Earlier today I was at one of the local Half Price Books stores,
primarily to look for two specific books for my wife, but of course,
while I was there ?.

In the end, I found eight books of my own, and here are four somewhat noteworthy ones (that came to $7.96 total!):

Nerves - Lester del Rey (1956, but this is the 1976 Ballantine edition)
This is the novel-length version, which knew existed, but which I?d
never seen before. Since the shorter version (1942) is a great story
(and one of my very favorite stories in the famous Healy & McComas
anthology Adventures In Time & Space), I figured I?d pick it up. I doubt
it will be as fun as the original (a high bar), but hopefully it?s still
a fun read.

Tomorrow Sucks - ed. Cox & Weisskopf (1994)
Totally new to me - at least, if I?d ever known about this before, I?d completely forgotten about it. When I saw the title, I actually laughed
out loud in the store. My guess was that the theme of this anthology
would be "bleak and depressing futures", which I would not have bought,
but that is way wrong. This one is all about ?scientific vampirism?, and includes stories by Bradbury, Stableford, Keith Roberts, Spider
Robinson, Dean Ing, CL Moore, Zelazny and a few others. Since it made me laugh, and since the price was right, I picked it up. I think I've only
read 2-3 of the 11 stories in here, and neither essay. Here?s the list
of contents:
https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/pl.cgi?190285

Land of Unreason - de Camp & Pratt (1942, but this is the 1987 Baen edition) I've always greatly enjoyed and appreciated their Harold Shea/Incomplete Enchanter stories, and I?d always been mildly curious about this
unrelated work - and there it was, so why not?

Once on a Time - A.A. Milne (1922, but this is the 1988 Signet edition)
Yes, this is by the same A.A. Milne who wrote the Winnie the Pooh
stories. I?d never heard of this before. The back cover says ?Before The Princess Bride there was Once on a Time?, and ?A.A. Milne wrote Winnie
the Pooh for children, but he wrote Once on a Time, as he himself said,
?for grown-ups? ?. Hard to pass up for such a low price.

Tony

--- PyGate Linux v1.5.18
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

On 7/7/2026 12:11 PM, Tony Nance wrote:

Earlier today I was at one of the local Half Price Books stores,
primarily to look for two specific books for my wife, but of course,
while I was there ?.

In the end, I found eight books of my own, and here are four somewhat noteworthy ones (that came to $7.96 total!):

...
"Half Price Books coming to Houston's Inner Loop in 2027, company says"

https://www.chron.com/culture/article/half-price-books-montrose-houston-2027-22335867.php

"The company bought the former Soundwaves location on Montrose Blvd."

And it will fit in well with the people in that area.

Lynn


--- PyGate Linux v1.5.18
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

On 7/8/26 11:57 PM, Ted Nolan <tednolan> wrote:

In article <112jc0o$2vvhu$1@dont-email.me>,
Tony Nance <tnusenet17@gmail.com> wrote:

Earlier today I was at one of the local Half Price Books stores,
primarily to look for two specific books for my wife, but of course,
while I was there ?.

In the end, I found eight books of my own, and here are four somewhat
noteworthy ones (that came to $7.96 total!):

Nerves - Lester del Rey (1956, but this is the 1976 Ballantine edition)
This is the novel-length version, which knew existed, but which I?d
never seen before. Since the shorter version (1942) is a great story
(and one of my very favorite stories in the famous Healy & McComas
anthology Adventures In Time & Space), I figured I?d pick it up. I doubt
it will be as fun as the original (a high bar), but hopefully it?s still
a fun read.

I know I have read both versions of this, but I can't bring much of
it to mind. My favorite del Rey is still "Instinct".

That is indeed a good one. Hard for me to pick a favorite del Rey.

Land of Unreason - de Camp & Pratt (1942, but this is the 1987 Baen edition) >> I've always greatly enjoyed and appreciated their Harold Shea/Incomplete
Enchanter stories, and I?d always been mildly curious about this
unrelated work - and there it was, so why not?

Likewise, I have read the Shea stories and not this. I find that de Camp
on his own can be a bit stodgy

Yes, yes he can.

(though "Lest" is excellent),

Yes, yes it is.

and Pratt on his own can be awful,

Hm. I don't think I've read any solo Pratt yet. If I have, I don't
remember it.

but together the Shea stories were quite fun.

Indeed.



--- PyGate Linux v1.5.18
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

Tony Nance <tnusenet17@gmail.com> writes:

On 7/8/26 11:57 PM, Ted Nolan <tednolan> wrote:

In article <112jc0o$2vvhu$1@dont-email.me>,
Tony Nance <tnusenet17@gmail.com> wrote:

Earlier today I was at one of the local Half Price Books stores,
primarily to look for two specific books for my wife, but of course,
while I was there ?.

In the end, I found eight books of my own, and here are four somewhat
noteworthy ones (that came to $7.96 total!):

Nerves - Lester del Rey (1956, but this is the 1976 Ballantine edition)
This is the novel-length version, which knew existed, but which I?d
never seen before. Since the shorter version (1942) is a great story
(and one of my very favorite stories in the famous Healy & McComas
anthology Adventures In Time & Space), I figured I?d pick it up. I doubt >>> it will be as fun as the original (a high bar), but hopefully it?s still >>> a fun read.

I know I have read both versions of this, but I can't bring much of
it to mind. My favorite del Rey is still "Instinct".

That is indeed a good one. Hard for me to pick a favorite del Rey.

My favorite del Rey is _Day of the Giants_. Given one grandmother's
maiden name was Thorson, I alway felt connected to Norse mythology :-)


--- PyGate Linux v1.5.18
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

On 7/10/26 11:25 AM, Scott Lurndal wrote:

Tony Nance <tnusenet17@gmail.com> writes:

On 7/8/26 11:57 PM, Ted Nolan <tednolan> wrote:

In article <112jc0o$2vvhu$1@dont-email.me>,
Tony Nance <tnusenet17@gmail.com> wrote:

Earlier today I was at one of the local Half Price Books stores,
primarily to look for two specific books for my wife, but of course,
while I was there ?.

In the end, I found eight books of my own, and here are four somewhat
noteworthy ones (that came to $7.96 total!):

Nerves - Lester del Rey (1956, but this is the 1976 Ballantine edition) >>>> This is the novel-length version, which knew existed, but which I?d
never seen before. Since the shorter version (1942) is a great story
(and one of my very favorite stories in the famous Healy & McComas
anthology Adventures In Time & Space), I figured I?d pick it up. I doubt >>>> it will be as fun as the original (a high bar), but hopefully it?s still >>>> a fun read.

I know I have read both versions of this, but I can't bring much of
it to mind. My favorite del Rey is still "Instinct".

That is indeed a good one. Hard for me to pick a favorite del Rey.

My favorite del Rey is _Day of the Giants_.

Oooh - I remember really liking that one, many many years ago. I wonder
if I'd like it as well nowadays. Sounds like it should go on the
"re-read" list.

Given one grandmother's
maiden name was Thorson, I alway felt connected to Norse mythology :-)

So she was Thorsonsdottir? :-)
Tony

--- PyGate Linux v1.5.18
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

On 7/8/26 11:57 PM, Ted Nolan <tednolan> wrote:

In article <112jc0o$2vvhu$1@dont-email.me>,
Tony Nance <tnusenet17@gmail.com> wrote:

Earlier today I was at one of the local Half Price Books stores,
primarily to look for two specific books for my wife, but of course,
while I was there ?.

In the end, I found eight books of my own, and here are four somewhat
noteworthy ones (that came to $7.96 total!):

Nerves - Lester del Rey (1956, but this is the 1976 Ballantine edition)
This is the novel-length version, which knew existed, but which I?d
never seen before. Since the shorter version (1942) is a great story
(and one of my very favorite stories in the famous Healy & McComas
anthology Adventures In Time & Space), I figured I?d pick it up. I doubt
it will be as fun as the original (a high bar), but hopefully it?s still
a fun read.

I know I have read both versions of this, but I can't bring much of
it to mind.

This longer version is indeed a fun read, but I slightly prefer the
original shorter version.

My favorite del Rey is still "Instinct".

Oh yes, that's a good one - I just re-read it after your mention of it.

Land of Unreason - de Camp & Pratt (1942, but this is the 1987 Baen edition) >> I've always greatly enjoyed and appreciated their Harold Shea/Incomplete
Enchanter stories, and I?d always been mildly curious about this
unrelated work - and there it was, so why not?

Likewise, I have read the Shea stories and not this. I find that de Camp
on his own can be a bit stodgy (though "Lest" is excellent), and Pratt on
his own can be awful, but together the Shea stories were quite fun.

I think the only solo Pratt I've read is The Well of the Unicorn, and I remember very little. It must have been okay to me, since if it were
extreme in either direction, I'd likely remember more about it.

Tony



--- PyGate Linux v1.5.18
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)