Branagh's Much Ado was great- except for Keanu. "Like, dude, I'm full on evil, and I'm gonna totally pull some non-non-heinous prank on these totally lame-ass people..." Shudder. I feel sorry for people who saw him in Hamlet in Winnipeg a few years ago. Or, actually I don't... they didn't have to be there, there were plenty of willing teenage girls who would've bought the tickets.

I remember being really into Christopher Pike in Jr. High, so it's cool that his stuff's still around. I think I still have most of his books packed away. My faves include Master of Murder , the Final Friends trilogy, and The Weekend. Hmmm. Maybe I'll try and dig those up and give them another read.

Have you read Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency yet?

Heh, I use Dirk's technique of zen navigation all the time. In fact, I had to last night coming home from Somerville. It got me where i needed to go.

Heh, I use Dirk's technique of zen navigation all the time.

I, too, occasionally just follow people who look like they know where they're going.

I, too, occasionally just follow people who look like they know where they're going.

That's how I navigated to an office Winter Holiday party in 2002. It worked, too.

The Richard Adams novel that scarred me as a child was Plague Dogs. It's possible that it wouldn't be as terrifying now, but I wouldn't know since I'll never be able to make myself read it again.

Yeah, I too read WD at age 11, loved it, and tried to read the Plague Dogs, but it was too upseting to finish. I can't deal with animal testing.

The best part about Bigwig's last stand is when he tells the other rabbits that he made a promise to his head rabbit to guard that passage and they get all freaked out because they can't imagine the rabbit who has to be tougher than him. Oh, also the part where he's calculating that even his dead body will be enough of an impediment to them. Bigwig was one tough fucking rabbit.

Love Bigwig.

I love Half-Price Books. Love love love. Cause their policy is simple: half the cover price, no foolin'.

This is the subject of some talk amogn used booksellers in my city, because the books have a bad habit of not selling when they're sold across the board at 1/2 cover. Or, the books that would have sold anyway sell at that price, but their more obscure brethren don't, and they sit on the shelves of the used book store forever. There's talk fo a new guy setting himself up in Union Square (Somerville) who has an algorithm that goes out onto ABE.com and checks what any given book is selling for, online, and then sets the price according to what the market will bear -- so, a good-shape used Coraline (which I got for $7 without a dustjacket) would sell for more than 1/2 cover, while a worthless Boys Own Adventure from 1952 would be priced as if it were worthless.

Anyway, it's supposed to be the revolution in used bookselling, and a tool to help keep the brick-and-mortar businesses alive. Around here, they're having trouble -- either they have to specialize (academics mostly), or they have to be in incredibly cheap real estate (Wakefield), or they have to have some other related business (new books, comics) that keeps the used book business afloat.

My faves include Master of Murder , the Final Friends trilogy, and The Weekend.

Those are all good, though I can't distinguish Weekend from Slumber Party. Spellbound is one of my favorites, so I was glad to find it. If I recall correctly, it's the one with animal possession. Oh, I also love the Last Vampire series, though it got kind of weird near the end. The first few are great.

Hmmm. Maybe I'll try and dig those up and give them another read.

Just remember that his target audience was young adults, so the writing style will throw you at first, after having read many older people books since then.

because the books have a bad habit of not selling when they're sold across the board at 1/2 cover. Or, the books that would have sold anyway sell at that price, but their more obscure brethren don't, and they sit on the shelves of the used book store forever.

That's odd. Is a quarter too much to pay for a book? Dawn Treader also has a FREE box to get rid of shit.

so, a good-shape used Coraline (which I got for $7 without a dustjacket) would sell for more than 1/2 cover, while a worthless Boys Own Adventure from 1952 would be priced as if it were worthless.

Hm. I guess I could deal with paying more than half for good condition, but these Pike books weren't in stellar condition, so it annoyed me more. And the Tea-Time seemed to be arbitrarily priced, as it didn't have an American price. It looked to be a British copy, which was cool. I do hope the used book business stays afloat.

speaking of used, anyone know where to get copies of the Bourne Identity series that DONT have Matt Damon on the cover? Usually, Amazon is my go to on non movie covers, but since the book is so old, they only have the new stuff.