This week’s either/or meme:
Hardcover? Or paperback?
Illustrations? Or just text?
First editions? Or you don’t care?
Signed by the author? Or not?
Let’s see. I believe the answer to each of these questions is . . . it depends. Ha. No simple answers here. I like the look of hardcovers and the convenience and comfort of paperbacks. I tend toward text, but illustrations are nice in the right context. I love first editions, but I do have a limited budget for such things and I’d rather have a copy of the nineteenth ghetto edition than no copy at all. And, I love signed books, but again, I’m a realist. It’s not always possible. Just for bragging purposes, though, here’s a list of my first editions and my signed books (that I can remember off of the top of my head):
First Editions
- For Whom the Bell Tolls, by Ernest Hemingway
- Salome, by Oscar Wilde
- A Sense of Reality, by Graham Greene
- Coraline, by Neil Gaiman
- The Graveyard Book, by Neil Gaiman
- The Yiddish Policeman’s Union, by Michael Chabon
- Gentlemen of the Road, by Michael Chabon
Signed Editions
- Twilight, by Stephenie Meyer
- The Host, by Stephenie Meyer
- Princess Academy, by Shannon Hale
- The Goose Girl, by Shannon Hale
- Peace Like a River, by Leif Enger
- So Brave, Young and Handsome, by Leif Enger
- Anasi Boys, by Neil Gaiman
- The Trouble with Poetry, by Billy Collins
- Crosswords to Soothe Your Soul, by Will Shortz
{ 5 comments }
I’m jealous of some of those!
Wow you’ve got some great stuff. I read somewhere that ARCs are valuable years later.
This reminds me! I had a goal to attend an author reading some time this year! I’ve got to start paying better attention to who will be here when…
Very exciting list you have.
Love your answers. You’ve got a lot of signed editions there. I probably should check my own books for first editions, as they’re mostly used, and there could be one or two in there. :)
I LOVE to read old books. I actually brought home a book from a bargain store, opened the cover, and it was signed by the author. I looks authentic. I wondered if maybe a bookstore had done a signing and had the author sign some extra books and it never sold–thus landing it in a bargain book store. Who knows?
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