Ace Doubles: Two Tales, One Spine

Ace Doubles: Two Tales, One Spine

Philip K Dick’s first published novel was Solar Lottery in 1955. It was a thirty five cent Ace paperback. If you flip the book over, there’s no back cover, there’s a different front cover, and it’s upside down. When you turn it right side up, it’s a novel by Leigh...
Brown Stage Capitalism

Brown Stage Capitalism

Everything is getting worse.  Cory Doctorow gave it a name three years ago: enshittification. Now he has written the best business book of the year, Enshittification: Why Everything Suddenly Got Worse and What To Do About It. It will help you understand many things,...
Libby, Libraries, And The Shocking Cost Of Ebook Licenses

Libby, Libraries, And The Shocking Cost Of Ebook Licenses

You can read almost any book in print for free, new or old, using an app named Libby. It’s legal! In fact, it’s encouraged. Maybe I’m not telling you anything new. Lots of people use Libby. If you know, you know. But if you aren’t familiar with Libby, this might rock...
Emus And Piracy: The Story Behind The Lord Of The Rings

Emus And Piracy: The Story Behind The Lord Of The Rings

The painting on the cover of the first US paperback edition of The Hobbit has a lion, a fruit tree, and a pair of emus. There are no lions in The Hobbit. There are no fruit trees or emus. J.R.R. Tolkien was baffled. He wrote to the publisher, “Where is this place? Why...
How Philip K Dick’s Estate Found A Loophole In A Shoebox

How Philip K Dick’s Estate Found A Loophole In A Shoebox

I have a limited edition of Philip K Dick’s novel In Milton Lumky Territory with the legendary author’s signature on the first page. Only 50 copies were signed and bound with the signature and the special quarter leather spine. There’s a fun story about the signature....