The Last Argument of Kings – Joe Abercrombie

This is the third-of-three books in the excellent series.  After the thrilling dash-across-continent, our entire gang reconvenes in one of the capitol cities to duke it out.  Characters grow, stereotypes are skewered, and no one lives quite exactly happily ever after.

Dead Until Dark – Charmaine Harris

Another vacation read – Dead until Dark is the first book in the Sookie Stackhouse series.

Truly irredeemable pulp.  I know I finished reading it, but I can’t remember how it ended, which is a horribly bad sign.  I found the vampire-love angle to be awfully forced.  You know, I thought the social themes in the series (watched exactly one episode) seemed really interesting, but this first book just didn’t get deep enough into any of it.  The book might have been steamy in parts – I don’t remember.

If I were stranded on a desert island and the sequel washed up, I guess I would read it.  Probably use this book to start a fire, though.

Bay Books San Ramon, California – I wish I lived here

In San Ramon, California there is an awesome used/new book store called Bay Books.  The staff is super, super knowledgeable. And Friendly.

The selection is outstanding, and tons of the books are in awesome shape at about a third of the price. 

I found a couple of C.J. Cherryh books that I’ve been needing.

If only they were within walking distance of my house.  But then again, I would probably end up needing to build an addition onto said house, to fit the expansions to the collection.

Building my library – Bay City Books online

I’ve discovered the excellent selection available through www.alibris.com and especially Bay City Books – they’ve been really nice so far in answering multiple emails today as I track down books that’re gaps in my collection.  And, if you go to Bay City Books’ homepage, I like what they say about their business model – helping thrift organizations, hiring teens to help with independence, donating to schools and communities in trouble.

In particular, they have two of the Green Sky trilogy by Zilpha Keatley Snyder, which I remember fondly as the first books that inspired me to fan fic.  Not that I carried through on the ambition 😦 but still, I consider that a sign of a strong influence.

So, I am prowling back through this blog to get reminders of what I would like to own, and so far I’ve picked out a few Dick Francis, a Christopher Moore, and a couple of books for the kids.

I’ll let you know how the shipping experience with Bay City Books turns out…

Cough. Choke. $117 to ship 19 books to Canada, while the book cost is under $31.  I guess that’s why you’d buy in person.  I guess it might have been cheaper to carry it on the plane, after all. 😛