Browsers' Bookstore
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Past NewslettersPlease note: there is at least a one-month lag time between a newsletter being mailed, and being posted to this website. Email us today to sign up! Browsers' Bookstore Newsletter for June, 2007Summer at last! Both stores are keeping busy with expanding the inventory. The Albany store has opened up another room, just past the "war room." This new area is for an expanded collection of Old Fiction, which is non-genre literature from the late 19th century through the middle of the 20th century. Moving the old fiction out of the diagonal cases has also allowed us to expand all of our paperback sections. A few major paperback changes to note: Americana is now mixed in with General Fiction, and crime fiction and legal thrillers are mixed in with Mystery, rather than Adventure. So . . . be sure to ask if you can't find your favorite authors. By the way, this will probably be our last major shifting of books for a while -- thanks for your patience while we have expanded the store! Corvallis has been swamped with some very large purchases (see below), and is also getting ready to open up another room. Stay tuned! Thanks to everyone for bringing in your books for recycling. We have already recycled literally tons of paper that would otherwise have gone to the landfill. On an interesting side note, one of our customers tipped me to this news story: Prospero's Books in Kansas City is starting to have monthly bonfires to get rid of 20,000 books that he can't sell. We'll stick with recycling. The bad news is that Winnie is leaving us to pursue a career in art. Good luck, Winnie! NEW ARRIVALS Our reputation for paying well for good books is growing, and we've been hammered lately by spring cleaning. This means, of course, that we've gotten some great collections and individual items in lately, so let's take a look. 1. We purchased the collection of a noted Boswell scholar, who at one time actually owned every edition of Boswell's Life of Johnson that had ever been printed. (Wow!!) In addition to a lot of Boswell material, the collection also included a great collection of books on philosophy, music, non-Boswell literary criticism, dance, and Trollope novels. (Corvallis.) 2. Another group of books that came in are some beat-up 18th- and 19th-century books. These are priced low, owing to condition. Three of them were Civil War books that wound up in Albany, the rest are in the Corvallis store. 3. Italian Villas and Their Gardens. Edith Wharton, illus. by Maxfield Parrish. Edith Wharton was quite the traveller, and this is a surprisingly readable historical and architectural description of the villas and their gardens that she visited around the turn of the century. In addition to Parrish's 26 paintings (many of which are reproduced in color), there are an equal number of photographs. 1st edition, great shape. $500 4. Playboy's Teevee Jeebies. Shel Silverstein. Silverstein has added wacky and/or raunchy captions below scenes from "late late shows." Definitely not one of his kid's books. $5 5. Black Easter and The Day After Judgment. 1968/1971. James Blish. These two books form the second book of the After Such Knowledge trilogy (yes, the "trilogy" has four books in all. And the final volume (the Hugo-winning A Case of Conscience) was actually written ten years before this second volume. What can I say: he's a science fiction author.) Blish's anecdote on this book is amusing: "When I finished Black Easter I thought I had finished it. It turned out to be the most commercially successful novel I have ever written; it eventually got 78 reviews in general newspapers in the States, newspapers which almost never notice SF at all, or fantasy; most of the reviews were highly favourable, and the book sold like mad. There could be no more final and black an ending for a novel than Black Easter, so my editor at Doubleday said "how about a sequel?" At Heath House, with you [Brian Aldiss] and Margaret and Judy and Harry [Harrison], I mentioned this mad project, and tried to see how I could undertake it. Harry, who is a master of the overreaction, threw up his hands, staggered backwards across the room, brought up against the wall with his hands thrown up against it, clasped his brow, then he stopped and thought about it for a moment, and said "Well, meanwhile in another universe very similar to ours . . . ", which I thought was a great opening sentence. It would, of course, have been out of the terms of any possible sequel to Black Easter." Both first editions, Day is a second state. $65. 6. Machinery's Handbook, 24th edition. This reminds me that we also bought a big collection of engineering books. Nothing of general interest, but definitely check it out if you need any technical books. $15 7. The Do-It-Yourself Bestseller. This is a workbook for aspiring writers which contains the first few paragraphs and the last few paragraphs of twenty short stories. You, the aspiring writer, fill in the blank. The gimmick is that the frameworks for these stories are all written by major authors, including Stephen King, Isaac Asimov, Colin Wilson, John Jakes, etc. $35 8. Women and Beauty. Sophia Loren. Signed, $35. 9. The Calling of Dan Matthews. Harold Bell Wright. Signed first edition in nice condition. Wright is one of the very few authors of his day that still has an active readership. This is even more impressive when you realize that his name is not well known, nor is he taught as "literature." This is a nice collectible copy of one of his best books. There's one online for $150, or you can snag ours for only . . . $20 10. Warriors & Warlords: The Art of Angus McBride. McBride is the illustrator of most of the Osprey military history books that involve historical costumes and weapons. This is a great book because it is like fantasy art, but with accurate historical details. Hardcover, $12.50 WEBSITE TO WATCH One of my downfalls as a financially successful bookseller is my fondness for older books that never sell. Oh, well. One reason I like 'em is the cover art; I am starting in on my pet project to scan as many covers as possible and put them online. You can see the beginnings at www.browsersbookstore.com/oldficpix. We have lots to go through, and it will eventually be organized, but you can get a taste of it now. Bookmark the page and keep checking back. This is the first part of a whole visual reference I would like (someday) to have which will include images of plate illustrations, bookplates, and samples of genuine author signatures. But, one step at a time. Enjoy browsing, and I hope you find some good summer reading! Scott GivensBrowsers' Bookstore 121 NW 4th St. Corvallis, OR 97330 1425 Pacific Blvd. SE Albany, OR 97321 www.browsersbookstore.com info@browsersbookstore.com
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Browsers' Bookstore is dedicated to four principles: low prices, high quality, great selection, and fantastic customer service. If we don't have the book you're looking for in stock, please email us and we'll do a free international book search for you, whether you're in Oregon's beautiful Willamette Valley or in the middle of the Australian outback. We can order new books, used books, and almost any out-of-print book.
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