Of the many laudable aspects of the Memorial Day Weekend – time with friends and family, BBQ, swimming in the pool, beer – my absolute favorite is the Half Price Books 20% off sale.  During the sale, they provide an additional 20% off their everyday half-off prices on every item in the store.  It’s a pretty sweet sale that HPB schedules several times each year – Memorial Day, Labor Day, and after Xmas.

I rarely miss a sale.  And with locations all over Texas, there’s a lot to explore.

I scored hard this time around:

• Max Brooks’ World War Z (I have the audio version.  Since it is abridged, I am eager to read the whole darn thing.)
• Stan Nicholls’ Orcs: Bad Blood (I bought the earlier book at Xmas time)
• Comic trade paperbacks – Starlin’s Mystery in Space vol 2, Green Arrow: Quiver, Green Arrow: City Walls, Bendis’ Ultimate Power, and Daredevil: Hell to Pay.
• White Wolf’s Changeling: The Lost
• Decipher’s Star Trek: The Role Playing Game – Player’s Guide, Narrator’s Guide, and Starfleet Operations Manual (books 1-3).

Made out like a freakin’ bandit.

Have no idea when I will have time to read all that.  But dang!  I’ve got lots of stuff to read by the pool.

By the way, I’m reading Dresden Files book 4 right now, Summer Knight, a book I picked up at HPB’s after Xmas sale. Book is awesome.  If you’re not already reading Jim Butcher’s wizard/detective series, you’re really missing out.  I highly recommend them.  Very important, they are nothing at all like the Sci-Fi Channel series.

This week’s Bear Swarm podcast is a Dresden Files Special.

Many good things come from Half Price Books.  With many locations in 16 states across this great country, there might even be one close to you.  Not to Paul, though.

He never gets anything cool.