So yesterday, I had a couple of hours whilst my son was at an event in Republic, Missouri, so I thought I would do some Christmas shopping. My first stop took me to Mike’s Unique, where I bought some records. The second stop was at ABC Books, where a local radio personality, Marla Lucas, was signing her book.
I did my circuit, although I stopped by the local authors and science fiction authors books to see if I could find something for my nephew.
I found some things for me, certainly.
I got:
- Hope Always Wins by Marla Lucas. She mentioned that she wrote it in 30 days. Meanwhile, I’m up to beyond 30 months on whichever novel I happen to finish next.
- Hard Start: Mars Intrigue by S.V. Farnsworth, a local author. I usually pick up a copy of something I’ve read an enjoyed during the course of the year for my nephew, but I haven’t read much this year in science fiction or fantasy that wasn’t tied to a movie or television show. So, instead, I bought a copy of this book for both of us. Mrs. E. asked if I had been to her book signing last week, and I had not. To think, I could have gotten a signed copy for
myselfmy nephew. And, confession: ABC Books has been having so many book signings these days that I cannot get to all of them. I feel like I’m letting the proprietrix down. - The Inner Game of Fencing by Nick Evangelista. It’s been a long time since I’ve actually done the outer game of fencing.
- Perry Rhodan: The Wasp Men Attack by W.W. Shols and Atlan #1: Spider Desert by Ernst Vlcek. ABC Books as a lot of old paperbacks in the Perry Rhodan series (which I only know of as a lot of them are at ABC Books). Since I’m running low on Executioner books, perhaps I should look for another midcentury series to
waste my time oninvest in.
I also got my nephew a copy of Gateway by Frederik Pohl that I enjoyed…in 2013? That’s can’t be right. I just read that, and my beautiful wife got me the others in the series, which I have not yet read, that Christmas.
At any rate, the ratio of Christmas gifts at this stop was 2/4, so I’m getting better. Unfortunately, after running all the way to the north side of town after my stop at the antique mall, I really did not have time to stop anywhere else except to pick up a couple of gift cards for the stockings. So I might have do something like this again next weekend.
