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Thoughtful Thursday: Whadya mean “it’s out of print?”


November 12th, 2009  Posted by Ruth Arnell

photo copyright Scubathang

I come from a family of bibliophiles.  Family dinners inevitably turn into discussions of what everyone is reading.  For a bibliophile, there is a special kind of joy that comes from finding a copy of an out of print favorite in a used bookstore, and adding it to your collection.  And why do you need multiple copies of the same book?  To give to your friends, of course!

I recently tracked down a copy of one of my favorite out of print books, Heroes of Zara Keep by Guy Gregory, a simple YA sword and sorcery novel, that I remember fondly from when I was a teenager.  Flush with success from this recent find, I am wondering dear readers:

What out of print book should I look for in my next trip to the used book store?


Leave a comment and we’ll enter you in a drawing to win a copy of the new Hellbound Hearts anthology. Comments must be left by midnight eastern time on Sunday, November 15th.  SB Frank will announce the winner in his post on Monday morning.  Good luck!

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12 Responses to “Thoughtful Thursday: Whadya mean “it’s out of print?””

  1. Justin Blazier

    I scoured the nation looking for Deathlands #1: Pilgrimage to Hell. I refused to pay the $20 for it used on websites. I knew I could find it somewhere. I eventually got it from paperbackswap, that was a good mail day when it arrived.

  2. Sarah

    Mind-Call by Wilanne Schneider Belden or MInd-Hold. YA novels that I found in hardcover years ago. One of the few books I will not loan out. On line copies start at around $30. Someone needs to pick these up and reprint them.

  3. Sarah

    I just thought of another one. Elizabeth Willey’s The Well-Favored Man.

  4. Joe Scanlon

    I think they are releasing collections of his work, but I was surprised bookstores don’t have copies of Robert Howard’s Conan series. I had to get mine from amazon/ebay. They are well worth it by the way, excellent books.

  5. Rebekah Moench

    hm… I know that I am still trolling for any of the Mageworld books by Debra Doyle and James D Macdonald and another copy of The Blue Sword by Robin McKinley, specifically one with a cover that actually GOES with the plot.

  6. Kat

    People are probably tired of hearing me say this, but: JACK VANCE!!
    Thanks to publishers like Subterranean Press who are bringing him back.

  7. MommaJ

    Masques by Patricia Briggs. The first book of her Sianim series and fetches around $200 for a copy. I keep crossing my fingers I find it at a thrift store, used book store, yard sale.. wherever :)

    jaime.huff1 at gmail dot com

  8. RJ Payne

    When I was a kid, my favourite books were a series of underwater detective books by Robert Lee – a sort of anthropomorphic fish-noir. I borrowed them from the library again and again but when I later tried to buy them, found the first two – Fishy Business and Microfish – were out of print. It took me ages to track them down (no internet back then!) but it was worth it. :) Now I’m after second copies so I can pass them down to my niece and nephews…

  9. Stephen

    I don’t know if the Great Brain Series by JD Fitzgerald is out of print or not. But it’s one of my personal favorites. I imagine it gets reprinted every so often. His Papa Married a Mormon was also fun. My dad used to read it aloud to us and laugh his head off.

  10. Welcome to Fantasy Literature, Frankly! | Fantasy Literature, Frankly

    [...] Ongoing Giveaway: HellHound Hearts anthology [...]

  11. Rebekah Moench

    I might have to check my local used book store tomorrow, all this talk of out of print books makes me want to find a new book to read.
    I wouldn’t mind getting my hands on a copy of Mind-Call or Mind-Hold (and yes it is stupid that I am wanting to read the books AFTER I no longer have direct acess to them).

  12. Stephen

    Congratulations to RJ Payne who has won our copy of HellHound Hearts anthology!

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