Sunday, May 16, 2010

Sunday Salon- Bookhounding in Boston

So yesterday my husband and I stopped by a favorite bookstore we haven't visited in about a year, Seek Books, in West Roxbury, a neighborhood of Boston. It's a used bookstore that specializes in science fiction and fantasy. It only opened about a year ago and we visited last summer but for some reason haven't gotten around to going back.

My husband collects a series of Stephen King novels, The Gunslinger, that were published as limited special editions; until yesterday he was only missing the first of the series' seven volumes, which, yes, he found for a great price. He also found a pile of the Doctor Who paperbacks he collects, including some choose-your-own-adventure Doctor Who books he didn't even know existed. He was so excited! Later in the day I found my own little treasure, a first edition of Margaret Atwood's Cat's Eye, at a nearby charity shop.

Seek Books has this incredible collection of scifi for two reasons- it's run by a bona vide nerd who said he built the kind of bookstore he would want to shop in, and because he has a policy of only stocking one copy of each title for maximum selection.

Today we're going back to make sure he got all the Doctor Who books he's missing. Should be fun.

Reading? I started J.M. Coetzee's Disgrace last night and can't wait to get back to it. It's a Booker Prize winner and so far, I'm not surprised. It's incredible!

I'm also getting ready for a busy week of work, including my first author interview over the phone on Tuesday, and a lot of posting for BEA week. I'll have a giveaway connected to Armchair BEA and lots of other great content for while I'm away.

I hope to see lots of you in New York!

You can read more Sunday Salon here
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11 comments:

bookmagic said...

I so wish there were more than big box stores in my area. I never discover treasures at B&N!

The Tome Traveller said...

If you guys ever want to take a used book store trip up to NH, let me know...there are some fantastic out of the way shops up here! I'll be looking for Seek Books next time I'm down your way.

Hopefully we'll get to meet at BEA! I'll be there!

Carey

Harvee said...

Isn't it fun to brosw bookstores! Hae fun in NY! Wish I could be here. Book Dilettante - My Sunday Salon

Literary Feline said...

Seek Books sounds like a wonderful store. I bet my husband would be in heaven there.

I am glad you are enjoying Disgrace. I hope to read it one of these days.

Enjoy the rest of your week, Marie, and good luck with all the preparations for BEA. I wish I was going!

bermudaonion said...

Any excuse to go back to a bookstore is a good excuse in my book. I hope I get to see you at BEA!

Frances said...

And when do you not have a great bookish weekend? :) Boston is such a great book town. Hope BEA is lots of fun for you too. And as for Coetzee, I have a whole collection but have not read a one. Back to that conversation about reading from your own house for a while. Happy reading!

Anonymous said...

There are lots of wonderful book shops here in the L.A. area. You'd love browsing in them.

Enjoy NY!

Zibilee said...

Sounds like there are a lot of great bookshops in your area! I am so thrilled that your husband found so many great treasures and it's awesome that you got that Atwood! I have also been hearing great things about Disgrace and will be very interested in hearing what you think of it. I have it on my shelf as well!

Vasilly said...

I'm with Deb from Bookmagic on that sentiment. I would love my city more if we had some decent bookstores. That bookstore sounds fantastic. I hope your husband found everything we was looking for.

Anonymous said...

I'll be very interested to read your review of Disgraced. It's a book I've been interested in for awhile now.

Serena said...

I hope we get to meet up in NYC at BEA! Fantastic!

I really love when the bookstore has a personal story...like creating a store that "I" want to shop in.

Sounds like your husband got a lot of goodies.