Finding book bargains in Toronto. SF Masterworks from the BMV Annex on Bloor Street.  

Tau Zero channel www.youtube.com/@TauZeroSF BMV website bmvbookshop.com/ Rarewaves website www.rarewaves.com/

Oh and really glad that you got Greatest Hits! It's got me to be revisiting Harlan's work, listening to the audio book, and my Wade professional opinion is there are ups and downs but not the ones that the internet says. . .

Thank you, Richard! I wasn’t expecting a picture of my page. Lovely new haul and bmv seems like an interesting location (and a bonus that they sell online). Enjoy the new reads!

As promised, Part 2, "The New" has arrived! I learned something new watching this as well: there's a hardcover and then there's laminated boards. Thanks for another good take, Richard! Cheers.

If you ever make it to Portland Oregon Powell's bookstore is the biggest and best used bookstore I've even been in. It is legendary.

"I had so many books I wasn't sure I could fit them all in my luggage" Classic! Sounds like it was a great trip Richard. And I see the Lensmen poster has already made it up onto your wall!

Good stuff Richard 👍🏼 I have got some dirt cheap SF Masterworks £3.30 each brand new from Seikel Books online here in the UK.

I'm glad you got so many cool, exotic scores and at good prices! I didn't know Land Under England had a new printing! Kind of folk horror / kinda weird tale /and Roman stuff. . . Thanks for sharing your trip and the cool books/ bookstores with us! Oh, and the Songs of the Kesh album is on RU-vid (of course).

_Land Under England_ is VERY good! 👍

Good morning Dad2 🖖

Good morning from Arizona.

If you would like a recommendation the first, and most obvious is Powell's books in Portland Oregon. It's a whole city block. A number of the buildings have either had walls opened up between them or have little tunnels connecting them "habitrail" style so you don't have to go into the Portland weather with your shopping! They are huge. They are kind. And they deserve your business. As book stores all over the United States die because young people do not know how to shop, Powell's often buys the entire inventory. I've come across whole sections that are all stamped with the same used book stores logo on the front page or inside cover of a book; it's like discovering a whole town that was slotted to be destroyed by the Nazis was quietly ushered into a cave and and someone said : "just wait, you'll have a chance to get back in the light again. . . " Their website (sadly) gives no impression as to how remarkable they are. It is well-loved and revered by authors who do new book signings there as well, a great book community attaches itself, and as of the last time I went there it's about a block away from an excellent brew pub. . .

Ah, Toronto - my city, my home! BMV is fine, especially the flagship store (I'm due for a trip), but I remember when this city was loaded with Used Bookstores; Yonge St. between Bloor and Queen; along Queen St. W; Harbord St.; and various isolated stores that would be worth the trip, now and then...all gone now. My last BMV haul was of course SF Masterworks stuff - H. G. Wells, Stapledon, and some Gwyneth Jones. Over in their Mystery section, I grabbed up a whole bunch of Hammett and Chandler a few years ago, when I went on a hard-boiled and noir kick. I hope you enjoy Limbo, and Land Under England, when you get to them. I actually ended up prefering Kairos over White Queen, when it comes to Gwyneth Jones, even though White Queen was the one recommended in an SF reading guide. Just shows - sometimes give an author who disappointed, but did some things right, one more chance. Even at BMV, years ago, I used to find more gems, hard to find SF or Mystery titles, more rarities that I would actually want to buy, after much seeking. Those were the good old days. Now the trip is on to the internet, for shopping.

Sounds like a great haul, Richard. I'm looking forward to you views on the Roger Zelazny books. Lord of Light has always been a favorite of mine, given my boyhood in India and my interest in Buddhism. Granted, his portrayal is nothing like the real thing, but it is plausible and fun. I was fortunate to grow up while Zelazny was first making his mark with his short stories. I've always maintained that you can't really appreciate him without understanding them, so The Best Of Roger Zelazny is a great place to start. Ironically, ‘A Rose For Ecclesiastes’ and ‘The Doors Of His Face, The Lamps Of His Mouth’ were written during the last gasp of the Planetary Romance age. Between the time they were sent off and when they were first published, the Mars and Venus probes had sent back their surveys and totally undercut the basis of the stories. Didn't stop them from getting Hugo nominations, though.

I've never made it to Toronto, but I'm eager to go check it out. As I think about it...I've never stepped foot in Canada...going to have to remedy that.

With my annual trip to the US coming up, I ordered several SF Masterworks to refresh my supply 😅 Authors include Zelazny, Lafferty, Strugatsky, Moorcock, Tevis, Russ, Womack and Harrison.

You should check out Uncle Hugo’s used books in the Minneapolis / St. Paul It’s focused on SF.

Okay if we're making store recommendations I'll give you two different ends on the spectrum of excellence: When in New York City, obviously you must go to the Strand. Although it is not as impressive as a warehouse in Detroit, or Powell's, it is still a serious multi-story bookstore with a little something for everyone. The last time I was there was definitely a few years ago, but they still had copies of Ursula K Le Guin's "Always Coming Home" WITH the cassette tape with recordings of the songs and the poems of the Kesh!! This may sound odd, but there is an absolute delight of a used bookstore in coastal Connecticut! Whenever business took me to that part of the world I had to add an extra day to just go to the Book Barn in Niantic. It started off as a multi-storey barn, then the books spread to other buildings on the grounds (and the picnic area, and a place for kids to play, and a small petting zoo. . . ) but as the years went by it kept growing and it has another three buildings in downtown Niantic a full six or seven minute drive from the bucolic Barn setting! A simply lovely place to have lunch, beneath the trees surrounded by the books. . . Free coffee and donuts inside for shoppers!

I'll be interested in your review of Starship Troopers. I've been a fan of Heinlein since I first read him in middle school. Many of his stories I've read multiple times. I only read Starship Troopers once and I did enjoy it but for some reason never felt the need to read it again. I'm not sure why. Grammaticus has done some very enjoyable videos about both Heinlein and his books over on his channel.

Amazing! Thank you so much for sharing your book sources with us! It is both thoughtful and kind. I just looked at their website (at least as it appears in the USA w/o telling the site) And they had NONE of the interesting choices you showed us! Not your fault! Not your sinister master plan, I know, put so many of the books you showing were unusual and interesting, I go there and it's like 4 HG wells, Flowers for Algernon, Philip K Dick, Inverted World & 1984. Didn't they know you were going to be promoting them?😂