Thursday, August 7, 2014

Ye Olde Partners Page

*A Collection of Antiquarian Curios & Relics*
"I know . . ."
                                                                                 --Han Solo to Princess Leia

1)  WHERE'S THAT CONFOUNDED BRIDGE . . .  My oldest daughter is in town and, as the young tend to be, a little more savvy in the pop culture department than I, so when she mentioned she wanted to watch the show Drunk History, I said, "Hey, why not."  Last night's episode covered the story of Ron and Nancy Reagan's romance, and I have to admit that I laughed and laughed and laughed.  Coincidentally, when I received the latest New York Times Book Review, there was Rick Perlstein's new title, The Invisible Bridge: The Fall of Nixon and the Rise of Reagan (9781476782416) 37.50 on the front cover.  This is the third book in the trilogy, which started with Before the Storm: Barry Goldwater and the Unmaking of the American Consensus (9780809028580) 19.95 and was followed by Nixonland: The Rise of a President and the Fracturing of America (9780743243032) 20.00.  Forget pop rocks, pet rocks and disco balls, Mr. Perlstein is more interested in the ever changing world of American conservatism.  And although his book only covers the years from 1973 to 1976, Reagan already loomed large in the 1976 presidential election.  Brace yourself, there are a bevy of Ronald Reagan books on the horizon, including the just released Reagan at Reyrjavik: 48 Hours That Ended the Cold War (9780062310194) 29.99 by Ken Adelman, where he made the surprising comment to Mikhail Gorbachev, "It would be fine with me if we eliminated all nuclear weapons."  If only . . .

 


2)  DOES ANYONE REMEMBER LAUGHTER . . .  I will admit to you that I did own a pet rock at one time.  Fortunately, like many nerdy kids, my salvation lay right around the corner in 1976; it was a little thing called Star Wars.  I will also admit to you that I saw Star Wars eleven times at the movie theatres.  Remember this is before the internet or DVDs or even VHS tapes, which were still in an embryonic stage.  And don't even get me started on waiting in line for The Empire Strikes Back and hearing some idiotic loudmouth announce that Darth Vader was Luke's father.  Talk about your spoiler alert!  This, of course, leads me to Jeffrey Brown's Goodnight Darth Vader (9781452128306) 14.95, which I will use to bolster my own parenting skills and most likely doom another of my children to a life of nerdom.  Mr. Brown is also responsible for the Jedi Academy series, which I noticed has been trending well.  The hijinks and fun began with the first book, Jedi Academy (9780545505178) 12.99, and it continues into the second book, Jedi Academy: Return of the Padawan (9780545621250) 12.99, which was released this past week.  Don't be a smelly Bantha!  Order your copies today . . .

 

On This Day in Byzantine History (August 7)
In the year 317 A.D., Constantius II, the second son of Constantine the Great was born in Sirmium.  He would live to be the 61st Roman Emperor.  
 
Odds & Sods

Our buddy Jim Dashner has hit the big time.  His first book in the Maze Runner trilogy, The Maze Runner (9780385385206) 10.99 will get the movie treatment on September 19.  We've also been selling the sequels The Scorch Trials (9780385738767) 9.99, The Death Cure (9780385738781) 9.99, and to a lesser degree, the prequel The Kill Order (9780385742894) 9.99. May the odds always be in your favour, or some such nonsense . . .

 
 

If you're looking for a human and dog travel book, you couldn't do any better than Benoit Denizet-Lewis' Travels with Casey (9781439146934) 26.00.  We should have more stock shortly . . .



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