kevin_standlee | Entries tagged with books

I have been reading Dominion: The Railway and the Rise of Canada, a history of the Canadian Pacific Railway and its role in shaping Canada, which I bought during the Victoria trip. (There's a bookstore in downtown Victoria that carries railroad books I'm less likely to find in the USA.) I took it with me to Reno/Sparks yesterday because I expected to be waiting for the van to be serviced, but they were so un-busy that the van was ready to go by the time I got back from getting coffee across the parking lot at Starbucks about 500 m away.

I could have sworn that I took the book out of my tote bag when I went into Men's Wearhouse, but today I cannot find the book. It's not in the van. It's not in the bag. It's gone. I'm hoping that it turns up, because I was only halfway through the book and I don't want to have to buy another copy.

Current Mood: annoyed
Current Location: Fernley, Nevada

I mentioned a few days ago some railway-related books that I received. I finally had time to lay them out and take a photo of them.

( TBR Pile Grows )

I'm looking forward to expanding my knowledge of some niches of UK railways.

Current Mood: pleased
Current Location: Fernley, Nevada
Crossposts: https://kevin-standlee.livejournal.com/2001307.html

A box of railway books arrived today. The mountain of unread books grows. More details later. I'm not complaining.

We have enough railway books here at Fernley House to stock our own museum, albeit that it's a very eclectic collection, as it's nearly impossible for us to visit a railway museum without buying another book, so our collection covers our travels.

Hugs and Kisses,

Kevin

Current Mood: happy
Current Location: Fernley, Nevada
Crossposts: https://kevin-standlee.livejournal.com/1998259.html

The weather forecast said that we should expect 2-4 inches of snow tomorrow, so after I left work about 6:30, I thought I'd go down to Canal Winchester, where I thought I'd seen a Borders bookstore on my previous trip out here. I was only a few pages from the end of the first of the two books that Lisa gave me before I left Oregon, and I didn't want to be without reading material.

To my annoyance, it turned out that what I'd thought was a Borders was a completely unrelated business whose sign, seen from a distance, had a vague resemblance to that of Borders. I spent much of the next hour driving around the Canal Winchester/Groveport/South Columbus area in light snow flurries in a fruitless search for a bookstore. I eventually gave up and went back to the hotel to get online and search for books. There I found that there was a Half Price Books about ten miles away, so I headed over there and picked up a couple of inexpensive history books that I reckon should keep me stocked during what free time I have here.

Across the road from Half Price Books was a Chipotle, and while I had food in stock -- half of a rib dinner I picked up from a roadside stand between my office and my hotel yesterday -- I decided to take the "target of opportunity." However, when I got there, I found the line out the door and balked. I wasn't going to wait nearly as long as it would take me to get "home" just to order a burrito. I headed back to the hotel and tore into the leftover ribs from OD on BBQ.

I have been taking driving very carefully, as I have no cold-weather/snow driving experience to speak of. That's why I wanted to get out there tonight while the pavement was more or less clear, before things get bad tomorrow.

Current Mood: content
Current Location: Columbus, Ohio

This afternoon, while doing various errands, I went by Half Price Books with two Bankers Boxes full of hardcover SF & F books. This represents a couple of shelves of my book case. Most of them are Turtledove alternate histories. I asked how much they'd give me for them. They offered $15 -- about fifty cents each, I think -- and were willing to go as high as $17. I thanked them and rolled back out with the books. I'd be better off donating the books to BASFA at that rate, albeit not all at once; I've seen what happens when too much auction material chokes the club at once. Instead, they may go into storage when I move, if it turns out I won't have enough shelf space in wherever I go.

I don't bear the folks at the store any ill will. I understand the stresses they're under. I used to act as a buyer when I was assistant manager of a comic book store. We typically offered people 25% of appraised value for cash, or more if they wanted it in trade. Assuming they put these books on sale at half cover price or so, they were offering me less than 10% of cover, which I deem too small an offer. I could get better value by donating the lot to charity and taking the tax deduction, which would be based on the books' cover price.

(That does, however assume I had enough deductible items to justify itemizing deductions, which I do not. I would have done so last year if I'd kept better records and had counted the mileage driving to and from Denver as a trip jointly done for SFSFC and Denver's non-profit, I think.)

Current Mood: disappointed
Current Location: Fremont, California

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Kevin Standlee: Fandom Is My Way of Life

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