Sunday, March 10, 2013

2013 VNSA Used Book Sale

A sampling of my finds from our yearly trek to the VNSA Used Book Sale:


Sci-Fi
Red Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson -- a modern classic sci-fi author that I have never gotten around to and what is considered his best book



Cyteen and Downbelow Station by C.J.  Cherryh -- another "classic" modern author that I have not read before
Anvil of Stars by Greg Bear -- a sequel to Forge of God, which I've already read and liked
Fleet of Worlds by Larry Niven and Edward M. Lerner
Earthclan:  Startide Rising & The Uplift War by David Brin -- I have read other Brin stuff and liked it.
Science Fiction:  The Illustrated Encyclopedia by John Clute --This is a really nice coffee-table book with a fairly comprehensive overview of all science fiction (movies, TV, books, comics, etc.)
When looking for new sci-fi books, I let my own experience guide me but I also referred to several lists of the the top science fiction books of all time, including:

David Pringle's Science Fiction:  The 100 Best Novels
Sci-Fi Lists:  Top 100 Sci-Fi Books
NPR's Top 100 Science Fiction and Fantasy Novels



Science Non-Fiction 

Chaos:  Making a New Science by James Gleick
Quantum Man:  Richard Feynman's Life in Science by Lawrence M. Krauss -- Feynman and Krauss ... two of my scientific heroes. 


Not a Drop to Drink:  America's Water Crisis by Ken Midkiff




General Non-Fiction & Philosophy

Don't Eat This Book:  Fast Food and the Supersizing of America by Morgan Spurlock -- a companion piece to the excellent documentary Super Size Me
The Island at the Center of the World:  The Epic Story of Dutch Manhattan and the Forgotten Colony that Shaped America  by Russell Shorto
Letters to a Young Teacher by Jonathan Kozol
Towards a New Architecture by Le Corbusier -- I'm a modernist nerd and this is considered one of the "bibles" of modernism.


Postcards from Ed (Abbey):  Dispatches and Salvos from an American Iconoclast
Bertrand Russell:  A Collection of Critical Essays edited by D.F. Pears




"For me science fiction is a way of thinking, a way of logic that bypasses a lot of nonsense. It allows people to look directly at important subjects." -- Gene Roddenberry

7 comments:

CyberKitten said...

Excellent selection as always. I must join you there at some point although I expect that it will cost me quite a lot lugging them home with the excess baggage charges!

Then again I did bring about 12 books back from Canada.... [grin]

dbackdad said...

Yeah, I think I would be similar. Travel to foreign countries ... bring back books. :-)

CyberKitten said...

When I was checking in my luggage on the way back the woman on the desk had a hard time understanding why I bought books in her country.... [grin]

dbackdad said...

He-he. Sadly, some people do not understand the allure of books. I love my Kindle, but I still love the tactile nature of a physical book. And the provenance of a book adds something even more. Knowing I found a book in Canada ... or the UK, or whatever, would mean something to me.

CyberKitten said...

Apart from my obvious addiction the reason that I bought at least some of the books I did on that trip was that they where 'out' in Canada several months before a UK publication date and I thought the exchange rate was very favourable. Two very good reasons (as if I needed any) to buy books and, as you say, that I can point to a book and say "Oh, I bought that one in Canada...."

[grin]

wstachour said...

Fabulous haul! I'd be interested in virtually all of these! We'll expect reports!

CyberKitten said...

Red Mars is *very* good.