On Saturday, ABC Books had a book signing from a local author and the Library Center, our home library branch, had an author signing books like they used to a long time ago, so we made a circuit to the north end of Springfield and then down south to the library.
ABC Books had author James R. Wilder; one of his books is Tough Times in Grubville. Grubville is not too far from where I graduated high school (closer than De Soto), so we talked a bit about the area.
I also found a couple things in the Martial Arts section as well. Overall, I got:
- Three Executioner novels: Force Down, War Hammer, and Black Hand. You are right, gentle reader–I have already read these books (see here, here, and here). These are gifts for my oldest son, who is turning fifteen here soon, and whom I’m trying to get interested in adult fiction finally. It’s also a bit of a twist: When he was four, right after we moved to Nogglestead, my beautiful wife took he and his brother out to go shopping for a birthday present for me. Although she swore them to secrecy, he announced immediately after getting out of the car, “We got you books about guns!” So it’s a bit of turnabout. I looked in the suspense and the thrillers section before asking Ms. E. in a low voice, “I don’t want to offend you, but do you have any Executioner novels?” She did, and I wanted to pick out a couple that I had read and thought was good, and I did not want to get him one I haven’t read, but I ended up getting him this three pack. And I know where to go to pick up others when I finish up the ones I have and want to fill in some gaps.
- Old Acquaintances, a signed book by Ursula Gorman, a local author (?) who has a couple books at ABC Books. More than I do, certainly.
- Terror Near Town, Tough Times in Grubville, and Sheriff Without A Badge, the three books by James R. Wilder. I learned from my mistakes with Mary Phelan: Buy all the books in case you like them.
- Ultimate Aikido by Yoshimitsu Yamada with Steven Pimsler and Deadly Karate Blows: The Medical Implications by Brian Adams. Ms. E. said they had just gotten those into the Martial Arts section, and I said I know. She said that there are two or three other people who prowl that section regularly, and I admitted it was probably good that two did not show up at the same time.
- At the library, I got Tea in the Time of COVID by Ann Kynion. It’s 100 musings from the first 100 days of the lockdowns last year. I expect it to be similar to Coffee Is Cheaper Than Therapy.
I must admit, gentle reader, that since I have finished he Winter Reading Challenge and broke off of reading movie and television books, I’ve been kind of wandering aimlessly and fruitlessly. I have been stacking up incomplete books in my book accumulation points; I have been underwhelmed and not really been excited about what I am reading; and I have been dulling the pain with uneven Executioner novels. So it’s good to have in my hands books that look interesting and that I might be excited to read.
Ha! Just kidding. While typing this post, I have put them into the nebulous Nogglestead to-read stacks, and they’re lost for a couple years.
