I took a week off from work and visited some people. I hit up a couple of my favorite new and used bookshops in NH. Much love to both Toadstool and Water Street. Toadstool books also has a cool little comics, music, and film section run by Eric from Death to Tyrants (this Myspace link was the best I could find right now), Redwing Blackbird, The Thing in the Spring, and a million other cool projects. Both spots are well worth checking out if you're passing through.
I just changed jobs and have been pretty busy lately, so I haven't had a chance to dig into this stuff yet. I am particularly stoked to get check out "Threats," the first novel by Amelia Gray. In terms of her short/flash collections, I thought "AM/PM" was sort of hit or miss, but I really enjoyed "Museum of the Weird" and can't wait to see what she does with a longer form. I might post them some other time, but Gray is involved in some regular comedy/writing events in Austin (although I hear she recently relocated to LA) and there are some funny videos kicking around online. The one I remember liking the most was about the Large Hadron Collider. There is also a lengthy lecture/reading on youtube about flash fiction. Check them out if you get a chance.
The collector scumbag inside of me is stoked to pick up another hardcover collection of Raymond Carver stories. I am also stoked to have found four Jim Thompson novels (in two hardcover volumes). They were cheap and he's been suggested a few times by a friend who knows more about pulp/crime/genre/etc. novels than I do.
These are my record scores/purchases/mailorder so far from this month, including my vacation. I didn't grab anything too spectacular, but I'm happy to have been able to pick up really clean and complete original pressings of those three Van Morrison albums. Most copies I see around here are beat to hell. I'm also pumped to have bought a nearly complete UK Decay collection from a friend, a Boston Strangler LP, a copy of the Warzone Womyn demo tape, and the new Folded Shirt EP.
