A busy couple of months on the work front meant less time to blog but I did manage to squeeze in some book hunting.
In February I had one of those thrilling moments of going into a charity shop and finding some wonderful vintage sci-fi books. You hope every time you pop into one that you’ll find a gem, but mostly its just disappointment. But very occasionally you come up trumps and I did just that on a rainy Saturday in Southampton. The guy behind the counter said “Someone dropped a box off yesterday and inside was a load of old stuff.” By ‘old stuff’ he meant vintage gems. I bought six and then, that night, lay awake cursing myself for not grabbing more so went back when I could a few days later.
I also try to pop into Zardoz book shop when I can which is reasonably close to where I live. If you love vintage paperbacks do try and get along as I guarantee you will find something brilliant. (If you are not local you can always order via the website). This time I came home with some lovely Digit Books which I think is a bit of an overlooked publisher and joined the 20 or so other sci-fi Digits on my shelf.
I also returned in February to the wonderful ‘Dangerous Visions and New Worlds: Radical Science Fiction, 1950-1985‘, which, as the blurb puts it, “celebrates and evaluates how science fiction depicted, interacted with, and was inspired by” radical cultural and political movements in the 60s and 70s. Its such a great book and full of fascinating info. During Feb and March I found four of the hundreds of ‘new wave’ sci-fi featured in the book.
While I was away with work I had the chance to visit Alton Secondhand Books, (strangely enough) in Alton. It was my first visit and I will definitely be back as it was stocked chock-a-block with great books. While I picked up a couple of vintage sci-fi, it also had quite a few vintage Agatha Christie books in early Fontana which also just had to come home with me.
Vintage Paperback Treasure 