Not only is Tesco not a store I normally shop at (I usually use a small local Asda), but it’s also not the place I would expect to find interesting books as its book section is usually stuffed to the gills with the latest bestsellers – not my cup of tea….
However, as I was lurking in the entrance area yesterday, trying to keep warm and dry while waiting for my lift, I noticed a small bookshelf with some battered old books and a charity tin. There was a notice saying how much had been raised for the local community so far, and the implication was that you took a book and made a donation. Now, I’ve never been one to turn away from a collection of second-hand books and so I had a little browse and this is what came home with me…
I did, of course, leave a suitable donation….
Finding older sci-fi titles in a place like this astonished me – these kind of ad hoc book sales seem to be springing up all over the place, when I think about it; there’s one in our local Wilkinsons too, but the books are mainly tatty and unpleasant and of no interest at all. These are tatty, admittedly, but the titles *do* intrigue!
Aldiss is an author I’ve enjoyed very much, and I’ve made a mental note to pick up whatever of his I come across. I know nothing about these titles but I’m willing to give them a go!
I’ve never, ever seen a second-hand copy of New Worlds so this one was irresistible. I will, of course, have the Ballard stories in my collected volumes, but I’m hoping the rest of the contents will be interesting. The last book I know absolutely nothing about – but I couldn’t resist the cover!
I have been doing *so* well with not acquiring books lately, but alas these just *had* to come home with me. Time to go and scout for a few to take in and donate today, methinks….. =:o
Nov 05, 2016 @ 09:04:12
I’ve found some real gems in these little bookstores… good place to deposit a few surplus too😀
Nov 05, 2016 @ 15:40:03
Yes, I might well take a few in myself….
Nov 05, 2016 @ 09:19:21
You clearly have a more discerning clientele at your local Tesco than we do at ours where the donation bookshelf consists of memories of C list celebs and best seller mysteries. The one at Sainsbury is not much better. Yesterday I had a browse at the one in Costa Coffee but slim pickings again – I hesitated about two or three but in the end decided I would never get to read them since I had far more interesting options already at home. So I just made a donation in thanks for giving me something to browse…..
Nov 05, 2016 @ 15:39:52
Most of these that I come across are tripe – which was why the Tesco one was such a surprise!!!
Nov 05, 2016 @ 11:04:27
Nothing of this kind would happen at my local supermarket. You buy new paperbacks (and not the best usually) and that’s it.
As to Sci-fi I have always had difficulties with this genre. I cannot believe in the books. Well, unless it is Orwell or Huxley.
Nov 05, 2016 @ 15:38:39
I’m not that experienced with sci fi – I’ve liked most of what I read but I do tend to be selective.
Nov 05, 2016 @ 12:06:18
This is a great idea. I am not a big sci-fi reader but these are size manageable with fun covers. I hope you read one soon and tell us about it.
Nov 05, 2016 @ 15:37:44
I’ll do my best! 🙂
Nov 05, 2016 @ 13:42:20
I’m always finding books at our local market’s charity bookcase – this week a Paul Auster for me and two Laurie Colwin’s for my wife.
Aldiss’s ‘Non-Stop’ is very good. The title was changed for the U.S. market to something that is very generic for some reason. His ‘Greybeard’ is also worth searching for.
Nov 05, 2016 @ 15:37:33
I’ll keep an eye out for that one. I like the Aldiss I’ve read so far.
Nov 05, 2016 @ 14:04:20
I haven’t read ‘After World’s End’ but Jack Williamson’s books are usually good. He was one of the leading writers for the ‘pulp’ magazines in the 30’s and 40’s, usually sci-fi adventure stories. He continued to write well into his 90’s, I think his last novel was published in 2006. I think his ‘The Humanoids’ series is his best work.
Nov 05, 2016 @ 15:36:47
Ah – thank you! That’s good to know. I know all the really big names in sci fi, but not outside of those!
Nov 05, 2016 @ 18:09:01
Williamson’s work probably hasn’t aged as well as Aldiss has, his books are much more in the hard sci-fi genre, and are usually less character driven than Aldiss, but they’re usually at least fun, fast moving stories.
Nov 05, 2016 @ 19:34:29
Well, I’m willing to give it a try!
Nov 05, 2016 @ 17:14:17
Selling via other outlets was one of my many suggestions in my years as a charity bookshop volunteer. It’s good to see my idea vindicated, even if by other shops. And Ballard? I guess the older publications are out there. Well spotted.
Nov 05, 2016 @ 19:34:47
It’s a good idea – books in unexpected places can be most eyecatching!
Nov 05, 2016 @ 18:14:49
Nice finds I picked up a umberto eco work of non fiction in my Tesco they have stand of second hand books
Nov 05, 2016 @ 19:34:12
It’s always good to come across those unexpected finds!
Nov 05, 2016 @ 20:34:37
You lucky thing!
Nov 06, 2016 @ 12:13:48
I know – what a treat!
Nov 06, 2016 @ 08:34:12
Well done Tesco what great finds for you. The Tesco I use is a city centre store – no bookshelves. Mainly I order online from Tesco or use other supermarkets entirely.
Nov 06, 2016 @ 12:13:20
It was certainly unexpected! I tend to use a local, smaller Asda but I get a bit bored with their lack of decent vegetarian stuff!
Nov 06, 2016 @ 19:23:15
Oh my, what awesome covers! I wonder why there’s no secondhand stall in the any Tescos near me. Mind you, I’ve been accruing rather too many ‘new to me’ books of late, so that’s probably a very good thing!
Nov 06, 2016 @ 20:19:42
If I’m honest, the covers were half the appeal….
Nov 07, 2016 @ 08:31:47
Well done! You should look out for the local BookCrossing shelves, you never know what you’ll find there. That Ballard cover is a little disturbing, though!!
Nov 07, 2016 @ 11:41:40
I have actually picked up a couple of things at our local BookCrossing point (a branch of Nero) – but going there is a little dangerous so I try to avoid it most of the time…. 🙂
Nov 07, 2016 @ 11:11:43
Secondhand books stands in supermarkets is something unheard of in France I think ! As are charity bookshops for that matter. How weird.
Nov 07, 2016 @ 11:37:42
Aww, shame – they’re my favourite kind of place. Though I usually expect shelves like this to be full of tat….!
Nov 10, 2016 @ 13:43:48
Non-Stop is generally seen as one of the classics of the genre. It may in places seem a bit derivative, cliched even, but if so that’s because it largely created those cliches by being widely copied.
Aldiss had the same misfortune as Chandler in that respect. You read it and might think “hasn’t this been done a lot?” and it has (though in Chandler’s case not with his wonderful prose). It has though because those early authors inspired a great many others.
Comic Inferno I don’t know, but Aldiss did write rather a lot. Peter’s right about Greybeard, another stand out. Interestingly Aldiss raised a claim of plagiarism against PD James for her Children of Men (later made into a film of course) which follows an almost identical plot to Greybeard with some fairly similar characters and events, but later accepted that it was pure coincidence and that he and James had simply both independently had the same idea and the rest had flowed naturally from it.
The Greybeard/Children of Men thing does show how genre can be ignored sometimes. When PD James wrote that story it wasn’t seen as SF as she wasn’t an SF writer, and got widely reviewed. When Aldiss earlier wrote pretty much the same tale it only got covered by the SF press (which is why James didn’t know about it). So it goes.
Williamson is variable. Some very good. Some more dated now. I don’t recall that one.
Ballard, of course, is Ballard.
Nov 10, 2016 @ 14:36:26
Thank you Max! I’m a bit in the dark when it comes to choosing sci fi to read, which perhaps is half the fun when exploring a genre you don’t know very well. I’ve certainly enjoyed the Aldiss I’ve read and so I have high hopes for reading his longer fictions. And as for Ballard – well, he’s peerless, isn’t he?
Nov 14, 2016 @ 17:18:00
Oh my goodness! What a strange place to find SF. I’ve been in a kind of Tesco express store, with no reading material whatsoever. I very much enjoyed the one Aldiss I read and have heard great things about Ballard. A good way to support your community!
Nov 14, 2016 @ 19:10:01
It’s certainly an odd place for sci fi – but I’m not complaining and it *was* for a good cause!