of the 'new' technology as Tom deals with adventure. I wonder if it was a influence when Clive Cussler started his Isaac Bell series, which I have always enjoyed.

Posted by: JTB at October 25, 2026 10:32 AM (yTvNw)

189 And of course since all goodthinking rainbow-haired lefty gay fanfic writers are required to hate and ritually denounce JKR because she does not think what she has been told to think by trans activists, the territory has been effectively abandoned so that chuds writing stories about a boy and a girl falling in love, fighting evil, then marrying and having a family can move in and occupy it. This has provoked loud "reee!" noises of outrage.

Posted by: Trimegistus at October 25, 2026 10:33 AM (78a2H)

190 147 Has anyone else here stumbled across the "Malfoid" phenomenon? It's in the Venn diagram where memes and fanfiction meet, and it's absolutely blowing up some corners of the internet.
Posted by: Trimegistus at October 25, 2026 10:14 AM (78a2H)

That's been all over my feed. Almost makes we wish I cared about Harry Potter. Some of the associated artwork is pretty good. Even if most of it is a bit too 'anime' for my tastes...

On a surface level, it's kind of ironic that Malfoid is blowing up right when Black Snape is causing such a furor. But, if actually think about it, one is purely a fanfic phenomenon, while the other is an attempt at changing the official cannon of the story. I'll bet that 95% of Malfoid enthusiasts would throw a fit if that was actually put in the upcoming HBO show....

Posted by: Castle Guy at October 25, 2026 10:33 AM (3v7ra)

191 A couple of quick notes before I have to go to Mass.

First, Long Live Death remains essential reading, especially in light of the coup preparations. It is worth comparing how cautious and competent the Spanish generals were compared to these lunatics, who put the whole plan in writing and then just left it lying around. Pros vs amateurs.

The revision Conqueror: Fields of Victory is picking up speed as I refamiliarize myself with the mechanics (math is involved). The system is pretty solid, but the rules could use some expansion, better graphics, more units and of course a cover that wasn't drawn by a high school kid.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at October 25, 2026 10:33 AM (ZOv7s)

192
It appears that all of the Harry Potter stories could be improved by the simple addition of Trump.

Like so-

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0bk5PhCvqN8

Posted by: naturalfake at October 25, 2026 10:34 AM (YSUhf)

193 162 Lots of 12 Step stuff which I don't find interesting at all.

Posted by: naturalfake at October 25, 2026 10:20 AM (YSUhf)

AA is for quitters!
Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at October 25, 2026 10:21 AM (k5CNB)

"Gary, you've failed at alcohol."

Posted by: Castle Guy at October 25, 2026 10:35 AM (3v7ra)

194 And I just had the best idea that will never happen. We could have a nationwide roving Book-ron MiniMoMe at used bookshops. Just pick a shop and a date once a month and whoever shows up, shows up.
Posted by: Oddbob at October 25, 2026 10:10 AM (vTZFs)

Not a bad idea, but I'd hate to be nowhere near a shop, travel to one and find no one else there.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at October 25, 2026 10:36 AM (1Ff7Z)

195 And of course since all goodthinking rainbow-haired lefty gay fanfic writers are required to hate and ritually denounce JKR because she does not think what she has been told to think by trans activists, the territory has been effectively abandoned so that chuds writing stories about a boy and a girl falling in love, fighting evil, then marrying and having a family can move in and occupy it. This has provoked loud "reee!" noises of outrage.
Posted by: Trimegistus at October 25, 2026 10:33 AM (78a2H)
---
The Man of Destiny series was me re-writing the Star Wars prequels and fixing all the stuff tht Lucas screwed up. The story he hinted at in the originals was much better than the slop he churned out, which required a lot of retconning.

Someone might profitably write a knock-off with various improvements.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at October 25, 2026 10:36 AM (ZOv7s)

196 Huzzah to Curious Books! Got some great pulp novels there, including one with the greatest cover ever, Jack Williamson's "The Green Girl".

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at October 25, 2026 10:36 AM (kpS4V)

197 You write what you know, and Rowling obviously didn't grasp teenage romantic tension. Thanks, MP4!

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at October 25, 2026 10:37 AM (ZOv7s)

198 All of the kiddos are reading or perhaps have finished reading the Dungeon Crawler Carl books.

They really plowed through them and loved the series.

Posted by: naturalfake at October 25, 2026 09:59 AM (YSUhf)

Isn't that the one with a lot of profanity in it? Or is that some other set of books?
Posted by: OrangeEnt at October 25, 2026 10:29 AM (1Ff7Z)

Dunno.

They didn't mention it, and honestly probably wouldn't be all that disturbed by it.

Posted by: naturalfake at October 25, 2026 10:38 AM (YSUhf)

199 There's an epic used bookstore in Tacoma, WA that feels like a quest. See, the owner has a rather *eclectic* view of organization. We have the large genre sorting, sure. But then the alphebetization starts in and sometimes we just jam everything A-C together (with no further sorting beyond that) and then we ALSO pull out the more well-known authors to a COMPLETELY DIFFERENT SHELF on the other side of the aisle. Said aisle is also ... rather obstructed with boxes of books. But if you persevere, you can find amazing things and you feel like you *earned* them.

Posted by: Sabrina Chase at October 25, 2026 10:38 AM (ee9bx)

200 I was a US Senator. I know what happens in those rooms. And so do you, thanks to digital video technology. That's right: raw-dog sodomy. Just the dirtiest kind of perversion. And then those guys who made the tape got all their charges dropped. So we have conversations about how to carry that important work from the halls of DC to the streets of America, and violently buttfuck every last one of you, with no consequences for us, ever.

Posted by: US Senator With Shigella at October 25, 2026 10:40 AM (BI5O2)

201 177 Wellman's work goes back to the late Twenties. Says Wiki, "In 1946 Wellman won the Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine Award over William Faulkner for his Native American detective tale 'A Star for a Warrior.' Apparently Faulkner was quite upset to be second fiddle to a science fiction and horror writer. Faulkner indignantly wrote to the editors of the magazine, proclaiming that he was the father of the French literary movement and the most important American writer in Europe."

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at October 25, 2026 10:28 AM (wzUl9)

Good idea: try to win an argument by saying "I'm important in France!" I'm sure that will carry a lot of weight to an American...

Posted by: Castle Guy at October 25, 2026 10:40 AM (3v7ra)

202 If someone (i.e. me) were to go back through this thread and compile a plain text list of bookshops, does someone else know how to convert it to a Google Map list?

Posted by: Oddbob at October 25, 2026 10:40 AM (vTZFs)

203 180 Castle: Manly Wade Wellman was a great writer. I think you're going to like what you've ordered.
Posted by: Trimegistus at October 25, 2026 10:29 AM (78a2H)

Haven't bought it yet, but this thread is pretty much making it a guaranteed purchase.

Posted by: Castle Guy at October 25, 2026 10:41 AM (3v7ra)

204 the pace is deadly, at least for me. A very casually told story.
the book is "A Long Line of Dead Men" by Lawrence Block, with his Mathtew Scudder character.

Posted by: naturalfake at October 25, 2026 10:20 AM (YSUhf)

I think you're not wrong. I prefer the Matthew Scudder series on audio, because I feel like I'm just listening in on a conversation, and I enjoy it that way. If I read these in print, I might feel the same way, but I love them on audio.

Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! at October 25, 2026 10:42 AM (CjHsb)

205 202 If someone (i.e. me) were to go back through this thread and compile a plain text list of bookshops, does someone else know how to convert it to a Google Map list?
Posted by: Oddbob at October 25, 2026 10:40 AM (vTZFs)
---

And then convert that map to Middle Earth style, like it's a quest.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at October 25, 2026 10:43 AM (kpS4V)

206
Good idea: try to win an argument by saying "I'm important in France!" I'm sure that will carry a lot of weight to an American...

Posted by: Castle Guy at October 25, 2026 10:40 AM (3v7ra)

You mean it doesn't?

That makes me hoit in my gespinkel!!! Lady!!!!

Posted by: Jerry Lewis at October 25, 2026 10:43 AM (YSUhf)

207 Not a bad idea, but I'd hate to be nowhere near a shop, travel to one and find no one else there.

MiniMoMes are more-or-less events of convenience rather than planning and expedition like The MoMe. But in the worst case, hey, you're at a book store.

Posted by: Oddbob at October 25, 2026 10:44 AM (vTZFs)

208 I'm going to open a special troll book store that stocks nothing... beat up Readers Digest condensed books.
Posted by: Amelia Bedelia Plays Baseball at October 25, 2026 10:22 AM (/mANu)

Now, wait aminit. Wasn't nothing wrong with RDCBs! I found plenty of good reads in them.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at October 25, 2026 10:44 AM (1Ff7Z)

209 176 And this past June in Fort Worth -- where I went to see Rush -- a found a real prize: a hardback collection of Chuck Dixon's Winterworld comics. These are rare.

Posted by: Weak Geek at October 25, 2026 10:28 AM (FfG3x)

Oooh, Chuck Dixon. You can rarely go wrong with him. A quick glance through ebay shows some good looking cover art. But....I know enough to know that good covers don't always translate into good interior art.

Well, hope you enjoy the read!

Posted by: Castle Guy at October 25, 2026 10:45 AM (3v7ra)

210 The Faulkner-is-peeved bit is kinda funny. I've never been able to read Faulkner, and I figure that's on me as a number of writers I like have always spoken highly of him, and I know zip about his career. But I do wonder, if he was so important at the time, why he was worried about the EQMM award.

If memory serves, in some other magazine contest (I forget which), Theodore Sturgeon's "Bianca's Hands" beat a story by Graham Greene for first place.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at October 25, 2026 10:46 AM (q3u5l)

211 The wife enthusiastically seconds "The Big Chicken Barn."

Posted by: Taro Tsujimoto at October 25, 2026 10:47 AM (5YmYl)

212 dunno if it's been mentioned, but Sarah Hoyt is plugging a book about Theda Bara over at Insty ...

Posted by: sock_rat_eez at October 25, 2026 10:47 AM (VyBeY)

213 . . . Apparently Faulkner was quite upset to be second fiddle to a science fiction and horror writer. Faulkner indignantly wrote to the editors of the magazine, proclaiming that he was the father of the French literary movement and the most important American writer in Europe."

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at October 25, 2026
*
Good idea: try to win an argument by saying "I'm important in France!" I'm sure that will carry a lot of weight to an American...
Posted by: Castle Guy at October 25, 2026

***
WF's "An Error in Chemistry" is not a *bad* mystery story. It's also the best in his short series about Gavin Knight, a lawyer who chases down mysteries in Faulkner's unpronounceable mythical county in MS. Faulkner was not a fan of the clever twist, or didn't come up with any for most of the GK stories. Maybe he thought such trickery beneath him.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at October 25, 2026 10:48 AM (wzUl9)

214 I think I'll go read some Thomas Sowell and get the Kamala taste out of my head.
Posted by: JTB at October 25, 2026 10:25 AM (yTvNw)

One could make a very dirty joke about that. But I won't. Not today anyway....

Posted by: OrangeEnt at October 25, 2026 10:48 AM (1Ff7Z)

215 I believe it was Faulkner who quit a postmaster's job because he said he didn't want to be at the beck and call of any idiot with money for a stamp.

Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing (aka Eloquent Depression) at October 25, 2026 10:49 AM (qRla/)

216 I wonder how anyone can try, with a straight face, to tell voters "put some cotton in years, close your eyes and pretend as hard as you can that the Senate is some kind of lofty, high-minded institution instead of a parliament of whores."

I kind of doubt that this lie was ever something a significant number of Americans believed, but if it ever was, the level of corruption and its media exposure long ago made that impossible.

Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at October 25, 2026 10:49 AM (BI5O2)

217 205 202 If someone (i.e. me) were to go back through this thread and compile a plain text list of bookshops, does someone else know how to convert it to a Google Map list?
Posted by: Oddbob at October 25, 2026 10:40 AM (vTZFs)
---

And then convert that map to Middle Earth style, like it's a quest.
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at October 25, 2026 10:43 AM (kpS4V)

Geocache: find a select title with a signed book marker for proofs!

Posted by: 13times at October 25, 2026 10:50 AM (fnZRl)

218 The Faulkner-is-peeved bit is kinda funny. I've never been able to read Faulkner, and I figure that's on me as a number of writers I like have always spoken highly of him, and I know zip about his career. But I do wonder, if he was so important at the time, why he was worried about the EQMM award.

If memory serves, in some other magazine contest (I forget which), Theodore Sturgeon's "Bianca's Hands" beat a story by Graham Greene for first place.
Posted by: Just Some Guy at October 25, 2026

***
If it was a genre magazine like Fantasy & Science Fiction, it was probably because Sturgeon understood the genre conventions better than Greene did. When a "literary" author tries his hand at genre, it rarely works well. Faulkner (who bores me too) didn't understand mystery, and Greene may not have "gotten" fantasy or SF.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at October 25, 2026 10:50 AM (wzUl9)

219 Lloyd: John C. Wright rewrote the Star Wars sequels as a series of joke blog posts, and the response was so successful he turned them into a series of novels which apparently are pretty good.

Posted by: Trimegistus at October 25, 2026 10:51 AM (78a2H)

220 But I do wonder, if he was so important at the time, why he was worried about the EQMM award.

-----

Most artists are incredibly petty and vain.

Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at October 25, 2026 10:52 AM (BI5O2)

221 Think the contest Sturgeon won was from one of the slicks and not a genre magazine. I'll have to look it up to be sure, though. Somehow I don't see Greene submitting in the genre markets, but who knows.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at October 25, 2026 10:52 AM (q3u5l)

222 The last time I was there, they had almost the entire run of Tom Swift Jr books for sale. I was tempted to buy them, but the stories are repetitive and not so enjoyable when you're an adult. I did get two 1910 "Tom Swift" books, though, which I find much more pleasant to read.
Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing (aka Eloquent Depression) at October 25, 2026 10:25 AM (qRla/)

I figured most of those type of books from the early 20th century are that way. Like Frank Reade, Jr. or the Rover Boys.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at October 25, 2026 10:53 AM (1Ff7Z)

223 Qwant's Flash Answer says "Bianca's Hands" was published in a 1947 issue of Argosy, the UK edition, and won their prize.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at October 25, 2026 10:54 AM (wzUl9)

224 If a quick google search is to be believed, Sturgeon's "Bianca's Hands" beat Greene's "The Second Death" in a contest hosted by the British edition of Argosy magazine in 1947.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at October 25, 2026 10:55 AM (q3u5l)

225 If I were a famous writer who missed out on some minor, or even major award, I'd take a look around at my wealth, prestige and popularity, shrug, and say "oh well, nothing succeeds like success. Let him have his little trophy."

Faulkner apparently lacked a sense of perspective.

Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at October 25, 2026 10:56 AM (BI5O2)

226 I once heard a recorded spell for a carnival sideshow attraction that had "the bawdy of an ugly snike, bot the haid of a byootiful gorl".

That sentence is going to play hell with my autocorrect suggestions.

Posted by: Toad-0 at October 25, 2026 10:58 AM (rBcbZ)

227 the pace is deadly, at least for me. A very casually told story.
the book is "A Long Line of Dead Men" by Lawrence Block, with his Mathtew Scudder character.

Posted by: naturalfake at October 25, 2026 10:20 AM (YSUhf)

I think you're not wrong. I prefer the Matthew Scudder series on audio, because I feel like I'm just listening in on a conversation, and I enjoy it that way. If I read these in print, I might feel the same way, but I love them on audio.
Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! at October 25, 2026 10:42 AM (CjHsb)

That's a great idea.

Block's really mastered the art of telling a story like an amiable friend or acquaintance might.

If I "read" another, I'll give the audiobook a try.

Posted by: naturalfake at October 25, 2026 10:59 AM (YSUhf)

228 Dunno.

They didn't mention it, and honestly probably wouldn't be all that disturbed by it.

Posted by: naturalfake at October 25, 2026 10:38 AM (YSUhf)

A comment or two above mine said lots of F words. Nah, won't get any for my teen. Pass.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at October 25, 2026 11:00 AM (1Ff7Z)

229 Stallone is similar. He's written for, acted in, and directed a staggering number of movies ranging from awful to amazing. He's as rich as Croesus. He remains after all these years, one of the most famous and recognizable faces in the world.

And yet, he's also famous for the massive chip on his shoulder about his lack of industry awards.

There's a whole lot of ego tied up in these baubles for certain people.

Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at October 25, 2026 11:01 AM (BI5O2)

230 If I were a famous writer who missed out on some minor, or even major award, I'd take a look around at my wealth, prestige and popularity, shrug, and say "oh well, nothing succeeds like success. Let him have his little trophy."

Faulkner apparently lacked a sense of perspective.
Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at October 25, 2026

***
Was Faulkner that well thought of in America in '47, though? I suppose his books were literary darlings, as they continue to be, but was he all that famous to most readers? He'd worked in Hollywood for money, and he got the Nobel Prize in '49, but two years before was he well recognized?

Wiki sez, "By the time of The Portable Faulkner's publication in 1946, most of his novels had been out of print." Sounds like his major recognition was still to come.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at October 25, 2026 11:01 AM (wzUl9)

231 Huzzah to Curious Books! Got some great pulp novels there, including one with the greatest cover ever, Jack Williamson's "The Green Girl".

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes

https://tinyurl.com/ypmtfn23

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Where's My Cookie? at October 25, 2026 11:02 AM (ndZc7)

232 I once heard a recorded spell for a carnival sideshow attraction that had "the bawdy of an ugly snike, bot the haid of a byootiful gorl".

That sentence is going to play hell with my autocorrect suggestions.

Posted by: Toad-0 at October 25, 2026 10:58 AM (rBcbZ)

It's like listening to a joke story from a couple of drunk Scotsmen.

Posted by: Dr. Pork Chops & Bacons at October 25, 2026 11:03 AM (g8Ew8)

233 Haven't bought it yet, but this thread is pretty much making it a guaranteed purchase.
Posted by: Castle Guy at October 25, 2026 10:41 AM (3v7ra)

I think I've read a couple of his short stories through Deej at RacPress. They were ok. Maybe I'm just not a good judge of "great" writing? Too low-brow, I guess. Like the crap I do.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at October 25, 2026 11:03 AM (1Ff7Z)

234 Huzzah to Curious Books! Got some great pulp novels there, including one with the greatest cover ever, Jack Williamson's "The Green Girl".

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes

https://tinyurl.com/ypmtfn23
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Where's My Cookie? at October 25, 2026 11:02 AM (ndZc7)

Alternate title:

"The Return of the Rape Rose"

Posted by: naturalfake at October 25, 2026 11:05 AM (YSUhf)

235 MiniMoMes are more-or-less events of convenience rather than planning and expedition like The MoMe. But in the worst case, hey, you're at a book store.
Posted by: Oddbob at October 25, 2026 10:44 AM (vTZFs)

Alone? In a book store with low prices? Dangerous ground I'd be treading there.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at October 25, 2026 11:05 AM (1Ff7Z)

236 Excusez-moist. Faulkner's lawyer-detective is Gavin *Stevens*, not Gavin Knight. The title of the short story collection is Knight's Gambit, which is why I thought of the wrong surname.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at October 25, 2026 11:06 AM (wzUl9)

237 "There's a whole lot of ego tied up in these baubles for certain people."

Apparently. Maybe something along the lines of: "Okay, the audience likes what I do, but pleasing the audience is what I'm supposed to do at a bare minimum. How about some recognition from my colleagues in the business? What am I, chopped liver?"

Posted by: Just Some Guy at October 25, 2026 11:06 AM (q3u5l)

238 Stallone is similar. He's written for, acted in, and directed a staggering number of movies ranging from awful to amazing. He's as rich as Croesus. He remains after all these years, one of the most famous and recognizable faces in the world.

-
Sylvester Stallone Fires Back at Nepotism Critics Over Daughter’s “Tulsa King” Role: “Of Course It’s Nepotism, You Idiot”

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Where's My Cookie? at October 25, 2026 11:07 AM (ndZc7)

239 Unexpected twist: the leering rose creature with the lolling tongue is actually saving the girl.

"The Green Girl" was a pretty good lost world story.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at October 25, 2026 11:08 AM (kpS4V)

240 Faulkner apparently lacked a sense of perspective.
Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice
________

Liar and bit of an egoist, but still one of, if not the best, American writer of the 20th century.

Posted by: Biff Pocoroba at October 25, 2026 11:09 AM (JzUSu)

241 OK, folks, I need to wash up and settle down for some afternoon reading.

Thanks to all of you who've bought my book. It means a lot to me. Hope you all have a wonderful day.

Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing (aka Eloquent Depression) at October 25, 2026 11:09 AM (qRla/)

242 Finished Michener's Tales of the South Pacific and Vergil's Georgics. Picked up Hackett's Essential Federalist and Anti-Federalist Papers again.

I'd never read Michener before. This was so good! It was nice to read a War World II novel that was patriotic and heroic. I had a childhood friend whose dad was a SeeBee, so I especially enjoyed that angle.

I've been meaning to read the Georgics since I read Book I & IV in a Latin post-baccalaureate, almost twenty years ago. This time around it was Dryden. I enjoyed it, but Vergil is better. In Latin the Orpheus story just tore my heart out.

Posted by: frammish at October 25, 2026 11:10 AM (rcENI)

243 There's a whole lot of ego tied up in these baubles for certain people.
Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at October 25, 2026 11:01 AM (BI5O2)

I think it was Sarah Hoyt who suggested that the way publishing and awards were going at the time, the thing is to stop striving for industry awards and focus on the "Franklin" awards; you earned Benjamins like the industry award winner and that award comes from the people who buy your books.

Posted by: Kindltot at October 25, 2026 11:10 AM (rbvCR)

244
Many thanks. Sarah's always been good to me. Hope is translates into sales!
Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing (aka Eloquent Depression) at October 25, 2026 09:18 AM (qRla/)

_________

Anyone pronounce your last name as "Disgrazia"?

Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at October 25, 2026 11:10 AM (eRlcH)

245 Never got into Michener, but did read his "The Bridges at Toko-Ri" and that was pretty good. The movie adaptation with William Holden ain't too dusty either.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at October 25, 2026 11:13 AM (q3u5l)

246 How about some recognition from my colleagues in the business? What am I, chopped liver?"

I don't get it.

Posted by: Tom "Digger" Cruise at October 25, 2026 11:14 AM (vTZFs)

247 Sounds like his major recognition was still to come.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at October 25, 2026 11:01 AM (wzUl9)

In that case, I know exactly how I'd react. I was up for an award at my company recently. I was frankly expecting it. I'd earned it. I was surprised when it went to a brand new hire with less than a year in, who'd accomplished little. But her father was a big wheel at the firm. That's life. I congratulated her and moved on with my life within minutes.

*shrugs*

None of that stuff matters much.

Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at October 25, 2026 11:14 AM (BI5O2)

248 It's like listening to a joke story from a couple of drunk Scotsmen.
Posted by: Dr. Pork Chops & Bacons at October 25, 2026 11:03 AM (g8Ew

It reminds me of the dialect humor of the Petroleum V. Nasby narratives by David Ross Locke, or the few Uncle Remus stories I have read.
They both are well recommended, but the dialect spelling drives me up the wall.

Posted by: Kindltot at October 25, 2026 11:16 AM (rbvCR)

249 MA is an odd place where even a lot of the rural areas are leftist (though not all).

What town was the bookstore in?

Posted by: 18-1 at October 25, 2026 11:16 AM (sKqQm)

250 Speaking again of odd accents, I just bailed on the audiobook "Scion of Death", by Rachel Lawson. The author chose to narrate her own book, but her heavy accent and delivery made it virtually incomprehensible. Two chapters in I had no idea what it was about.

Posted by: Toad-0 at October 25, 2026 11:17 AM (rBcbZ)

251 Isn't "drunk Scotsmen" repetitious?

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Where's My Cookie? at October 25, 2026 11:19 AM (ndZc7)

252 Lindsey Graham was gay?

Posted by: I am the Shadout Mapes, the Housekeeper at October 25, 2026 11:19 AM (1xgjY)

253 NZ accent meets hearing impairent. LOL
Posted by: Dash my lace wigs!
=====

We don't have closed captions IRL.

Posted by: mustbequantum at October 25, 2026 11:20 AM (qGmRV)

254 I finished A Moveable Feast and it was meh. And MP4, Ten Thousand Midnights is next up. Still working through Pride and Prejudice and still a little surprised at how much I like it.

Posted by: Who Knew at October 25, 2026 11:23 AM (+ViXu)

255 In the 1920s Faulkner lived in a apartment on, or in, Pirate's Alley next to the St. Louis Cathedral. As a kid I walked past it innumerable times. It was not until 1990 that someone bought it and turned it into Faulkner House Books.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at October 25, 2026 11:24 AM (wzUl9)

256 Still working through Pride and Prejudice

-
I see there's a Pride and Prejudice and Zombies movie now.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=syjfmdvLu9c

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Where's My Cookie? at October 25, 2026 11:28 AM (ndZc7)

257 In WNC, there is Books For Good, in Fletcher, just south of Asheville.

Also, the Hendersonville library, a bit farther south, has a used bookstore that's very nice.

Posted by: I am the Shadout Mapes, the Housekeeper at October 25, 2026 11:28 AM (1xgjY)

258 bought what i thought was a new penguin modern classic on amazon and nowhere did it say print on demand but it was POD. so sick of amazon not disclosing that huge detail. horrible practice for everyone involved.

Posted by: nckate at October 25, 2026 11:29 AM (enNUy)

259
All the mentions of used book stores remind me of a short story by Russell Kirk "What Shadows We Pursue". One of his ghostly tales it concerns a used book dealer who has purchased the library of a Dr. Corr. It comprises some eleven thousand volumes; the result of obsessive collecting. Dr. Corr is no longer around and his family (which took a distinctly secondary place in his regard to his books) is anxious to dispose of the volumes overwhelming their house. Kirk had worked for a time as a used book dealer and writes as someone who experienced the sheer physical labor that was involved in handling such a mass of books. It is an eerie tale with an ending that will give the reader a grue.

The story can be found the collection of Kirk's short stories "Ancestral Shadows" 2004.

Posted by: John F. MacMichael at October 25, 2026 11:30 AM (/GVA9)

260 Driftless Books and Music in Viroqua WI is a big old tobacco barn stuffed floor to ceiling with books and a great place to wander around in. There are a couple of smaller wine and books shops that opened in the last couple of years around northeast Wisconsin, Pages and Ours in DePere and Knuth Book Cellar in Ripon that are great places to stop in a Saturday afternoon. I found books to add to the TBR pile in both of them.

Posted by: Who Knew at October 25, 2026 11:31 AM (+ViXu)

261 Michener's Tales of the South Pacific

-
This book and Enemy at the Gates are two books that Hollywood used very small pieces of to make movies so named from.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Where's My Cookie? at October 25, 2026 11:35 AM (ndZc7)

262 Sheboygan Wisconsin also has Inklings. It's a smaller store but I've found quite a few good books there. There's nothing I like more than good used book or record.CD store. They are the bane of my attempts at budgeting.

Posted by: Who Knew at October 25, 2026 11:35 AM (+ViXu)

263 Reread 'Uller Uprising,' and once again how Piper enriched the world of science fiction.

Then there are Falkenberg's Rifles which became Pournelle's Falkenberg's Legion.

A more tenuous connection is an officer of the Uller Chartered Company name Reteif. Did Keith Laumer borrow the name?

Posted by: Anna Puma at October 25, 2026 11:35 AM (yhskY)

264 All the mentions of used book stores remind me of a short story by Russell Kirk "What Shadows We Pursue". One of his ghostly tales it concerns a used book dealer who has purchased the library of a Dr. Corr. It comprises some eleven thousand volumes; the result of obsessive collecting. Dr. Corr is no longer around and his family (which took a distinctly secondary place in his regard to his books) is anxious to dispose of the volumes overwhelming their house. Kirk had worked for a time as a used book dealer and writes as someone who experienced the sheer physical labor that was involved in handling such a mass of books. It is an eerie tale with an ending that will give the reader a grue.

The story can be found the collection of Kirk's short stories "Ancestral Shadows" 2004.

Posted by: John F. MacMichael at October 25, 2026

***
Also in his The Surly Sullen Bell, a collection from around 1964. That one has "Sorworth Place," a short about a soldier of fortune defending a young widow from her husband's ghost. If it sounds familiar, it's because it was done on Night Gallery w/ Richard Kiley in the lead.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at October 25, 2026 11:37 AM (wzUl9)

265 Does anyone else regularly visit the Rabbit Room Press site? The books they offer often have a Christian connection like George MacDonald, CS Lewis, Wendell Berry, and Malcolm Guite. They were the first publisher to offer Allen Levi's "Theo of Golden" before Amazon or B and N. (It think Theo of Golden is one of the best novels in the last fifty years. I hope Levi does a follow up novel.) They publish the Wingfeather series for young readers. They even offer graphic novels of some children's stories from George MacDonald to help kids learning to read.

For the 'serious' works they publish, like the Malcolm Guite Arthuriad, the hardcover editions are beautifully bound with gorgeous illustrations. I regard them as heirloom quality.

Posted by: JTB at October 25, 2026 11:39 AM (yTvNw)

266 I've read some of Kirk's short fiction, but somehow missed "What Shadows We Pursue." Will have to give that one a look. (Pretty sure there's a copy of Ancestral Shadows kicking around here somewhere in the TBR pile)

Posted by: Just Some Guy at October 25, 2026 11:40 AM (q3u5l)

267 I asked ChatGPT to reconstruct Orwell's 'Moon':
“The Moon Under Water” GEORGE ORWELL Saturday, February 9, 1946

My favourite public house, the Moon Under Water, is only two minutes from a bus stop, but it is on a side-street, and drunks and rowdies never seem to find their way there, even on Saturday nights. Its clientele, though fairly large, consists mostly of “regulars” who occupy the same chair every evening and go there for conversation as much as for the beer.
If you are asked why you favour a particular public-house, it would seem natural to put the beer first, but the thing that most appeals to me about the Moon Under Water is what people call its “atmosphere.”
To begin with, its whole architecture and fittings are uncompromisingly Victorian. It has no glass-topped tables or other modern miseries, and, on the other hand, no sham roof-beams, ingle-nooks or plastic panels masquerading as oak. The grained woodwork, the ornamental mirrors behind the bar, the cast-iron fireplaces, the florid ceiling stained dark yellow by tobacco-smoke, the stuffed bull’s head over the mantelpiece – everything has the solid, comfortable ugliness of the nineteenth century. (there's more, but …

Posted by: Dr_No at October 25, 2026 11:40 AM (ayRl+)

268 I read Russell Kirk's The Surly Sullen Bell when I was about eleven and didn't like the tales as much as I did the ones from the Alfred Hitchcock collections. Re-reading them as an adult, I get the sense of gloom and horror, the "unabashedly Gothick" (as Kirk spells it) flavor of them.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at October 25, 2026 11:40 AM (wzUl9)

269 McKay's
7734 Lee Hwy,
Chattanooga, TN

I have wondered in this place more than once back in the day.
Might have picked up a CD there.

Posted by: Biblion Scolakes at October 25, 2026 11:41 AM (d1f3k)

270 The downtown waterfront of Manteo, NC was the epitome of a quaint small town. A couple great resturants. Old cottages. Off the summer rush of the Outer Banks. There was also Manteo Booksellers. If Orwell dreamed up the perfect pub, Manteo Booksellers was the ideal bookstore come to life. Sadly, Huricane Irene pushed 10 feet of water into the waterfront, and Manteo Booksellers was no more.

Posted by: Ex Rex Reeder at October 25, 2026 11:46 AM (QaH55)

271 Begins to look like I have some chores to do around here. I don't *want* to do them, but look what can happen when you let the side down and chaos slides in. A tip of the chapeau and congratulations on his well-deserved and stellar review to MP4, and a happy reading week to everyone!

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at October 25, 2026 11:46 AM (wzUl9)

272
Fine job today, MP4.

Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at October 25, 2026 11:47 AM (eRlcH)

273 252 Lindsey Graham was gay?
Posted by: I am the Shadout Mapes, the Housekeeper

He was a 33 deg free mason.
They say, in the initiation ritual, one is passed thru the uterus of a cow, naked, with a ribbon tied around his nut sack, to symbolize castration. In Lindsey's case, I'm a betting man that says he opted for the full chop!

Posted by: Inquiring Mind at October 25, 2026 11:49 AM (d1f3k)

274 For some reason, today's thread has just brought to mind Henry James' short story "The Great Good Place." I barely remember it, but guess it needs a revisit.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at October 25, 2026 11:50 AM (q3u5l)

275 For me, the perfect one was the late Avenue Victor Hugo Books in Lee, New Hampshire. A converted barn with narrow aisles, tomes in every conceivable category tightly-shelved and overflowing, bundles of old sheet music and magazines, classical music at just the right volume, chairs to settle into while leafing through a possible purchase and an owner who loves books and has a story about every one you bring to the counter. And no posters, flyers or handwritten screeds damning everyone to the right of Pol Pot!

But, sadly, AVHB is now only an online business.

I miss the AVH and its resident cat.

There's supposed to be a good bookstore in Henniker, NH, west of Concord. The Old Number Six Book Depot, iirc. It's pn my to do list next time I'm in that neck of the woods.

Posted by: RedMindBlueState at October 25, 2026 11:50 AM (DyLV2)

276 There's supposed to be a good bookstore in Henniker, NH, west of Concord. The Old Number Six Book Depot, iirc. It's pn my to do list next time I'm in that neck of the woods.
Posted by: RedMindBlueState

Ditto!

Posted by: Book worm at October 25, 2026 11:54 AM (d1f3k)

277 My mother was into Michner, so I read a.couple of his in early high school years. Saipan?? One or two others. Doorstoppers, but good reads.

Posted by: From about That Time at October 25, 2026 11:55 AM (sl73Y)

278 I finished Snowcrash by Neil Stephenson. Imagine, if you would, Ron Goulart writing gritty grim-dark science fiction. That is Stephenson's cyberpunk.

Snowcrash touches on the problem of technology subverting central authority by making the traditional prerogatives of the state available to the individual, with the countering discussion on how this turns out on the street level with differing concepts of governance playing out on the neighborhood scale, and the needs for "intergroup diplomacy". (they shoot each other a lot to make each other stop shooting)
It also touches on how modes of thought are infectious, and can be used as a form of control, and posits a VR internet world underlaying the real world.
It also violates Chekov's gun in that elements at the beginning of the story -- for one a biometrically linked nuke -- are ignored at the end of the story.

It is still a silly story.

Posted by: Kindltot at October 25, 2026 11:56 AM (rbvCR)

279 Diana Pool brings up the Book Barn in Connecticut. Definitely a great used book shop. I believe that is the store I was in that had the Politics and True Crime sections next to each other with a note on the signs that they were pretty much the same thing.

Posted by: Who Knew at October 25, 2026 11:56 AM (+ViXu)

280 I am in a bad way. I have two unfinished books here. Dante's Divine Comedy. I made it through Inferno okay. Lots of backguards and murderers getting their just desserts.

I got stuck in Purgatorio. Pride. Pride of accomplishment and Pride of ancestry. I will resume soon, but not today.

I also bought the Scott Hahn "Ignatius Catholic Study Bible." It is really quite impressive. Reading the footnotes is mandatory. I am in Exodus 16. I just don't care about the ancient Israelites.

Pray for me. Perhaps I kill off too many gray cells and I cannot sit a read anymore.

Or, I need to spend some $$$ and buy books that I have never read? Yes! That might work. I am somewhat of a stickler about classics. Why read crap when there is a classic to be read?

Posted by: no one of any consequence at October 25, 2026 11:57 AM (LOvBA)

281 Oh, that reminds me. I have Moby Dick to finish too.

Posted by: no one of any consequence at October 25, 2026 11:58 AM (LOvBA)

282 Thanks for the Book Thread, MP4, and congratulations on the Insty/Sarah endorsement.

Posted by: Nazdar at October 25, 2026 11:59 AM (NcvvS)

283 Thanks for a fine book thread!

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at October 25, 2026 11:59 AM (kpS4V)

284 Time to see about throwing monkey wrenches into the works here at Casa Some Guy.

MP4, thanks for the thread and congrats again on the new Theda Bara.

Have a good one, gang.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at October 25, 2026 11:59 AM (q3u5l)

285 @281 MD is my all time fav!

Posted by: Book worm at October 25, 2026 12:00 PM (d1f3k)

286 Good morning Hordemates!
And Thanxs for the book thread!

Posted by: Diogenes at October 25, 2026 12:00 PM (2WIwB)

287 Nood, too.

Posted by: Nazdar at October 25, 2026 12:00 PM (NcvvS)

288 WE HAZ A NOOD

Posted by: Skip at October 25, 2026 12:01 PM (Ia/+0)

289 And before I forget, The Bookstore in Appleton is not bad.. I avoided it for years because I thought it was just a romance novel exchange shop, but when they moved downtown, I checked them out and the selection was very good.

Posted by: Who Knew at October 25, 2026 12:03 PM (+ViXu)

290 The story thus far: A small group of industrialists sponsor a mastermind's plan to bring down Britain through means not yet specified. Former British officer Hugh "Bulldog" Drummond, bored with peacetime, advertises for employment that must be adventurous. He takes an assignment from a young woman whose father is under the thumb of a master criminal whom she suspects is behind sensational homicides. Much adventure awaits, I hope.
Posted by: Weak Geek at October 25, 2026 09:19 AM (BIvcv)

I have a Bulldog Drummond book, might have been my father's. Ripping good yarns, they are. Got made into movies back in the day, too.

Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at October 25, 2026 12:03 PM (1z+WB)

291 Vince Flynn?

A good friend and neighbor met him at a bookshow. My friend was a former Green Beret Special Forces officer. My friend gave Vince his card and Vince says "Oh, you're one of the real guys."

I loved his book. The film left a lot of important stuff out.

Posted by: no one of any consequence at October 25, 2026 12:03 PM (LOvBA)

292 Nood.

Posted by: I am the Shadout Mapes, the Housekeeper at October 25, 2026 12:04 PM (1xgjY)

Processing 0.05, elapsed 0.0556 seconds.
14 queries taking 0.0132 seconds, 300 records returned.
Page size 188 kb.
Powered by Minx 0.8 beta.