A kid in a candy store

24 books
Originally uploaded by jamietr.

I am back from Wonder Books and I did good! I ended up spending about 2 hours there and I found 24 books that fill various miscellaneous holes in my collection. The photo to the right is the results of my lastest trip. I spent almost the entire time I was there in the one long science fiction aisle. I would have stayed even longer but I was starving and needed to get something to eat. I ended up going to Ruby Tuesdays and having some of their Sliders.

So how did my $100 challenge go? Well the 24 books in that stack cost me $89 and change. I could have gone back and bought another 2 or 3 books, but I decided instead to feed my stomach.

I was more crowded in the store today than it was last week, and perhaps that’s because of the weather. It drizzled much of the day and I imagine that made people look for indoor activites.

1. Galaxies Like Grains of Sand by Brian Aldiss
2. The Neutrino by Isaac Asimov. I have a very good collection of Asimov books, even some signed and really rare stuff. But somehow, I was missing this fairly common book.
3. Before the Golden Age Book 1 edited by Isaac Asimov
4. Before the Golden Age Book 2 edited by Isaac Asimov
5. Fantastic Voyage II: Destination Brain by Isaac Asimov. Somehow I just never got around to buying this one until today.
6. R Is for Rocket by Ray Bradbury. I have just about all of the stories in this collection in other collections, but as a completist, I felt that I needed this book.
7. Imperial Earth by Arthur C. Clarke
8. Earthlight by Arthur C. Clarke
9. Driftglass by Samuel R. Delany
10. Triton by Samuel R. Delany
11. The man without a planet by Lester Del Rey
12. Gods and Golems by Lester Del Rey
13. Outpost of Jupiter by Lester Del Rey
14. The Mysterious Planet by Lester Del Rey
15. The Deadly Streets by Harlan Ellison. This is a pretty rare book, and it cost $10 for the paperback, but it was well worth it as it is one of the few Harlan Ellison books that I didn’t already have.
16. Study War No More edited by Joe Haldeman. I have just about everything Joe has written, but I was missing this anthology that he edited back in the 70s.
17. Typewriter In the Sky by L. Ron Hubbard (back when he was a pulp-fiction writer in the 40s and 50s and before all of the Dianetics nonsense)
18. Fear by L. Ron Hubbard (I’m told that this is a very scary book to read. I have read few books or stories that have ever scared me. The one’s that came closest were: Ray Bradbury’s “The Veldt”, Harlan Ellison’s “The Whimper of Whipped Dogs”, and Connie Willis’ Passage. So I’m anxious to read this one to see if it lives up to it’s reputation
19. Slaves of Sleep / Masters of Sleep by L. Ron Hubbard. Two more pulp classics by a pre-Scientology Hubbard.
20. Last and First Men by Olaf Stapledon. The classic future history written in 1930
21. Thorns by Robert Silverberg
22. The Second Experiment by J. O. Jeppson (a.k.a. Mrs. Isaac Asimov)
23. The Last Immortal by J. O. Jeppson
24. The Downstairs Room by Kate Wilhelm

So in the last 8 days, I’ve added 40 books to my collection. That is quite possibly a new record, and it certainly gives me plenty to read. I don’t think I’ll need any more books for a while (although I will be buying Ken Jennings book, Braniac when he is signing books later this month in Arlington).