I had to go into town yesterday afternoon to pick my beautiful wife up from a short church-related trip she took, so of course I left a couple hours early so I could go to ABC Books because they had a book signing and Hooked on Books because I had a gift certificate.
So I bought a couple things.
At ABC Books, I got:
- The Sins of the Fathers by Stanley Schmidt. It talks about a space ship that goes to the past and comes back with one person on it who is insane. Sounds like the plot for Event Horizon. I’m hoping it has a flashback or part of it set in the past because I need a “Set In Two Time Periods” book in February.
- The Wicked Among Us by James Owen. The cover says “Murder, Blackmail, and Book Collecting in the Ozarks.” It’s a true crimish thing based on a murder that occurred in the Springfield area a couple years before I got here. The author had a line of people–I guess some people knew him, and a radio station mentioned the book signing (and he mentioned he’d already sold 1000. Maybe 1500). Clearly, it was not an instance of me being the only one buying the book or one of a couple sold. But the book looks interesting.
I got a $50 gift certificate from Hooked on Books for Christmas, which is odd: although it is probably the closest used book store, I don’t go there that often any more–I came more frequently when I lived in St. Louis (probably). And I struggled to find something to buy, gentle reader. I started on the south side of the store, looking at the mysteries to see if they had any old John D. MacDonalds–as I mentioned, a long time ago, they had a lot, and not expensive, but I didn’t buy a lot because I thought they would always be there. I made my way through the science fiction section, looking for a title that said Set in Two Time Periods. I looked at their shrunken philosophy section. I inspected the incomplete classic literature sets. I made my way to the north wall and looked at “collectible” (basically, just old) books. But when I got to the eastern corner of the store, opposite of where I started, I found the martial arts section
I got:
- Nightmare in Pink in paperback (so old that it was not labeled–so it might have been one I overlooked back in the day–and A Deadly Shade of Gold, the 1974 first hardback printing (this one first appeared in paperback). $2 and $6 respectively. I’ll have to check my collection to see what I actually have and what I am missing and mindfully seek to fill the gaps.
- Why We Suck by Denis Leary. It was $7.50; they had a trade paperback which I also looked at, but it was only fifty cents cheaper, so I went for the hardback.
- How Things Stack Up, a collection of poetry (signed and inscribed, but not to me or anyone I know) by Michael Castro, the former editor of River Styx. You know, he might have hosted the poetry readings at Brandt’s on Sunday nights which I used to lure and ensnare a pretty poet living in Columbia in 1997.
- Moon City Review 2020, a local literary magazine which has rejected me several times. I’ll look to see what they like. Or what the students liked in the before times.
- Comprehensive Applications of Shaolin Chin Na by Dr. Yang Jwing-Ming. $12.50.
- Krav Maga: Real World Solutions to Real World Violence by Gershon Ben Keren. They have several krav maga books; I just got one (so far).
- The Overlook Martial Arts Reader edited by Randy F. Nelson. Subtitle: “Classic Writings on Philosophy and Technique.
All told, I spent…. Nothing. I had the gift certificate and the remnant of a gift card for sitting through a timeshare presentation (of which, I have a couple dollars left toward a grocery bill).
Two of the martial arts books have Bee written on the top and bottom but no library marks on them. I noticed these on a couple of the Story of Civilization books I bought in 2019. I wonder what school or organization marks their books this way. I’ll have to ask Mrs. E. if she knows next time I’m at ABC Books. I’m not sure the twenty-somethings working the counter at Hooked on Books would know.
At any rate, something to fit into my bookshelves somehow and to work on…. Sometime. After the 2026 Winter Reading Challenge. So, maybe…. Next week!
