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