I used to buy a ton of science fiction/fantasy/horror books, and even some that might be called collectible. I still buy books, but these days far fewer and far more selectively. The main authors I read include Jack Vance, F. Paul Wilson, Tim Powers, James P. Blaylock, Michael Shea, Terry Pratchett, and Clark Ashton Smith. I also sometimes buy books from specific small press publishers; I have a few Arkham House books, some from Golden Gryphon, Subterranean Press, and Gauntlet Press, among others.

Sometimes I’ll “discover” an author and start looking for all their books. In 1996 I read Iain Bank’s novel Fearsum Endjin. I bought a couple more his books since then, usually at Adventures in Crime and Space, a now defunct Austin sf book store. Banks was hard to find in other, bigger stores, at least then. A gap of years with no Banks books followed, but a couple of years ago the trade paperback of his earlier books started showing up, and I’ve finally read some of his earlier works. Other authors I used to collect and then abandoned. I am not sure why, but in some cases it felt as though they just repeated themselves.

I view paper books both as objects of art, and some that can be read more than once. When I buy limited editions I never go for the rarest – lettered, tray case, etc. Those are display only books. I do own a few rare books, but that’s because they only came in that state. I’m not a completist like some people I know, and I don’t aim to go back and buy first editions from decades hence, just to own them.

Over time I plan to add cover pictures and descriptions of some books here, to explain why I like them and the author who wrote them. There’s a story behind everything.