Time To Say Good-Bye

Poor Barbara ! She hears the same thing from me in many different ways that it must get boring for her, but she generally agrees with my diagnoses. The guiding principle of our business life is to make as few stupid business decisions as humanely possible, and we've pretty much got that down pat. This principle also argues that if a genre, or author, is no longer worthwhile, we delete it from our inventory; if an approach does not work, we abandon it. For example, when we first moved here, we contracted for a years' advertising in the RJ. That was a stupid business decision, and we've not repeated it.

I HATE ISBNs

Mostly because of the ignorant Billy & Betty Blackberrys I have to reach around to get the expensive books that they have passed over while scanning the ISBNs of the crap that they buy to sell for fifty percent more than they paid for it. However, this ISBN leads you to some of the best autobiographical writing I've read in the last 30 years:  0-7434-1065-3.

Books of Worth In All Genres

Yes, that's our motto here at Greyhound's Books, and we have a ball seeking  out books that are interesting and scarce for our stock. We do this every day. Our customers, and our colleagues seem to enjoy some of the books we buy: the customers spend money; our colleagues keep egging us on to find more and better. Some books of interest, and of course, worth that we bought this week:

Twenty-Four Skidoo !

We have the largest selection of author-signed and -inscribed books in the Valley, and just celebrated a milestone: 2400 of them on our open shelves. We have to keep out-doing ourselves, and this past weekend we added some more in a variety of genres. Take a look:

Westeners International, Redux

Like many other organizations, WI has a list of the top 100 books in their field. Here 'tis:
WI Top 100.  Enjoy !

We're All Westeners, But...

The major joy of owning a bookstore is the constant knowledge acquisition that comes with buying, pricing, and stocking interesting books. This week's knowledge came from the books published by the Denver Corral of the Westeners International organization. Who are they?  From the WI website:

My Ungrateful Friends and Colleagues

Not content to know what the largest book in the world is, they now want to know the smallest ! Next they're going to want the median book, and the mode book. Anyway, here 'tis: Small Fry

Las Vegas Bookmans Guild November Meeting

Will be held at:
Strings Italian Cafe
2222 East Tropicana Avenue  Las Vegas, NV 89119-6573

(702) 739-6400

 Wednesday, 9 November, 6:30 meet-&-greet, order 7:00

TOPIC:  What I Bought For Stock This Month That is REALLY COOL  !

We've Recovered From Sunday !

Every year, our colleague, Myrna Donato - Amber Unicorn Books - and I do a show and sale at the Vegas Valley Book Festival's Feasting on Words day, the first Sunday in November. This year, our friend and local author Steve Grogan, author of Vegas Die, Captain Cooked, and a new I-book, was a featured author at the FoW show, and caught Myrna and me at our best ! Thanks, Steve.

By The Pound !

Our colleague and friend, Ann DeVere - Plaza Books - and her henchwench, Maryann, mentioned at the dinner table last night that a customer came in to her store with a collection of Elvis-iana, which all of us would cheerfully buy. Ann bought most of the books, but passed on the Elephant Folio - 24 x 32 x 3 inches - piece. The book was quite pricey, but the problems inherent in preserving the quality of the book in a store are almost insurmountable. Selling the book on-line, as Ann does, poses truly  insurmountable problems - the damn thing is so big and heavy, and consequently fragile, that it would almost have to be shipped by truck. Ah yes, the problems of bookstore ownership. Believe it or not, there is a bigger book - the largest in the world:

UNLV Registration for 2012 Now Open

The first of the Bookstore Series for 2012 is Bookstore 104 -It's A Mystery. This is a course similar to Bookstore 103, but it is a specialty class in collectible mystery authors and books, and requires, as usual, considerable outside work. Registration and details: It's A Mystery
Feel free to call me if you have any questions.

A Tip of the Hat to Carl Sagan

The next 2012 offering is:
BOOKSTORE 105 BILLIONS & TRILLIONS: THE YEARS OF SCIENCE FICTION

An advanced Bookman seminar on Speculative Fiction - Science Fiction, Fantasy, Horror - stock for a credible bookstore, either brick and mortar, or click and order. Prerequisite: Bookstore 101 and Bookstore 102, or instructor's permission. Considerable out-of-class work is required. Enrollment is limited.
Registration: Bookstore 105

Aggies, Miggies, & Bunny-in-the-Hole

Our friend and colleague, Pat McCarty, the premier book restorer, binder, and repairer in the Valley, did a class on making marbled paper for her apprentices yesterday. Thence the title of this article, all blasts from my past as a marble-shooting child in Boston. I was treated to seeing the variety of patterns Pat's students created, and regaled with the tales of the effort involved. Too much work for me, but a grand experience for them.

Bookstore 101 Started Last Night

And what a pleasure !  The first night we discuss the types of bookstores that the students would like to have. Art. Only.  Black Studies. Only. Bricks & Mortar stores - Yes. Internet sales - Yes. Where ? A resounding response: "Why, here in Las Vegas, of course."  Almost perfect business models for this town and this time.

If You Have A Dirty Mind...

Do you have a sense of humus ?  The non-misspent part of my youth involved reading all the jokes from Bennett Cerf's humor books, Reader's Digest page bottoms, and in particular the Boy Scouting magazine, Boy's Life, Think and Grin page. My sense of humor is still rather juvenile, but I never play practical jokes, just tell old ones. I must admit that the most hilarious, and most extremely raunchy, jokes were told by Buddy Hackett in his Live and Uncensored show in the Catskills -

Tits On A Stick

Every day as Barbara & I wend our way to work we see a billboard that is rather disgusting. It advertises a nightclub - not a (non)Gentlemen's Club - with the portrait of a young woman who appears to be completely drugged, with vacant eyes, a vacuous expression, open arms, extending her hand to anything - or nothing - that might be in her line of sight. Her appearance and costume inspired this article's title. Her name is not Elizabeth Gaskill, also known as Mrs. Gaskill.

Cat's Curiosities

Our friends and colleagues Vin & Amy - I prefer Amy & Vin -  have a retail operation that is unique in the Las Vegas Valley: Amy, who is the one with exquisite taste owns a vintage clothing business that's quartered in one of the collectible malls; Vin, who has an excellent eye for and knowledge of books, sells, strangely enough, books in the same mall. He also sells and buys books on the Internet. Here's one of his recent electronic exchanges with an II:

H.P. Kraus

The BookThinker copyrights their articles, which of course is the right thing to do, but they are kind enough to permit republishing of their articles, as long as they're credited. Here at Greyhound's Books, we always give credit where credit is due, and damn just as freely. Kudos again to The BookThinker !
H.P. Kraus

Borders Is Dead, and Rightly So

In both Bookstore 101 and 102, I stress the need to have a smart business model for  my students' putative bookselling operation. The CNN article below tells the sad tale, and points out why we didn't "make a run for the Border(s). CNN Borders  It's quite a cautionary tale.

Completely Useless Bookseller Alert !

On August 3rd, I ordered a book from Boardman Sales in Ohio. Today, after 10 e-mails to and from the Selling Site - in this case, Biblio - I received a refund, because, although the sale had been confirmed, and the book shown as sent, the book was "out-of-stock". It was a pricey book that I ordered at a quite advantageous price. This leads me to believe several things: 1) they never had the book; 2) they realized that it had been mispriced; 3) both.  Given all the aggravation, and the fact that Biblio has no mechanism to leave feedback on this type of (non) transaction, I feel compelled to let you all know that this dealer is unreliable, and certainly justifies the label on this post.

One of The Reasons Borders Failed

Again from Publishers Weekly,  an interesting article:  More Wonderful Employees

We Don't Have Employees

Many bookstore have part-time employees, some of which are unpaid apprentices - read "Book Groupies" - who want to learn the trade. Publishers Weekly links to blogs that sometimes have interesting articles. Here's one:  Employees From Hell !

From the Current Bookthinker

I like reading the BookThinker articles, because many of them reinforce my buying policies and philosophy. Thanks to The BookThinker for permitting the reprinting of their copyright material:
 
 An ad popped up on craigslist for a professor's library priced at $32,000. I don't always respond to craigslist ads that feature interesting books because many times you almost have to call before the ad appears - if you know what I mean. But a library priced at $32,000? Seemingly, this would put many other booksellers out of the running, so I called.

Our friend and colleague Maryann the writer has several interesting posts at her blog. Check them out, and maybe even subscribe at: Maryann's Blog

And, MORE NUMBERS !

Our colleague Ann DeVere, Plaza Books, although she has posting  rights on this blog, suggested that Bookfinder.coms Fall Report would be of interest to all, but particularly my former and future Bookstore Courses students:  Top 100

And, Since We're Talking About Numbers...

In the Harry Potter series of books, there are 4,169 pages. But, more significantly:

Vacation's Over - For Everybody !

Our colleagues from Amber Unicorn Books spent last week vacationing at the World Science Fiction Convention (WORLDCON) in Reno, where they found a dealer who had paperback copies of the Winston Juvenile Science Fiction Series. My mentor and master, Rick Cook - Attic Books, Laurel Maryland - was in town, again vacationing as were we, and Myrna & Lou told us about the paperback Winstons. My immediate thought, of course, was a blogicle, thus ending my vacation. We dumped Rick & Ellen at Southwest yesterday morning, and I hit the google, finding:

36 BATTLE ON MERCURY by Erik van Lhin pseudonym [Buy it!] [show this book only]

Del Rey Lester writing as Erik Van Lhin.

75.00

ABAA

L. W. Currey, Inc.

Philadelphia, Toronto: The John C. Winston Company,. [1953]. pictorial wrappers.. Shelf wear at edges, a good copy. (#132298). First edition. Part of the classic Winston science fiction series for young readers published between 1952 and 1961. Once thought to be an advance issue or uncorrected proof, this paperbound issue may have been prepared for use at U.S. Military base libraries or perhaps was a remainder issue. The book is made up of first edition sheets complete with the illustrated Schomburg end papers enclosed in stiff paper wrapper which has the dust jacket pasted to it. The jacket is a later printing with 29 titles listed on the rear panel instead of the 15 that were listed on the first printing jacket. Anatomy of Wonder (1995) 5-160. Philadelphia Toronto: The John C. Winston Company

Once again, Lloyd Currey strikes.  As did our colleague - and Rick's brother-in-law, John Knott:

Join Us ! Make A Post ! Build A Fence !

Follow the link below, and you'll join BOWAWB - that's this blog.  You'll be able to make posts and comments, and build a fence between you and what currently passes for reality. 
Join Up Now

A Tip From My Former Partner, Cynthia

My dear Cynthia, the Romance Queen of the East Coast, likes to keep Barbara & me  apprised of the latest developments outside of Las Vegas. She has a rather high opinion of my Bookstore Series of courses, and sent this:

Hey DEF,Looks like Bookstore 101, etc. has competition in FL.    8-)   CP:

Has anyone attended the 5-day Owning a Bookstore seminar presented by Paz & Associates? I am wondering if this would be worthwhile as I am still in the planning stage. Would like to hear about any thoughts or experiences. Here's a link to the seminar website: http://pazbookbiz.com/training-workshops/opening-a-bookstore-workshop/

 

Now, would someone explain to me what  #8, -, and ) mean ?

The Government Speaks - Again

Perhaps we have the final word, courtesy of PW,  from those wonderful people in Washington about Children's Books: Lead Heads & Kid's Books
Now go out and buy all those collectibles for stock.

A Student Sent This !

Very interesting, and she even sent it Snail Mail because she couldn't find our e-dress. Sort of like when air was clean...British Bookstore Bollicked  Thanks, Holly.

Hot Diggedy Dog !

Our friends and colleagues,  Michael and Andy de Cave des Cheveaux, have gotten their website up and running. Check it out:  Two Bears and A Dog
Michael's the one with the glasses. Or is it Andy ?

Ex-Library or Ex Libris ?

The IIs sell huge amounts of former library books, usually at 99 cents each, plus $ 3.99 shipping. There are a few ISs - Internet Scumbags - including several ABAA dealers I know personally that try to make their crap look better by labeling junk as ex libris, i.e. "from the library." Yes, I know, some incompetents use the phrase to denote that the book is from someone's library, but that's not usually the case. Ex-library is ex-library no matter if you speak English or Latin. If you can't afford a proper copy of a book, save your money until you can.

Paperback, Softbound, Chapbook, Chapter Book ?

We still speak English here at Greyhound's Books, but sometimes it's hard, especially with book-related or literary terminology. For your information, from my favorite, Wikipedia:

Good Words about "The Kinder Gentler Bookstore" and Another

 A colleague in Texas referred a friend to us - and The Others Across the Street, herein known as TOATS - and he stopped in yesterday. He's here for a convention, and made a post on a blog, to which our colleague sent us a link . Our thanks to him for the good words, and will surely welcome him back. Anytime. And, I even referred him to our friend and colleague, Ann Devere at Plaza Books. Read on:

I’ve never really thought of Las Vegas as a bookish town, but (a friend) tipped me off to two vintage bookstores that I visited today. I heartily endorse both of them, and strongly recommend that you visit both. Doing so is pretty easy, as they’re basically right across the street from each other.

Quill & Brush

Allen & Pat Ahearn have just published the fourth edition of their wonderful book on collecting. Please check out their website for more of their reference books - all equally splendid - but check this one out first: Quill & Brush  The article is from the latest issue of Fine Books & Collections.

And Another One...

My mom, when she was chewing me out and not just waiting behind the door with her cast iron frying pan, was the mistress of "And, another thing, Philip..." Well, here's another eminently credible dealer trying to sell a $ 1.00 book for
$ 40.00:

Book Description: Subterranean, 2002. Hard Cover. Book Condition: Very Good. Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good. First Ed. First Edition thus.Very good/Very good condition. This is a professionally restored library book with little evidence of its former status. Signed limited ed. #497/850. Signed by Author.

Hip, Hip Hooray !

Our colleague, Vin, who sells books both on-line and at Cat's Curiosities in the Charleston Antique Mall posted two comments on an article here, and our favorite wanderer, Explorer, posted one. All three actually made it to the blog ! So, that's evidently working.

Our friend and colleague, Ann DeVere, Plaza books sent an interesting link: Buyer Beware, or at least Careful

We tell folks there's a dumpster out back for customers who fall.

A Lesson Learned

No, I didn't learn a lesson, but you might try my kind, gentle approach when dealing with IIs. Follow the electron trail below:

My Recent Internet Experience

From time to time, I buy books on the internet. My purchase arrived, and it was so completely different from what I bought that I sent the following to the "dealer:"

This book was listed, and portrayed, as the signed, limited edition. It is a poor to good copy of the book club edition. Before I leave extremely negative feedback, or contest the sale, what would you like to do ? I do this ONLY as a courtesy to an amateur. I would recommend to you an immediate refund of what I paid, and if you want  this book returned, also credit return postage.
His reply:

It Always Amazes Me..

My Bookstore 103 students are getting to be right little Fascists about book condition. This is as it should be.My colleague Ann DeVere, Plaza Books contributed this from her Internet rooting about:

Decorative red cloth bind. rubbed at extremities; spine base, corners frayed; backstrip lightly sunned; sm. bump to fore-edge of back board; boards soiled; ffep missing; front hinge cracked; owner's stamps, pencilled name & quotations on paste-downs & eps; leaf edges foxed/soiled, else a nice, clean copy.;

 

Not to be outdone, I found this as I was rooting:

Burton, Michigan, U.S.A.: Subterranean, 2002. Ex-Library. Very Good. Hardcover. Signed by Author(s). Limited/Numbered. Excluding removed first blank page and library tape on the spine the book looks like new and unread. Cover in mylar. This is a #555 of 850 numbered and signed copies.

Beware the Internet Idiots.

We Speak Standard English Here.

For many years notable, and some not-so-notable, authors wrote historical novels. In general, the historical facts portrayed in these books was very accurate, so the general reader got some knowledge along with the enjoyment of reading a good yarn. My previous post inspired me to look at the other side of the coin, again from Wikipedia:
Nonfiction novel: a story of actual people and actual events told with the dramatic techniques of a novel. The American writer Truman Capote claimed to have invented this genre with his book In Cold Blood (1965). A true story of the brutal murder of a Kansas farm family, the book was based on six years of exacting research and interviews with neighbors and friends of the victims and the two captured murderers. The story is told from the points of view of different “characters,” and the author attempts not to intrude his own comments or distort fact. Critics pointed out earlier precedents for this type of journalistic novel, such as John Hersey’s Hiroshima (1946), an account of the World War II atomic bombing of the Japanese city told through the histories of six survivors. Norman Mailer’s The Executioner’s Song (1979) is another notable example of the genre.

Another Stump the Chump Winner !

Suzanne the Student did a presentation on John McPhee and mentioned to the rest of the class that his style is for the most part "Creative Non-Fiction." We all nodded wisely, and when we could, did a little research. Wikipedia is a fairly reliable source, and I quote from it:

Just an Observation. And a Question.

Michael Jackson and Elizabeth Taylor were friends but not married. Both are dead. Eddie Fisher was married to Elizabeth Taylor. Both are dead. We recently found a signed copy of Fisher's autobiography - it has a picture of Taylor & Fisher shot through the back window of a limo, probably on the way to their honeymoon.Thus endeth the observation. Now for the question:

Trees Died for this Crap !

An earlier post on this blog dealt with our colleague Ann DeVere's thoughts on Misery Lit. Publishers Weekly touted today a new low in Crap Books, and provoked this posting, and a whole new heading for the future: Crap Books !  The PW tout is: The Most Anticipated and Controversial Novel of the Year:  "Sixteen year old Zach..and kindergarten teacher Judy begin an affair that at first thrills, then corrupts each of them." Read an excerpt from this literary masterpiece:  Crap Books

Wow !

Last night's session of Bookstore 103 was absolutely dynamite ! My favorite student, Kim, told us about J.R.R. Tolkien and Frank Dixon. My other favorite student, Carla, told us about mysteries - Diana Mott Davidson and Dorothy L. Sayers. My other favorite student John discusses Robert E. Howard and Roger Zelazny. My blah, blah,  blah, Suzanne tackled Edward Abbey and John McPhee, much to our amusement. My blah, blah, blah, Holly, didn't join us. Our colleague and friend, Myrna Donato from Amber Unicorn Books sat in to enjoy my favorite students' presentations. In honor of Kim & John, check out the following from PW:
Kids
SF/F/H

Enjoy !

There are Signed Books, and Then There are SIGNED Books

New arrivals for our signed books section are always fun to price. We acquired three signed political pieces this morning, two of which are SIGNED, and one of which is signed. "Why the differentiation ?"  you ask. I reply: "Cause !

PW Strikes Again !

Every bookstore in the world is personality driven, including Borders and Narns & Baubles. Think about it. PW has 10 stores that are quite interesting:
10 of a Kind
You might want to subscribe to PW Daily so you can see what I don't think is worthwhile. Or not.

I Spel Cheked It Gud !

Bookseller Competencies is one of the key topics in Bookstore 102. We expect authors, editors, and publishers to demonstrate competence in their fields, as it can either add considerably or detract significantly to or from our reading, and opinions of authors. Publishers Weekly, in the current issue, had an interesting article from the New York Times on this topic, too: Oops !

Michael Jackson is Dead, but the Thriller is Still Alive !

We clump mystery, suspense, capers, and thrillers together on our mystery shelves. Others in the Valley segregate them. PW Daily has an interesting article on how the folks behind the words live: Thrillers

Park Your Carcass, Pick Your Carcossa

For the Science Fiction fans, Arkam House is a Holy Grail. So is Carcosa, but which one ? The text below is derived from the famous Wikipedia, the commentary and valuations are mine, and my thanks go to Zac Carter for the inspiration to do this research.

Bookstore 107 - Non-Fiction

A couple of new - just this morning - items for our stock made me think about all the different kinds of books that fall under the overarching heading of non-fiction:

* Fishing Canada's Mountain Parks - a boxed, limited, signed book by James Butler and Roland Maw.
Limited editions are always cool, but this one is practically frigid, because it has an honest-to-God fishing fly fastened to the title/limitation page.

* Craft of Cooking - although it's a later printing of Tom Colicchio's opus, it's signed by Chef TC.

And I thought Non-Fiction was just boring history, or biography, or science, or ...

Chump Stumpery 101

A customer asked if we had any Kay Neilsen illustrated books. Answer:  Huh ?
Research reveals:  Kay Neilsen
Further research reveals a very good research site:  Sur La Lune Fairy Tales
Enjoy !

Abbie Hoffman says: "Steal This Book"

Theft is quite common in new bookstores, but not anywhere near as bad in our world. Publishers Weekly had an interesting Blog post  you might enjoy: Five Most Stolen Books
By the way, current values for STB are: $ 100 - $ 500 for the hardbound first edition, $ 20 and up for the paperback.

Jazz and Bookstore 103

The current iteration of Bookstore 103 - The Who of Professional Bookselling - started last night, and while we were going over the book search references, a student asked "Why Jazz?"  My response was that quality books on Jazz, the original American art form, are hard to come by. As is often the case, when we were out scouting this morning, we stumbled on a collection of Jazz books and music, with a heavy emphasis on Django Reinhardt, all highly collectible ! Who says the Bookstore courses don't pay off ?

Who is Thomas C. Hinkle ?

Yet another customer played "Stump the Chump" with me, and won ! No, it's not that I'm failing physically,  just failing in knowledge. Follow the link, and learn about this rather prolific author: Thomas C. Hinkle

Americana Exchange Article

I recommend you subscribe to the AE Monthly, 'cause there is always an article as interesting as this one in it:
AE Article

A New Fiction Genre

Ann DeVere, our colleague at Plaza Books called, and I couldn't understand a word she was saying - in fact I thought she was crying. She was, but tears of laughter. As many of us do, she subscribes to several book-related listserves, and on one of them, there was a posting about a new genre. Do you remember that:
Bambi's mom got shot - stage left.
Lassie saved Timmy - eventually.
It was a dark and stormy night...

It Isn't Good Only in Las Vegas

Another bright spot, this time from the East Coast:  Bald Isn't Bad

I Love This Business !

A customer called from California looking for a juvenile series we had never heard of, and we do have a fairly large selection of JSs from the 1920s through the 1950s. Another reason to have an open store - we learned something new today. For your edification, follow the link to TomFolio, another excellent book site:
Robert Schulkers

Boston - 220 Years Apart

As many of you know, I'm an Improper Bostonian, but had many illustrious predecessors, among them General Henry Knox, Bookman manque.

Get an a plane, buy a book, and get it signed !

Our friends and colleagues, Michael & Andy, Two Bears and A Dog Books, Horse Cave, KY,  are having a book signing on the 4th of July ! Big Deal ! Yeah, it is, 'cause the book's title is  Greyhound to Vegas: the Odyssey of Hilda Reynolds Krause, and the author is Robert Dickey.

When I'm Tired, I Write !

Well, Bookstore 103 is currently available at UNLV.  Now what ? That's easy, at least or me. I just finished up most of the work on:

BookThinker Article

I've recommended many times that you subscribe to The BookThinker. Here's another reason why:

They wrote the Book - Quill & Brush

Allen and Pat Ahearn, the owners of Q&B are in the very top tier of Bookmen in the country. Think Bauman's with reasonable prices. They also have written THE book on book collecting. And authors, and many other things. Check them out. Yes, this is really what their operation looks like ! Quill & Brush

DUNGEONS & DRAGONS: A HISTORY

Our colleague, Ann DeVere who owns Plaza Books and we shared a customer last week who collected role-playing material, known to the trade as RPG Stuff. One of my students in Bookstore 102 wants to deal in this genre, also. Ann sent me this about the Father of D(ungeons) & D(ragons):

Regardless of color...

Wonder Bread, the famous Duck Bread from my apprenticeship had red, yellow, and blue balloons  on its wrapper. Perhaps Betsy did her apprenticeship in their bakery so that she could make this listing:

A Strategic Plan for the 21st Century

Here at Greyhound’s Books we are unabashedly an Upper Middle-Class (UMC) Bookstore. We come by it naturally, because it is, and has been, our life position thanks to our parents who worked so hard to help their children climb into the educated, professional ranks of society. In many ways, we’ve acquired our educations the hard way - school yes, life-learning, apprenticeships, and hard work combined with rote memorization. In other words, we’re authorized to be snobs because we’ve demonstrated our professional credentials, good taste, and discriminating eyes.

Our stock is designed to appeal to the UMC: we sell quality books, don’t bother with what I generally call “crap,” - either in condition or content -and require a certain level of knowledge and taste from our customer base. If you have no idea of what you want to buy, you generally get short shrift from us. If you vaguely know what you want, we have all the time in the world to work with you. If you look like a freak, you’re usually not welcome. Cell phones are anathema.

Who is Sanora Babb and Why Was Her Timing So Very Bad ?

We have the largest selection of author-signed books in the Valley -over 2500  different titles in all genres - so we're always looking for more. Sanora Babb's first published novel is The Lost Traveler and we bought an inscribed copy of it this week. Much of a Bookman's time is taken up in research. We have to make sure we're providing our customers with good and absolute value for their money. Doing this, of course leads us to find out very interesting facts about books and authors. Old Sanora Baby, was quite the gal ! Follow the link, if you'd like to become enthralled:   Sanora Babb

A B(ad) A(ttitude) A(ppears)

I must admit, I applied for ABAA membership a number of years age, but couldn't get enough members to endorse me. Why ? Not because of the quality of our stock-in-trade, but because I'd built no buying relationship with my potential sponsors. As the late, great Mark Twain, or perhaps - it's disputable -  Groucho Marx said: I won't belong to any organization that would have me as a member. Today's question came in the e-mail from our colleague Ann DeVere at Plaza Books:

BookThink's Top Ten Auctioned Books on eBay for April 2011

Just the fiction, M'am, just the fiction:
Top Ten

Pusillanimous Pissants !

A gentleman called today looking for a book. He had seen an overage, overweight, overwomaned actor on a television show hosted by three women who lack only brains, taste, and a cauldron to be Shakespeare creations.
When OOOA was asked what he had done to overcome the tribulations of his pitiful existence - although the question was couched in the vernacular - his response was that his reading of a particular book carried the day for him. The book ?

Busty & Butty Chicks with Big Hair

Frank Frazetta the heroic fantasy cover artist, is known for, to use current parlance, hot chicks, in leather, or nothing but skin - big busts, big butts, big hair. They pair - no pun intended - very nicely with his massive thighed, heroic men with big swords and bigger muscles. Think Sophia Loren in her heyday and Ahhhnold with no accent. But wait, there's more to our Frank.

Modern Library Books

Our friend, Maryann, a local Las Vegas author, has developed a fascination for Modern Library Books. Our friends, Michael and Andy deserted us to open a fine bookstore in Horse Cave, Kentucky. We all still talk and interact, and Michael sent us an interesting piece on Modern Library books. You might also want to check our previous post on Modern Librarys after you look at this:

A Book Fair Experience

Book shows and sales aren't anywhere near as good as they were 25 years ago. Booth rentals have skyrocketed, organizers have really gotten into their horses' patoot personas, and customers are more interested in looking than in buying. However, there's hope:  New York Antiquarian Book Fair

An Absolutely Beautiful Modern Library

We have several customers and friends who collect the Modern Library. Our friends Jim & Carol were in this week to cruise the MLs, and he was telling us about his collection. Not only did he manufacture cases to match an antique European case they had owned, he actually paid someone to learn how to use Photoshop so that he could recreate the original dustjackets his collection was missing. Good God, book people are just splendid. Take a close look at his work:

AE Monthly Article

Susan Halas gives us a historical perspective on a family of booksellers. Once again, I recommend that you subscribe to the AE Monthly newsletter.
Halas History

Silver Spring Books, Silver Spring Maryland

Many years ago I was a member of a group shop that was wholly minority-owned: four-and-a-half Black People, and me, the solitary Jew Boy. The half was the son of one of our partners.  Now, two African Americans still remain there - yes, things have changed as has vocabulary. But, I'm still with Cynthia and Dan in spirit. Cynthia sent this article to me from the local rag, and I thought you might recognize the store. Hint: it's quite similar to the one Barb & I have here in Las Vegas. Now, if we can only get Cynthia to come out here for a visit we'll be happy !

One Writer's Experience - Time for a Cigarette !

Those of us who grew up in the book trade many years ago scorned "Vanity Press" books, and other self-published books. The digital age gives us all - including your not-so-humble servant -  the opportunity to appear in print, or electrons. As I have mentioned in the past, our friend Maryann Guberman writes a LOT ! Her book gestation and birthing process is just about complete now, and if you want the rest of the delivery-room info, visit her at
Maryann's Blog, or if you want to download her book, $2.99, click below
The Mine
Or, maybe even both ! Enjoy

Children's Books from BookThinker Part II

The education continues: Children's Books II

Some Days I Just Don't Know...

We were outside, having a cigarette, and a young woman walked into the store. It was my turn, so I walked in after her, and asked the usual question: "Can I help you with anything ?" And it went downhill from there.

Children's Books from BookThinker

Once again, I would encourage you to subscribe to this e-letter because they have some great information there: Children's Books

One Writers Experience

Our friend and colleague Maryann writes a LOT !  She has been published in many venues over the years, but she has recently started a blog about her writing, past and present. She's just detailed her efforts in creating an e-book. The six part series is below, and quite interesting for both the fledgling and the experienced author. Take a look: Writer Blog

Some Model Bookstores

From August 2010 Fine Books & Collections: Stores

A Bookmobile from Fine Books & Collections

I always wanted a bookmobile, and still do.
This one is really cool !  CoolMobile

AE Monthly Articles Worth Reading

The future of antiquarian bookselling: Antiquarian

Powell's Lays Off Employees: Powell's

eBay Top 10 for December 2010

The latest eBay Top 10 Books info is at The BookThinker at the link below.  As usual, interesting information, and I'd urge you to subscribe.

eBay Top 10 December 2010

An Interesting Retrospective

Joyce Godsey writes interesting articles, some of which have appeared here. In the current AE Monthly, she has
yet another real gem on the book business:  AE Monthly

Ciao, Ciao, Bambino or Ave atque Vale

 For the last two months I've been locked in Ancient Rome, with the Colleen McCullough series on Julius Caesar; three of the Conn Iggulden Roman series; Tacitus; Suetonius; Livy; an excellent new biography of Cicero of "Quam diu Catalina" third-year Latin  fame; Ruth Downie's Medicus series; Lindsey Davis's Falco series; and I'm now rereading the John Maddox Roberts mystery series, having just finished Morris West's Clowns of God.

Never a Dull Moment

Since we are a small store, we must limit the genres that we carry - we don't carry psycho-babble self-help books; best sellers unless they are best sellers that have proven their enduring worth, and then only in First Editions;  popular biographies of glitterati; or the rest of the genres we consider to be crap. An individual came in yesterday looking for sociology, which we don't have. He then asked for Kalil Gibran, which we do. Then came the real question: "Where are your books on hemp ?"

Recommended Internet Dealers Here at Home

I can, without any equivocation, most highly recommend several on-line dealers who are not only based in Las Vegas, but also have brick-and-mortar stores here:

Plaza Books:  Plaza Books

Cat's Curiosities:  Cat's Curiosities

Amber Unicorn Books: Amber Unicorn

And, Greyhound's Books sells only in the store, but does have a web presence:  Greyhound's Books

This just in from a Colleague

 I do tend to bemoan the lack of professionalism demonstrated by many - not all - on-line book sellers. The true Bookmen are OK, but these folks comprise only about a quarter of the internet selling community. One of our colleagues sent the following our to our Bookmans Guild members for our information, and delectation:

 From Our Colleague to "Better World Books", Indiana regarding a copy of Ian Fleming's Casino Royale they have for sale, a purported First Edition:

Wondering whether this copy of "Casino Royale" could really be a Macmillan 1953 or '54 edition (as advertised) in the classic red & green dust wrapper, not the far more common book club edition in gray banded DJ with tiny silhouettes of babe and pistol (of which every used book dealer has thrown away dozens)

Our Motto: Books of Worth In All Genres

If a book is good, we try to stock it irrespective of price, given our limited space, If a book is very good, we try harder to have it available for our customers. If a book is great...

Howard Schwartz and Patterson Smith

Ah, yes ! Non-stop gambling and non-stop book selling in Las Vegas. Our friend and colleague, Howard Schwartz, late of the Gambler's Book Club, stopped in to educate us yet again, and brought a hard-copy monograph on gambling books that had emerged from the morass of his file cabinet. The gentleman who wrote it some number of years ago is still alive, well, and expert. We promised to tell you things you may not know, and here's one of them. Actually, several. If you follow the links below, you'll be directed to Patterson Smith's website, and two very interesting articles.

A Colleage Asked...II

We get many calls for book appraisals, and most people decide against paying the $ 150.00 per hour that we charge for them. We also discourage people from investing in appraisals unless they have some kind of provenance for the book, or strong knowledge that the book is worth considerably more than the appraisal fee. If you look at the research I did for my colleague and my response to her. you'll see why this is:

A Colleague Asked...I

Our monthly Las Vegas Bookmans Guild was last Wednesday night. One of my colleagues asked for some help in identifying a book she had bought just because it was unusual. She had done a search by the ISBN, and met with no success, so she sent me the following information from the copyright page:

englanninkielinen alkuteos
Red Storm Rising
c  Jack Ryan Enterprises Ltd. and Larry Bond 1986
Published by agreement with
Lennart Sane Agency
ISBN 951-0-14528-9
WSOY:n graafiset laitokset
Juva 1987
8vo HB w/black cloth boards, DJ is black and red with the title "Myrsky Nousee"
in yellow and Tom Clancy in white.  There is also a gold tear drop on the front.
(To Be Continued)

A Feast for the Eyes, as promised

 Ballantine Adult Fantasy cover artists:
Gervasio Gallardo
Bob Pepper
David McCall Johnston

As Promised...

Not only the Newcastle Library, but other similar books:
Newcastle Library, et alii

The Double-Ringed Unicorn

The Ballantine Adult Fantasy paperback series was launched in 1969, and reprinted fantasy which was out of print or available only in back issues of pulp magazines.  The series lasted until 1974. The books were considered a triumph in fantasy publishing, with Lin Carter as editor and cover art by illustrators such as Gervasio Gallardo, Bob Pepper, Robert LoGrippo, and David McCall Johnston.  More to come on these folks.

The series ended when Ballantine sold out to Random house. But the mission was carried on in 1973 by Newcastle Forgotten Fantasy Library. More to come on these folks, too.

However, many collectors still seek out the the books with the Circled Unicorn logo. Here’s a list, not of collectors, but of the books themselves:

I Don't Know Nuthin !

The very best part of the book business is finding out how much you don't know. As I've mentioned a number of times before, our customers provide us with many thousands of dollars worth of education, and sometimes even we make a mistake, and educate ourselves.

Maybe

The label for this post is "Great Hints for Great Reading," and the title is "Maybe." Hmmmm. We carry what we call Books of Worth in All Genres:  this doesn't usually encompass books that are hot off the press, because they haven't stood the test of time.

Who Buys Mysteries

An interesting article from Publishers Weekly:  Mysteries

Parting Isn't Sweet Sorrow, It Sucks !

Our friends, Michael & Andy stopped by today to bid us adieu. They're moving cross country to open a bookstore in the booming metropolis of Horse Cave - previously known to Barb and me as "Horse's Patoot" -Kentucky. We often judge people by how much fun we have with them at mealtime.

Memories of a Misspent Youth

THE magazine of my youth was Mad - you know, Alfred E. Newman and Spy versus Spy - and recently we bought a history of Mad for our stock. Did you know:

Once again, the Professors Educate Us !

A customer came in today asking for books by John Faucette.  When I don't know an author, I usually ask: "Who's he ?"  Then came today's advanced seminar on science fiction, and it gives me great pleasure to be able to pass this on to you, and especially to my former partner, Cynthia Parker, the Romance Queen of the East Coast, and still a partner in Silver Spring Books, Silver Spring, Maryland. 

It Was A Very Good Year II

Auction results from e-bay, thanks to Book Think:   E-Bay Auction Results
Again, Greyhound's Books didn't sell any of these. Damn !

Another Resource For You

When I first went into the retail book business in a group shop in Silver Spring, Maryland, my master asked me if I would be willing to part with my collection of fine first editions. Evidently, I answered correctly - a resounding "Yes" - and from that point on, my home library has been a bunch of ratty copies of the books I like, and want to reread. Barbara's books are a different story. She has a very large collection of feline-related books, ranging from Lillian Jackson Braun's Cat Who... mysteries, through cat picture books, to cat health manuals. We moved here with one Greyhound and one cat. The Hound has left us, but we've added to the live cat complement, and are about to add one more rescued kitten to the menagerie.

Customer or Professor ?

As I mention in all of my Bookstore series of courses at UNLV, the best part of having a bricks-and-mortar bookstore is the education provided by customers. Every customer is a Professor in his own field of interest. One of our out-of-state regulars was in last week. His passion is the Ace Double science fiction paperbacks.

Shakespeare's "Shrew" Is Next

We avoid Political Correctness here at Greyhound's Books. Perhaps it's because we moved here from the Seat of Government and Repository of Wrongness, Washington D.C. Nor do we care much about offending people: we do not intentionally give offense, and if someone chooses to takes offense at what we think or say, that's their choice. There are businesses and individuals who do not adhere to our philosophy, to wit:
Idiot's Live

It Was A Very Good Year

I like it when the monthly AE Newsletter shows up. By the way, Greyhound's Books didn't sell any of these:

2010 Auction Results

Frozen Not Stirred

We're freezing our buts and butts off here in Sun-330-Days-A Year-City, and it isn't a stirring experience. Our colleague, Susan Halas is much warmer, but, James Bond remains hot, as her article from AE Monthly shows:  Bond, James Bond