Monday, September 04, 2006

Denial of Service

(Or, another plea for book-lovers and book-hunters...)

Sometimes you get lucky, sometimes not. For this month, it was three out of three with the latter.

Despite a month-long sale in bookshops, I didn't have enough time (nor money) to pick up a copy of Theodora Goss' short story collection In the Forest of Forgetting in Powerbooks. I've liked Goss' writing ever since I read a story of hers "Miss Emily Gray" in David Hartwell's yearly fantasy's best collection. Later on, I grew envious when I heard dean had picked up a copy. It didn't help that a hesitant skinny had bought the book and was converted. Was it the prose? The story? Who knows. Goes to show that it must have been good though.

That's one:

Prior to this, I found out that copies of SF writer Ted Chiang's well-received short story collection Stories of Your Life and Others had been put up on a local online auction and were quickly snatched up. Wow, I didn't even know Chiang had a fanbase in this country. Given that a number of Chiang's stories had either been nominated or won awards already-- and Chiang had been cited waaaay back together with Kelly Link (my favorite writer) as one of two writers to look out for-- and I've never read a piece by him at all... Well, aren't those enough reasons to read his stuff?

That's two:


Obviously, I seem to be on a hunt for short-story collections. But it doesn't help these collections are hard to find even abroad. A case in point: upcoming horror-writer Joe Hill had recently won the Bram Stoker award for his short-story collection 20th Century Ghosts and I thought of ordering a copy from Booktopia. (Of course it helps that Hill is one of the horror's best/worst-kept secrets: Hill is the son of horror-meister Stephen King but never advertised this fact.) Imagine my surprise when I found out that this was sold-out and was only available 2nd-hand at a hefty price-tag. Yowza.

That's three:

So if anyone out there knows where I can pick up a copy of the above books (barring ordering from abroad), maybe you can help a poor cat out?

UPDATE (9/6/2006): Can you spare a dime for a cat?

Unbelievable.

I just found a copy of Goss' book tucked away in Powerbooks Shangri-la. And this after I called up them and found out from them that all copies were sold out. The ironies of life being what they are, unfortunately now I don't have the cash to buy it.

Grrr.

12 comments:

skinnyblackcladdink said...

yeesh... talk about laying on the guilt...

still reluctant though. hehe. sorry. but to answer your question, it was Goss's writing that got me.

do you have to own a copy? because i wouldn't be reluctant at all to lend my copy...and you never know, somewhere along the line i might actually change my mind about letting you have it...

banzai cat said...

Hehe no guilt man. We're trying to add sales to Goss' books, not subtrack 'em. I just figured that on the off chance someone has an extra copy, I can relieve them of their burden. ;-)

As for owning, that's a definite < yes. Have you ever seen a book-lover satisfied with borrowing a book? :-D

banzai cat said...

Er, that's subtract. Lousy typo...

Dean said...

BC - I'll pass by PBooks tomorrow and get the Goss :)

banzai cat said...

Wow. You mean you saw one? I called 'em up and they told me all their branches didn't have any left. Grr!

Andrew said...

Wow. You mean you saw one? I called 'em up and they told me all their branches didn't have any left. Grr!

That's "service" for you. Goddamn. I wondered about the Chiang myself (and though I know you dislike this, I'm leaving a link to his stories available online), since it was gone almost as soon as I read the email from Jasper. Oh well.

I'm planning to order several titles from Booktopia sometime, and it might be that would be your best option. But I'll keep an eye out for any of these.

Mahesh Raj Mohan said...

Will keep any eye out for you, friend cat!

banzai cat said...

eldritch: Heh. Unfortunately, I'm already booked with Booktopia 'til the end of the year and I don't wanna strain my finances by December.
('Course I could always forego buying Christmas gifts...)

mahesh: Thanks man! :-)

Andrew said...

What exactly does "booked with Booktopia" mean? I ask because I've never ordered from them, but I plan to do so.

banzai cat said...

Well, Booktopia's delivery used to be monthly but is now bi-monthly. Because of this, they have a Sept deadline for their Oct shipment. Right now, I have a few books coming in by then:

*Nick Mamatas's Move Underground *Robert E. Howard: Kull: Exile of Atlantis
*Jeffrey Ford: The Empire of Ice Cream

And then afterwards, my next order by December will consist of a couple of anthos:

Paraspheres: Edited by Rusty Morrison and Ken Keegan
Feeling Very Strange: Edited by James Patrick Kelly and John Kessel

Unfortunately, I really have to control myself in ordering from Booktopia because its like using a credit card: eventually, I have to pay for all of these.

Don said...

I've never been to PowerBooks but I've heard that they have a lousy service.

banzai cat said...

They have their good points naman. :-)