Spoilers What Book Are You Reading?

[ardchoille50]

That depends on where your tastes lie. Frequently described as a space opera, along the lines of Horatio Hornblower, in space. SciFi, strong female heroine, a large populated galaxie, in depth character development and relationships, complex plots, great dialogue, outstanding battle dynamics and descriptions, a monarchy, religious zealots, shady corporations, genetic slavers, and corrupt governments. Since the first volume is reported to be free, take a chance and checking it out will be the only way to know for sure. It's epic, but I won't guarantee it's for you.

Regarding Basilisk Station it has a long slow buildup to an exciting ending, at least I thought so.

The first novel in David Weber's popular[1] Honor Harrington series, On Basilisk Station,[2] follows Commander Honor Harrington and Her Majesty’s light cruiser Fearless during their assignment to the Basilisk system. Though Basilisk Station and the planet of Medusa have become a dumping ground for misfits and rejects from her home star system of Manticore, Honor is determined to discharge her duty regardless of the circumstances.

The story follows Honor and her crew as they deal with the responsibilities of their assignment. When their duty leads them to discover events that would lead to an invasion of Medusa, they have no choice but to act.

It appears that the first two volumes are free as far as Kindle versions. I'll definitely be buying them, as well as possibly the rest of the series.

 

[Huntn]

It appears that the first two volumes are free as far as Kindle versions. I'll definitely be buying them, as well as possibly the rest of the series.

View attachment 675357

This is kinda encouraging because I recently saw an old book (ebook format) and they wanted frick'n $9.99 for it. I wonder how much of that is up to the author vs the publisher?

 

[0388631]

This is kinda encouraging because I recently saw an old book (ebook format) and they wanted frick'n $9.99 for it. I wonder how much of that is up to the author vs the publisher?

Depends on the publisher. Big Six wise, assume 20-25% of whatever the publisher receives. Unless you're well known and sell well, then I've heard as much as 50-60% of publisher revenues. Fiction sells more than non-fiction, and of the fiction variety, the top genres are women's romance and women's fiction (which includes Victorian era), mystery and thriller, fantasy and science fiction and then horror. Other genres come in last. Literary fiction is hit or miss. Of non-fiction, self-help and fitness sell the most.

Though sales and overall quality don't always correlate. Take into consideration the children's novel series Twilight or even James Patterson for adults. Tons of mindless drivel written by authors who make quite a lot of money but aren't very good at writing.

 

[ucfgrad93]

A few people on this thread have recommended it very strongly to me; I like good fantasy, strong heroines, Star Trek, military history (well written), genuine (that is, real life, space travel and space stories), and stories (in fiction) with a good understanding of politics and power.

Hm.

It is an excellent series. I highly recommend it.

 

[pachyderm]

Loved Catch 22, the book was better than the movie.
[doublepost=1480467651][/doublepost]

Of course. But the movie is still great!

 

[Huntn]

Depends on the publisher. Big Six wise, assume 20-25% of whatever the publisher receives. Unless you're well known and sell well, then I've heard as much as 50-60% of publisher revenues. Fiction sells more than non-fiction, and of the fiction variety, the top genres are women's romance and women's fiction (which includes Victorian era), mystery and thriller, fantasy and science fiction and then horror. Other genres come in last. Literary fiction is hit or miss. Of non-fiction, self-help and fitness sell the most.

Though sales and overall quality don't always correlate. Take into consideration the children's novel series Twilight or even James Patterson for adults. Tons of mindless drivel written by authors who make quite a lot of money but aren't very good at writing.

Thanks for the info. There is another thread floating around here about the cost of ebooks. I really miss the days when I could pick up a used paperback for $2, sometimes less, but my eyes are no longer good enough to read tiny print comfortably and my iPhone, my preferred reading device, is more convenient to read from than holding a book.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

Thanks for the info. There is another thread floating around here about the cost of ebooks. I really miss the days when I could pick up a used paperback for $2, sometimes less, but my eyes are no longer good enough to read tiny print comfortably and my iPhone, my preferred reading device, is more convenient to read from than holding a book.

That is one of the reasons I love to buy hardbacks; better production values, and - usually - bigger print, too.

 

[yaxomoxay]

That is one of the reasons I love to buy hardbacks; better production values, and - usually - bigger print, too.

For me, it really depends. I am more often interested with the content than anything else, so I switch between HB, PK, E-books, PDFs, whatever. For sci-fi books I almost exclusively go for PK.
In the ideal world I would buy just HB and e-books.

 

[pachyderm]

my 20 year old is reading Fight Club.

he he he. Good boy.

 

[kazmac]

my 20 year old is reading Fight Club.

he he he. Good boy.

That messed with my head so bad when I read it back in 1999 (I purposely didn't finish it before seeing the movie), but the movie made me LMAO. I distinctly remember the press saying this isn't a "chick flick" yet I laughed harder than anyone else in the theater both times I saw it. The novel is pretty warped though.

 

[aaronvan]

"Wylding Hall" by Elizabeth Hand. So far it's excellent.

 

[pachyderm]

That messed with my head so bad when I read it back in 1999 (I purposely didn't finish it before seeing the movie), but the movie made me LMAO. I distinctly remember the press saying this isn't a "chick flick" yet I laughed harder than anyone else in the theater both times I saw it. The novel is pretty warped though.

he just finished the movie. said the book was better. he liked both.

 

[0388631]

Killing Floor by Lee Child

I respect Grant for what he's accomplished and this aura he's crafted of himself, but this novel which is supposedly one of his best, is utter tripe.

"Wylding Hall" by Elizabeth Hand. So far it's excellent.

Bought that some time ago. Only got 10 pages down but thought it was brilliant.
[doublepost=1480770221][/doublepost]

Thanks for the info. There is another thread floating around here about the cost of ebooks. I really miss the days when I could pick up a used paperback for $2, sometimes less, but my eyes are no longer good enough to read tiny print comfortably and my iPhone, my preferred reading device, is more convenient to read from than holding a book.

On rereading your original question, I realize I gave you a profoundly different answer. Cost is set by the publisher. The cost of printing and storing materials pales in comparison to other costs of traditional books. Despite printing, it still costs a lot of money to produce an ebook for a Big Six publisher. After the recession, they let go many of their in house specialists and turned to outside creatives. Ironically, often times these are the same people who used to work for them and now charge a fortune. I know a woman from my younger years who's the head of a company that supplies Simon and Schuster. Work contracts per book range anywhere from 15-30K USD, even for purely ebook only runs. This, I'm told, covers graphical aids, but doesn't cover marketing. If SandS wants to advertise the ebook only run, they could very well spend a few hundred thousand in a couple of months. David Ogilvy wrote a book in the 1980s on advertising.

Harry Potter is a 15 billion dollar brand. But the heads behind said brand, sans Rowling, have spent millions upon millions on advertising.

That is one of the reasons I love to buy hardbacks; better production values, and - usually - bigger print, too.

That's the opposite of what Huntn said. Depending on the device, some ereaders can enlarge text of a selection, serif or non, up to 25 pts. Though I'd imagine given your travels for the work you do and the nature of the countries you travel to, an expensive device wouldn't be wise to take. Hence, a book would suffice.

For me, it really depends. I am more often interested with the content than anything else, so I switch between HB, PK, E-books, PDFs, whatever. For sci-fi books I almost exclusively go for PK.
In the ideal world I would buy just HB and e-books.

I own a great deal of paperbacks, but also own more hardbacks. I usually don't care either way, but a hardback is easier to hold for a long time or read in bed if forced to. If I really like a series or novel, I'll get a hardback. If I know the author well, like the back of my hand, I'll get them in hardback. Even if it means ordering from overseas.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

Actually, @Zenithal, I love the physical feel of books.

My point to @Huntn was that I tend to prefer hardbacks to paperbacks for the reason that he says - namely sometimes paperbacks can be hard to read, especially for those with raging eyes.

I wasn't discussing electronic devices at all.

Now, on the topic of electronic devices, while I am happy to read newspaper - or magazine - articles from such a source, I don't like reading them the way I would read a book.

And, even though I travel a lot, and I have colleagues who swear by Kindles, or something similar, I personally don't like them, and nor did I ever enjoy using them. Actually, I had an iPad for a while and loathed it.

It is a different sort of reading, and I find the 'hard copy' physically preferable - and more relaxing on my eyes - to read.

Moreover, the sort of reading that you can lose yourself in - a history book, or a work looking at politics, philosophy or economics, I will always prefer in book form.

This is a different sort of reading, and requires total immersion, and deep thought - not something I do with on screen reading which I will often quickly skim, or gut and fillet - or devour - as needed.

And, even the verbs used to describe this activity have an ugly sound of aggression to them, don't they? For me, reading online is necessary reading - but it is rarely pleasurable.

 

[0388631]

a history book, or a work looking at politics, philosophy or economics, I will always prefer in book form. This is a different sort of reading, and requires total immersion, and deep thought - not something I do with on screen reading which I will often quickly skim, or gut and fillet - or devour - as needed. And, even the verbs used to describe this activity have an ugly aggression to them, don't they? For me, reading online is necessary reading - but it is rarely pleasurable.

This I wholeheartedly agree with.

On the form of paperbacks, I've often gone with hardback simply because the trade quality was terrible. I haven't bought a paperback in at least 5 years, but around a decade ago, publishers began trying out various fonts and just how small they could go before the complaints rolled in. I've got a genre paperback somewhere. Same novel by the same publisher and printer. Set around 20 years apart. The font and setting difference is jarring.

 

[Huntn]

Killing Floor by Lee Child

I respect Grant for what he's accomplished and this aura he's crafted of himself, but this novel which is supposedly one of his best, is utter tripe.


Bought that some time ago. Only got 10 pages down but thought it was brilliant.
[doublepost=1480770221][/doublepost]

On rereading your original question, I realize I gave you a profoundly different answer. Cost is set by the publisher. The cost of printing and storing materials pales in comparison to other costs of traditional books. Despite printing, it still costs a lot of money to produce an ebook for a Big Six publisher. After the recession, they let go many of their in house specialists and turned to outside creatives. Ironically, often times these are the same people who used to work for them and now charge a fortune. I know a woman from my younger years who's the head of a company that supplies Simon and Schuster. Work contracts per book range anywhere from 15-30K USD, even for purely ebook only runs. This, I'm told, covers graphical aids, but doesn't cover marketing. If SandS wants to advertise the ebook only run, they could very well spend a few hundred thousand in a couple of months. David Ogilvy wrote a book in the 1980s on advertising.

Harry Potter is a 15 billion dollar brand. But the heads behind said brand, sans Rowling, have spent millions upon millions on advertising.



That's the opposite of what Huntn said. Depending on the device, some ereaders can enlarge text of a selection, serif or non, up to 25 pts. Though I'd imagine given your travels for the work you do and the nature of the countries you travel to, an expensive device wouldn't be wise to take. Hence, a book would suffice.



I own a great deal of paperbacks, but also own more hardbacks. I usually don't care either way, but a hardback is easier to hold for a long time or read in bed if forced to. If I really like a series or novel, I'll get a hardback. If I know the author well, like the back of my hand, I'll get them in hardback. Even if it means ordering from overseas.

So if I read you right, if a book possibly costs more today, it's in part because of business decisions made by publishers (letting go in-house specialists who now charge a fortune... for editing?), besides price fixing which my impression, has happened.

The conversion to electronic printing was a windfall for publishers, yet I'll argue that the savings have not been handed over to the customers, similiar to when manufacturing goes to a third world country, the company achieves the huge savings and just a small percentage is passed along to the customer. Personally I don't consider $10 a reasonable price for what used to be a paperback. I believe the higher the price goes, the more they'll have to factor piracy into their business plan.

Reagarding a reader vs a hard back, I used to be anti-electronic in this regard, especially for large manuals I had to digest as part of my career, but that was all based on habits. Once I discovered the ability to search electronic manuals I was sold on the technology, and my phone (iPhone 6) is much more comfortable to hold than a manage a paperback or a hardback for reading.
[doublepost=1480772873][/doublepost]

Actually, @Zenithal, I love the physical feel of books.

My point to @Huntn was that I tend to prefer hardbacks to paperbacks for the reason that he says - namely sometimes paperbacks can be hard to read, especially for those with raging eyes.

I wasn't discussing electronic devices at all.

Now, on the topic of electronic devices, while I am happy to read newspaper - or magazine - articles from such a source, I don't like reading them the way I would read a book.

And, even though I travel a lot, and I have colleagues who swear by Kindles, or something similar, I personally don't like them, and nor did I ever enjoy using them. Actually, I had an iPad for a while and loathed it.

It is a different sort of reading, and I find the 'hard copy' physically preferable - and more relaxing on my eyes - to read.

Moreover, the sort of reading that you can lose yourself in - a history book, or a work looking at politics, philosophy or economics, I will always prefer in book form.

This is a different sort of reading, and requires total immersion, and deep thought - not something I do with on screen reading which I will often quickly skim, or gut and fillet - or devour - as needed.

And, even the verbs used to describe this activity have an ugly sound of aggression to them, don't they? For me, reading online is necessary reading - but it is rarely pleasurable.

I think you preference is based on long established habit, but I'm not begrudging you, your love of old fashioned books. However, when you describe the ability to achieve total immersion and deep thought, I'll submit that It's just as easy to hold that mine state using a reader, at least for me it is. Everything can be adjusted, text type and size and page illumination, and the page turning animation in iBooks is good enough for me. I used to read on my iPad, but the advantages of my iPhone is convenience, light weight, one handed reading, page turning with a thumb swipe, finger swipe highlighting, all highlights and designated book marks automatically catalogued and searchable, and no prying the pages apart, as compared to a paperback.

 

[0388631]

So if I read you right, if a book possibly costs more today, it's in part because of business decisions made by publishers (letting go in-house specialists who now charge a fortune... for editing?), besides price fixing which my impression, has happened.

Price fixing was a one sided issue. The price fixing was more anti-competitive than actual price rigging. The big six publishers and their underlings met with Apple and charged higher. That is because at the time and even now, Amazon is the market leader for books. The in-house specialists I mentioned are merely cover artists. Some people will scoff at these people charging $10,000-15,000 for a cover, but that sum pales in comparison to how much they can charge and how willing a publisher is to spend on a know and highly recommended author, such as Stephen King.

Whether digital or traditional, in traditional publishing the costs add up fast.

Agent/Author purchase fees
Advance fee
Cover Artist fee
Printing costs
Storage costs
Copyeditor fee
Line editor fee
Translations fee
Marketing costs

You do get some interesting "mishaps" in the storyline of a typical novel's life. Andy Weir's novel made waves and money before the print and ebook rights were snatched up by Crown for around $100,000. If you recall a certain adult novel author who had one of her books made into a feature film, she made a lot of money before the rights were sold off. I can't find the breakdown I read a couple of years ago, but it's estimated that the publisher who bought the rights to the book had a break even point of several hundred thousand physical units of the hardback variety or a mix, which would take longer, to recoup costs.
[doublepost=1480805762][/doublepost]

The conversion to electronic printing was a windfall for publishers, yet I'll argue that the savings have not been handed over to the customers, similiar to when manufacturing goes to a third world country, the company achieves the huge savings and just a small percentage is passed along to the customer. Personally I don't consider $10 a reasonable price for what used to be a paperback. I believe the higher the price goes, the more they'll have to factor piracy into their business plan.

9.99 is actually a good price point. Considering they were caught selling higher. Publisher seem to get the idea 9.99 is high and will often run sales at much lower prices. Just because you go digital, it doesn't mean you don't incur costs to offer that digital product. Publishers have been tangoing with piracy since the early days. When I was in university, we'd Xerox the most expensive books and pass the copies around in book form. Granted, back then a university book would cost $60, sometimes $80 at most. This was a long time ago but the CoL was also much less than it is today. Wages were a fraction of today's, too.
[doublepost=1480805875][/doublepost]

Reagarding a reader vs a hard back, I used to be anti-electronic in this regard, especially for large manuals I had to digest as part of my career, but that was all based on habits. Once I discovered the ability to search electronic manuals I was sold on the technology, and my phone (iPhone 6) is much more comfortable to hold than a manage a paperback or a hardback for reading.

The search feature is great. But for large manuals I tend to prefer a physical approach and rely on the glossary if the chapter headings don't suffice. I never got the point of an ereader until I tried one. Then I was sold.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

Price fixing was a one sided issue. The price fixing was more anti-competitive than actual price rigging. The big six publishers and their underlings met with Apple and charged higher. That is because at the time and even now, Amazon is the market leader for books. The in-house specialists I mentioned are merely cover artists. Some people will scoff at these people charging $10,000-15,000 for a cover, but that sum pales in comparison to how much they can charge and how willing a publisher is to spend on a know and highly recommended author, such as Stephen King.

Whether digital or traditional, in traditional publishing the costs add up fast.

Agent/Author purchase fees
Advance fee
Cover Artist fee
Printing costs
Storage costs
Copyeditor fee
Line editor fee
Translations fee
Marketing costs

You do get some interesting "mishaps" in the storyline of a typical novel's life. Andy Weir's novel made waves and money before the print and ebook rights were snatched up by Crown for around $100,000. If you recall a certain adult novel author who had one of her books made into a feature film, she made a lot of money before the rights were sold off. I can't find the breakdown I read a couple of years ago, but it's estimated that the publisher who bought the rights to the book had a break even point of several hundred thousand physical units of the hardback variety or a mix, which would take longer, to recoup costs.
[doublepost=1480805762][/doublepost]
9.99 is actually a good price point. Considering they were caught selling higher. Publisher seem to get the idea 9.99 is high and will often run sales at much lower prices. Just because you go digital, it doesn't mean you don't incur costs to offer that digital product. Publishers have been tangoing with piracy since the early days. When I was in university, we'd Xerox the most expensive books and pass the copies around in book form. Granted, back then a university book would cost $60, sometimes $80 at most. This was a long time ago but the CoL was also much less than it is today. Wages were a fraction of today's, too.
[doublepost=1480805875][/doublepost]
The search feature is great. But for large manuals I tend to prefer a physical approach and rely on the glossary if the chapter headings don't suffice. I never got the point of an ereader until I tried one. Then I was sold.

Interesting post, and, of course, with electronic media, the whole model has changed considerably.

Those costs do not apply to every book (not every book is translated, for example, and not every author has an agent - I didn't, - and I did my own proof-reading, - not least because I have worked as an editor - although the publisher did offer to have it done).

Anyway, in my experience - and I am a published author (history) of well received stuff (both critically and sales wise) - it is more like an inverse triangle, with the author at the bottom, funding or financing everyone else further up that scale.

You don't even mention matters such as taxation, or VAT, which also apply in my corner of Europe.

 

[0388631]

The majority of traditionally published books are. But yes, I can see what you mean. I left taxation out because I wasn't sure how widespread it was and how taxation of digital goods are approached. I also left out data retention costs. Amazon's Kindle format can use their 3 formats of the same book in one file. Apple uses the EPUB format and their retail files can get very large. I've seen retail downloads from the store as high as 15 MB for a non-fiction book of 300 or so "pages."

Off the top of my head, I don't remember how much VAT varies between participating countries, but in America the topic is complex. Each state has their own base sales tax. Each county has their minimum tax if they want to stray from it. Cities can increase on that base county amount. Online purchases use your location and apply that tax rate.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

The majority of traditionally published books are. But yes, I can see what you mean. I left taxation out because I wasn't sure how widespread it was and how taxation of digital goods are approached. I also left out data retention costs. Amazon's Kindle format can use their 3 formats of the same book in one file. Apple uses the EPUB format and their retail files can get very large. I've seen retail downloads from the store as high as 15 MB for a non-fiction book of 300 or so "pages."

Off the top of my head, I don't remember how much VAT varies between participating countries, but in America the topic is complex. Each state has their own base sales tax. Each county has their minimum tax if they want to stray from it. Cities can increase on that base county amount amount. Online purchases use your location and apply that tax rate.

Now, I do remember that when a lot of thought and work has been put into the design of the cover, - and this is what attracts a viewer, or a potential reader initially, when they first lay eyes on it - by a talented designer, yes, this can contribute considerably to the cost of the finished product.

Certainly, beautifully designed books, with high production values (and mine met those criteria) will reflect that in the price of the book.

 

[kazmac]

I just finished Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur vol. 1 (Amazon was selling the kindle version on sale). Adorable character design and a fun lead (an extremely smart 9 year old girl (Lunella Lafayette (a.k.a. Moon Girl) who has the Inhuman gene and is terrified of being converted into an Inhuman due to the Terrigen Mists. So she uses her smarts to do anything and everything to prevent being trapped in those mutative clouds.

Being amazingly smart, Luna is constantly mocked in school and all of her attention is on finding Kree technology to prevent her from transforming into something horrible. Lunella is so concerned with trying to be normal and fit in, just what every kid goes through. She doesn't want powers or to transform into something horrible. As far as little Luna is concerned her brain is her superpower. Well, finding the Kree tech opens to a portal to the past which is how Devil Dinosaur and the evil cavemen clan the Killer folk wind up in modern NY. DD becomes Moon Girl's "pet" so to speak (he acts more like a loyal dog around Lunella) and their relationship is pretty cute.

Lots of predictable stuff ensues, but I think the writers and the artist's cartoony design for the people (and cavemen - really funny wink at hipsters with the Killer Folk) is pretty great, while Devil Dinosaur is rendered as Kirby created him (more details and looking like a real T-Rex). This was a fun read and I found myself awwwwing a couple of times. The new Hulk makes an appearance as well.

It's an entertaining series for tweens and adults who want something more playful and light. I've been looking for more characters that aren't so morose and self loathing or run through character assassination-ville so this a nice change. I just want to have fun with my comics now. Not social justice stuff, not politics, not something bleak and dark: just fun. I love that Lunella just was, no one mentions a peep about her ethnicity (only Marvel's dumb solicitations does that). This fiesty little girl is quite a character and she's written in a way that is childlike and more mature. The authors make sure Luna is very accessible for any age.

I do not know zip about the Inhumans and frankly do not care, which was fine since I understood Lunella's predicament instantly. I also appreciate that she comes to understand her uniqueness and grows a little bit in this first arc. As someone who was mocked fiercely in junior high and high school for being different, I can completely relate to the title character. Too bad I didn't have Godzilla following me around to help get me through those years.

And it was especially nice to read this after stumbling across the latest Escape from New York remake news.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

I just finished Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur vol. 1 (Amazon was selling the kindle version on sale). Adorable character design and a fun lead (an extremely smart 9 year old girl (Lunella Lafayette (a.k.a. Moon Girl) who has the Inhuman gene and is terrified of being converted into an Inhuman due to the Terrigen Mists. So she uses her smarts to do anything and everything to prevent being trapped in those mutative clouds.

Being amazingly smart, Luna is constantly mocked in school and all of her attention is on finding Kree technology to prevent her from transforming into something horrible. Lunella is so concerned with trying to be normal and fit in, just what every kid goes through. She doesn't want powers or to transform into something horrible. As far as little Luna is concerned her brain is her superpower. Well, finding the Kree tech opens to a portal to the past which is how Devil Dinosaur and the evil cavemen clan the Killer folk wind up in modern NY. DD becomes Moon Girl's "pet" so to speak (he acts more like a loyal dog around Lunella) and their relationship is pretty cute.

Lots of predictable stuff ensues, but I think the writers and the artist's cartoony design for the people (and cavemen - really funny wink at hipsters with the Killer Folk) is pretty great, while Devil Dinosaur is rendered as Kirby created him (more details and looking like a real T-Rex). This was a fun read and I found myself awwwwing a couple of times. The new Hulk makes an appearance as well.

It's an entertaining series for tweens and adults who want something more playful and light. I've been looking for more characters that aren't so morose and self loathing or run through character assassination-ville so this a nice change. I just want to have fun with my comics now. Not social justice stuff, not politics, not something bleak and dark: just fun. I love that Lunella just was, no one mentions a peep about her ethnicity (only Marvel's dumb solicitations does that). This fiesty little girl is quite a character and she's written in a way that is childlike and more mature. The authors make sure Luna is very accessible for any age.

I do not know zip about the Inhumans and frankly do not care, which was fine since I understood Lunella predicament instantly. I also appreciate that she comes to understand her uniqueness and grows a little bit in this first arc. As someone who was mocked fiercely in junior high and high school for being different, I can completely relate to the title character. Too bad I didn't have Godzilla following me around to help get me through those years.

And it was especially nice to read this after stumbling across the latest Escape from New York remake news.

Did you ever read "The 10th Kingdom?"

I read that around the time of the millennium, and thought it hilarious, fast-paced, sharp, very funny in places, and very very good.

 

[0388631]

I like Irish mysteries. Preferably ones set in Ireland (duh) and written by an Irish author who knows the lay of the land. There's some fantastic work out there. Going back to the discussion of book prices, one of the joys I had in the days when dialup was the norm, was to go go flea markets and scope out books. Hardbacks, of course. I collected some of my early first editions this way. Due to the nature of the internet at the time, not much information or any at all was available online. It made it easy to get something for a very cheap price when it was worth several times the asking price.

 

[kazmac]

Did you ever read "The 10th Kingdom?"

I read that around the time of the millennium, and thought it hilarious, fast-paced, sharp, very funny in places, and very very good.

I haven't, no. I admit I pretty terrible with novels these days but that does sound funny. Thanks for the recommendation.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

I haven't, no. I admit I pretty terrible with novels these days but that does sound funny. Thanks for the recommendation.

It is American, - the initial scenes take place in New York - but it takes an alternative look at some well known fairy tales in a way that is very subversive and very, very funny.

Actually, I was teaching at the time, (in one of those Ancient Seats of Learning) & recommended it to some of my colleagues - some junior staff in modern European history - where I was - and philosophy - shared a small common room, and a number of them read it and thoroughly enjoyed it.

For that matter, I also introduced them to the world of Harry Potter, but that is a different story - and those books went down very well, too.