Book Hauls!

@Victoria Silverwolf Andy Capp! As in the English cartoon by Reg Smythe based in Hartlepool northeast England? In Chattanooga?
I have seen references on both The Simpsons and Family Guy so he's obviously not unknown over the pond, but I'm interested to know how well the humour travels.
 
@Victoria Silverwolf Andy Capp! As in the English cartoon by Reg Smythe based in Hartlepool northeast England? In Chattanooga?
I have seen references on both The Simpsons and Family Guy so he's obviously not unknown over the pond, but I'm interested to know how well the humour travels.

Andy Capp used to be fairly popular over here in the States, and might still be as far as I know. I suppose we Yanks thought the British flavor of it -- the pub, the vicar, etc. -- added to its appeal.

I don't know if they exist over there, but over here there are Andy Capp brand snack foods -- french fry shaped things that are called "Pub Fries." They also exist in other flavors; the spicy ones are "Hot Fries" and so on. So, Andy Capp is pretty well known over here.
 
We went to McKay's, a store that buys and sells used books, to drop off a big pile of books from the bookstore whose inventory we bought a while back (long story), and in the free bin we found a copy of the Greg Bear novel The Forge of God. I understand it has a sequel, so I'll have to see if the first one is good before considering the second one.
 
We went to McKay's, a store that buys and sells used books, to drop off a big pile of books from the bookstore whose inventory we bought a while back (long story), and in the free bin we found a copy of the Greg Bear novel The Forge of God. I understand it has a sequel, so I'll have to see if the first one is good before considering the second one.

Is that Edward McKay? As far as the Bear, I enjoyed both overall but beware that they're very different so you may not like the sequel even if you did like the first or might like it if you didn't. (The first is an Earth-based apocalyptic novel and the second is a sort of military space opera with very different sets of characters.)
 
Sounds like the first one is more to my taste. Thanks for the information.

I didn't know the name Edward McKay, or anything about the history of McKay's bookstores, until you asked me, but it appears that you are correct.

McKays | Tennessee & North Carolina | McKay Used Books & CDs

This idea came to fruition when a used bookstore called "Edward McKay" opened in North Carolina.
 
Yeah, I thought it likely was. While there are still a couple of used bookstores left, my quality of life has diminished considerably since Raleigh's McKay's shut down. I thought you might have gone to one of the western NC stores because I didn't even know there were any in Tennessee or that North Carolina's had been bought by them. That may explain why a busy, seemingly successful store would inexplicably shut down overnight. Seems like there was one in Fayetteville, too, but, if so, I guess that got shut down, too. Too far east? Anyway, enjoy yours!
 
Yesterday a review copy of Sudden Heaven, a definitive edition of Ruth Pitter's poems, and today an anthology about childhood edited by Walter de la Mare, Early One Morning.

Sudden Heaven - The Kent State University Press

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My edition of the de la Mare doesn't have a dustjacket. Kirkus said:

A mosaic of periods of childhood, surveyed from the far reaches of adult life. There is an explanatory chapter, developing his theme, then every aspect of childhood is presented, in miniature, illustrated by apt quotations from the classics and from English literature, particularly of the 19th century. It is a richly suggestive book, and child psychologists will find it absorbing. No attempt to develop a thesis -- simply to present a pattern. Children's own writings -- Elizabeth Barrett, Lewis Carroll, Rosetti, Southey, Browning and others -- as well as extracts from adult writing.
 
I bought a hardcover of Neal Asher's "The Technician".

I thought it was good enough to warrant getting a physical copy for my library. I might also get The Soldier and the Transformation trilogy too.
 
Picked up a second hand copy of Graham Greene's Travels with my Aunt.
Ages since I read any Greene. Going in the suitcase as part of my holiday reading,
 
Recent acquisitions include de la Mare's famous anthology Come Hither, Raverat's Period Piece, and (as mentioned elsewhere) Shippey's Laughing Shall I Die: Lives and Deaths of the Great Vikings, about the sagas etc.

Looking forward to Raverat's book --

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00272W0Q6/?tag=id2100-20

A correspondent of mine used to buy copies of this to give away (though not to me!).

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220px-1st_edition_hardback_book_cover_of_Period_Piece.jpg
 
I recently obtained a couple of interesting old books from the interweb:

The Fortress, the third in Hugh Walpole's 'Herries Chronicle' - another green leather-bound first edition from 1932 - and also a lovely old copy of Farthing Hall, by Walpole and J. B. Priestley (1940 edition).
 
We just got back from a trip to Knoxville, Tennessee for a not entirely pleasant reason; we had to take a cat with a chronic illness to the veterinarian hospital there (three hour drive each way.) He won't be back home until tomorrow. While there for one night, we tried to enjoy ourselves to some degree. One stop was at a used book store. I got some SF paperbacks.

Two by authors I like:

The Gamesman by Barry N. Malzberg (1975)

The Dancers of Noyo by Margaret St. Clair (1973)

Two by names unknown to me:

Death by Dreaming by Jon Manchip White (1981)

A Fond Farewell to Dying by Syd Logsdon (1981)
 
I bought a signed copy of Neal Asher’s “The Soldier: Rise Of The Jain” from Forbidden Planet.
 

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