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From The Writers Handbook edited by A.S. Burack
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Dustin M. Sekula Memorial Library - my place of employment - has done something terrible to me. And by terrible, I mean f**king wonderful! And by wonderful, I mean a 25-cent book sale. No. That's not some cosmic typo. All books are actually 25 cents a piece. That's four for a dollar. Doesn't matter if it's a hardback, a trade paperback, or a mass market paperback. And all the trashy romance novels were at 10 cents yesterday.
Now you're probably wondering how a guy like me got to be so lucky. Well, it started Saturday when the Friends of the Library had their book sale. It was fairly inexpensive. Because I'm such an awesome fella - mostly because I work there - I got my books for $10, despite the fact that I had more than in books. Because not all books were sold - and we have a huge surplus of donated books we have no use for - it was decided Monday to start dropping the price. Lucky, hu?
Here's what I have as of today:
- The Hot Kid
- 52 Pick Up
- Mr. Paradise
- Unknown Man #89 by Elmore Leonard
- Airframe
- Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton
- The Hobbit
- The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien
- Dead Until Dark
- Living Dead in Dallas by Charlaine Harris
- The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett
- Five Little Pigs by Agatha Christie
- The Crucible by Arthur Miller
- The Humanoids by Jack Williamson
- The Inquisition by Edward Burman
- 50 Essays: A Portable Anthology 2nd Edition edited by Samuel Cohen
- Summerland by Michael Chabon
- Nobody Move by Denis Johnson
- Dianetics: The Original Thesis by L. Ron Hubbard
- 9/11 Report by Thomas H. Kean, Chair and Lee H. Hamilton, Vice Chair w/reporting and anaylsis by The New York Times
- Dear Mr. Henshaw by Beverley Cleary
- Nightingale's Lament by Simon R. Green
- Animal Farm by George Orwell
- American Gangster by Max Allan Collins
- We by Yevgeny Zamyatin
- A Thousand Acres by Jane Smiley
- Grendel by John Gardner
- A Short Guide to Writing about Literature 10th edition edited by Sylvan Barnet and William E. Cain
- The Alienist by Caleb Carr
- The Giver by Lois Lowry
- Oxford by Paul Streitz
- Deathbell by Guy Smith
- Bone: The Great Cow Race by Jeff Smith
- The Professor of Desire by Philip Roth
- The MacMillan Reader 3rd Edition edited by Judith Nadell, John Langan, and Linda McMeniman
- Futurelove: Science Fiction Triad edited by Roger Elwood(?)
- The Last Empire: Essays 1992-2000 by Gore Vidal
- The Writer's Handbook edited by A.S. Burack
- Literature: Structure, Sound, and Sense 5th edition edited by Laurence Perrine
As you can see, I have a lust for books. I'm a book slut, and I take that without shame. While my loved ones might not understand my need for books, I know in my heart there are more like me out there. I have a love for knowledge. There are books excluded from here, of course. Books I purchased for others or books I've loaned to others shortly after I bought them. They'll find their way to this page soon enough.
Well, I'm off to read something from an anthology. Which one? I don't know. Until next time, keep on huntin'.
's essay, "What is an Agnostic?" - which you can read online 
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translated by John Medows Rodwell
by Lisa Miller
translated/edited by Rodolphe Kasser and Gregor Wurst
edited by Dwight Goddard
translated/edited by F. Max Muller
by John Allen Paulos
by Christopher Hitchens
translated by R.H. Charles
translated by R.H. Charles
and 
by Anne Rice
by William James
by Kim Paffenroth
to 
, we had a blast with those titles. Each time we found one, we'd text or pic messaged the title in order to procure the invisible crown.
. I snatched it from the shelf and handed it over to her, saying, "Here, this is for you." Lately, my fellow book hunter has fallen prey to the grasps of the MMORPG world. She jokes by saying, "I'll see you there in two weeks," an inside joke about the time when she joined Second Life and had to endure my nerd jokes only for me to join the ranks two weeks later. 
, for us anyway, has now bloomed into several titles - from 
to 
, hitting everything in between. I suppose it's about time that I share my favorite titles with the world.
- Quite frankly, this is the first and only title from the series I've read in full. Mostly because the world of Watchmen is so full of questions that left me pondering after reading the 
and watching 
. If you're wondering - yes, it has a lot do with Dr. Manhattan and Rorschach. 
- Subtitled Chicken Soup for the Soulless, this book proves that even the brain eating, blood sucking undead have a set of rules they live by. And sometimes they cause us to live by a new set of rules, or return to an older set. This collection of essays on the undead was later republished under the title 
in order to cater to the fang bangers (thank you 
!) that have multiplied over the last few years. To be brutally honest, only a small portion of essays piqued my interest, the zombie ones. I'm not a fan of vampire thought or the current vampire sensation - thank you Stephanie Meyer, you poor excuse of a writer. 
- If any musician needs a book dedicated to the philosophy of his words, it's Bob Dylan. 
can go fuck themselves, those greedy talentless bastards. While I haven't read the book, I still want it for the sake of owning something else Bob Dylan. I swear, I'm not obsessed. 
- The Dark Knight indeed has his own philosophy, as does his mythos - damn, Clive Barker was right about that term being thrown around loosely. While we're on the subject of superheroes/supervillains, the collection also has a more general title, 
. However, I prefer the counterpart, 
.
- Let's sit back on this one for a moment. Why do I want this? The question really should be is how can I live without it? 
- Another book inspired from a TV show - there will be a couple more shortly - the only reason I want this book is for its subtitle, Everybody Lies. I know it's a poor reason for wanting a book, but this aren't exactly the best books to buy. That won't stop me, though.
- I read the essay 
, which I stupidly bought thinking it might be worth my while (it was, but not worth my money). This book intrigues me because so many essays were sparked from a single essay. The book is much larger than its inspiration. Doesn't make it good, just makes it interesting.
- What started as a spin off has now grown into a cultural sensation. The conservative news satire is something of a guilty pleasure - one part Daily Show, two parts a bloated Bill O'Reilly attitude. If any late night fake news show deserves a philosophy book, it would have to be Stephen Colbert. 
- While not exactly an "and Philosophy" title, this yet-to-be-release collection is the embodiment of what the publisher originally set off to do - give an philosophical insight to the masses through familiar territory - their television. 
- If you need this book, then you're not watching the show correctly. However, this book needs to be on your shelf, regardless. While I still haven't gained access to the coveted book, it is one I've wanted for a long time. If the price is right and the gratification is quick.
doesn't really grasp my full attention, but does contain a single essay that I would like to own. If I do venture out to buy this one book, it would be solely for that essay, written by Jeff Ewing - the husband of a friend. 
was found at Barnes today. I don't know how long it's been around, but it does sink its teeth into the gay marriage argument - which I expected it would. 
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