Amazing used bookstore in Maui

Well, I won the argument about the computer. I'm blogging from the huge condo we rented for only $100 a night. It has 2 bathrooms!

Today I went to Old Lahaina Lahaina, a mostly cheesy tourist-trap sort of place on West Maui. There were two interesting things there.

One was an art gallery called Celebrites (accent on the final e), a gallery of art by and of rock stars. They had this german guy, Sebastian Kruger, who had these bizarre pictures of the Rolling Stones. Keith Richards' face was cracked like the surface of the Bisti Badlands in New Mexico. But the best one was this tripped out portrait of Robert Johnson. Apparently the whiskey glass by Johnson represents the way he died (at 27, of course), which is drinking a bottle of whiskey poisoned by a bartender whose wife he was banging.

Then I went to the Old Lahaina Book Emporium, and bought $40 worth of books. It's amazing that some of the best bookstores in the country can be found in some of the least likely places. Someday I want to do a book about all the unknown great used bookstores in the country, like COAS in Las Cruces, New Mexico, or Birdsong in Albuquerque, if it's still there.

And what did I buy, you ask?

The Meq, Steve Cash. I've passed on this one two or three times, but the premise is just too interesting not to give it a chance.

The God Particle, Richard Cox. Same as above.

LoveDeath, Dan Simmons. This is a collection of short stories. Simmons blew my mind with Hyperion years ago, but recently when I tried to read Olympus he lost me by spending too much time giving me unnecessary scientific details about his various gadgets. I'm thinking in short stories I don't need to worry about that.

Cowl, Neal Asher. I know I have heard his name more than a few times; I think I heard some people talk about him at ReaderCon.

The Golden Compass, Phillip Pullman. The His Dark Materials trilogy is supposed to be the thinking person's Harry Potter. We'll see.

The Demolished Man, Alfred Bester. To see why I bought this, see the title of my blog.

Probability Moon, Nancy Kress. Kress was recommended by Heather, who really hasn't fallen off the face of the earth, she's just too busy moving into her apartment to blog I think. That, or writing.

John Brunner, Children of Thunder. I've heard Brunner mentioned positively both at ReaderCon and more recently by Matthew Jarpe, whose book, by the way, is now available on Amazon. Go buy it now. I'll wait.

Omega, Jack McDeavitt. I don't know why, but his name always pops up in my mind, but I don't know where from. I bought Chindi at Powell's, and now this one.

Don't expect me to read all these any time soon. I bought $150 worth of books at Powell's just a few weeks before. I wouldn't be surprised if my summer buying spree lasts me well into next February, or longer.