The Face in the Frost by John Bellairs

https://jamesdavisnicoll.com/review/no-prayer-can-remove-him
--
My reviews can be found at http://jamesdavisnicoll.com/
My tor pieces at https://www.tor.com/author/james-davis-nicoll/
My Dreamwidth at https://james-davis-nicoll.dreamwidth.org/
My patreon is at https://www.patreon.com/jamesdnicoll

On Sunday, February 20, 2022 at 8:11:29 AM UTC-5, James Nicoll wrote:
> The Face in the Frost by John Bellairs
>
> https://jamesdavisnicoll.com/review/no-prayer-can-remove-him
> --
> My reviews can be found at http://jamesdavisnicoll.com/
> My tor pieces at https://www.tor.com/author/james-davis-nicoll/
> My Dreamwidth at https://james-davis-nicoll.dreamwidth.org/
> My patreon is at https://www.patreon.com/jamesdnicoll

I was desperate for fantasy at the time this came out, but the nearest bookstore was too far away (1), so my source of SF&F was K-mart, and they chose not to sell this. I didn't discover it until it was mentioned here (thank you!).

To be fair, K-Mart did have a pretty good selection usually, but this somehow fell through the cracks.

(1) The airport bookstore, and to this day I have an unseemly love of airports. This was nearly derailed by Ottawa airport, where I had eight hours to wait and which scandalously had no book store, but restored by Raleigh-Durham, which had a delightful used book store.

William Hyde

In article <f96ed3ea-8fb1-400d-a2ad-999d59b99bb6n@googlegroups.com>,
William Hyde <wthyde1953@gmail.com> wrote:
>On Sunday, February 20, 2022 at 8:11:29 AM UTC-5, James Nicoll wrote:
>> The Face in the Frost by John Bellairs=20
>>=20
>> https://jamesdavisnicoll.com/review/no-prayer-can-remove-him=20
>> --=20
>> My reviews can be found at http://jamesdavisnicoll.com/=20
>> My tor pieces at https://www.tor.com/author/james-davis-nicoll/=20
>> My Dreamwidth at https://james-davis-nicoll.dreamwidth.org/=20
>> My patreon is at https://www.patreon.com/jamesdnicoll
>
>I was desperate for fantasy at the time this came out, but the nearest book=
>store was too far away (1), so my source of SF&F was K-mart, and they chose=
> not to sell this. I didn't discover it until it was mentioned here (thank=
> you!).
>
>To be fair, K-Mart did have a pretty good selection usually, but this someh=
>ow fell through the cracks.
>
>(1) The airport bookstore, and to this day I have an unseemly love of airp=
>orts. This was nearly derailed by Ottawa airport, where I had eight hours =
>to wait and which scandalously had no book store, but restored by Raleigh-D=
>urham, which had a delightful used book store.
>

My father travelled abroad a lot, which meant I did a lot of shopping
at the Pearson Airport bookstore in the 1970s. It always had something
new to me.

On Monday, February 21, 2022 at 7:27:08 AM UTC-5, J. Clarke wrote:
> On Sun, 20 Feb 2022 14:58:14 -0800 (PST), William Hyde
> <wthyd...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> >On Sunday, February 20, 2022 at 8:11:29 AM UTC-5, James Nicoll wrote:
> >> The Face in the Frost by John Bellairs
> >>
> >> https://jamesdavisnicoll.com/review/no-prayer-can-remove-him
> >> --
> >> My reviews can be found at http://jamesdavisnicoll.com/
> >> My tor pieces at https://www.tor.com/author/james-davis-nicoll/
> >> My Dreamwidth at https://james-davis-nicoll.dreamwidth.org/
> >> My patreon is at https://www.patreon.com/jamesdnicoll
> >
> >I was desperate for fantasy at the time this came out, but the nearest bookstore was too far away (1), so my source of SF&F was K-mart, and they chose not to sell this. I didn't discover it until it was mentioned here (thank you!).
> >
> >To be fair, K-Mart did have a pretty good selection usually, but this somehow fell through the cracks.
> >
> >(1) The airport bookstore, and to this day I have an unseemly love of airports. This was nearly derailed by Ottawa airport, where I had eight hours to wait and which scandalously had no book store, but restored by Raleigh-Durham, which had a delightful used book store.
> A used book store in an airport. DAMN! That's _brilliant_! Why
> didn't I think of that? Passengers coming off a flight having
> finished whatever they were reading trade it in for something new plus
> less bucks than the retail book store would charge, and there would
> likely ultimately be a better selection.

My Raleigh-San Francisco flight in fall 2001 took 19+ hours. I finished the book I brought before we even boarded. Three books bought from the store saved my sanity - finished two and a half before we finally landed. I had two more in reserve, because a ten hour wait in Washington was in the cards.

I hope it's still there.

William Hyde

In article <94b86665-b7fc-4bf0-a812-442fb052e429n@googlegroups.com>,
William Hyde <wthyde1953@gmail.com> wrote:
>On Monday, February 21, 2022 at 7:27:08 AM UTC-5, J. Clarke wrote:
>> On Sun, 20 Feb 2022 14:58:14 -0800 (PST), William Hyde=20
>> <wthyd...@gmail.com> wrote:=20
>>=20
>> >On Sunday, February 20, 2022 at 8:11:29 AM UTC-5, James Nicoll wrote:=20
>> >> The Face in the Frost by John Bellairs=20
>> >>=20
>> >> https://jamesdavisnicoll.com/review/no-prayer-can-remove-him=20
>> >> --=20
>> >> My reviews can be found at http://jamesdavisnicoll.com/=20
>> >> My tor pieces at https://www.tor.com/author/james-davis-nicoll/=20
>> >> My Dreamwidth at https://james-davis-nicoll.dreamwidth.org/=20
>> >> My patreon is at https://www.patreon.com/jamesdnicoll=20
>> >=20
>> >I was desperate for fantasy at the time this came out, but the nearest b=
>ookstore was too far away (1), so my source of SF&F was K-mart, and they ch=
>ose not to sell this. I didn't discover it until it was mentioned here (tha=
>nk you!).=20
>> >=20
>> >To be fair, K-Mart did have a pretty good selection usually, but this so=
>mehow fell through the cracks.=20
>> >=20
>> >(1) The airport bookstore, and to this day I have an unseemly love of ai=
>rports. This was nearly derailed by Ottawa airport, where I had eight hours=
> to wait and which scandalously had no book store, but restored by Raleigh-=
>Durham, which had a delightful used book store.
>> A used book store in an airport. DAMN! That's _brilliant_! Why=20
>> didn't I think of that? Passengers coming off a flight having=20
>> finished whatever they were reading trade it in for something new plus=20
>> less bucks than the retail book store would charge, and there would=20
>> likely ultimately be a better selection.
>
>My Raleigh-San Francisco flight in fall 2001 took 19+ hours. I finished th=
>e book I brought before we even boarded. Three books bought from the stor=
>e saved my sanity - finished two and a half before we finally landed. I ha=
>d two more in reserve, because a ten hour wait in Washington was in the ca=
>rds.
>
>I hope it's still there.

In 2011 I figured my Kobo was the ideal solution to vacation books. It was...
except the battery ran down three days ahead of schedule and I left the
charger behind.

On Monday, February 21, 2022 at 6:02:46 PM UTC-5, The Horny Goat wrote:
> On Mon, 21 Feb 2022 07:27:03 -0500, J. Clarke
> <jclarke...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> >A used book store in an airport. DAMN! That's _brilliant_! Why
> >didn't I think of that? Passengers coming off a flight having
> >finished whatever they were reading trade it in for something new plus
> >less bucks than the retail book store would charge, and there would
> >likely ultimately be a better selection.
> My main response to that was 'how could such a thing economically
> survive at an airport?' given the high level of rents there and the
> fact that airport stores are normally dominated by chains (with the
> sole exception of eateries) and the used book business is usually a
> single location type of store.

It may be that they did not survive. But RDU at the time had some empty shop fronts, so I suppose rent wasn't that high.

William Hyde

William Hyde <wthyde1953@gmail.com> writes:
>On Monday, February 21, 2022 at 6:02:46 PM UTC-5, The Horny Goat wrote:
>> On Mon, 21 Feb 2022 07:27:03 -0500, J. Clarke
>> <jclarke...@gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>> >A used book store in an airport. DAMN! That's _brilliant_! Why
>> >didn't I think of that? Passengers coming off a flight having
>> >finished whatever they were reading trade it in for something new plus
>> >less bucks than the retail book store would charge, and there would
>> >likely ultimately be a better selection.
>> My main response to that was 'how could such a thing economically
>> survive at an airport?' given the high level of rents there and the
>> fact that airport stores are normally dominated by chains (with the
>> sole exception of eateries) and the used book business is usually a
>> single location type of store.
>
>It may be that they did not survive. But RDU at the time had some empty shop fronts, so I suppose rent wasn't that high.
>

Looks like it is no longer there.

https://www.rdu.com/shops-and-restaurants/shopping/

On Tuesday, February 22, 2022 at 3:25:33 PM UTC-5, Scott Lurndal wrote:
> William Hyde <wthyd...@gmail.com> writes:
> >On Monday, February 21, 2022 at 6:02:46 PM UTC-5, The Horny Goat wrote:
> >> On Mon, 21 Feb 2022 07:27:03 -0500, J. Clarke
> >> <jclarke...@gmail.com> wrote:
> >>
> >> >A used book store in an airport. DAMN! That's _brilliant_! Why
> >> >didn't I think of that? Passengers coming off a flight having
> >> >finished whatever they were reading trade it in for something new plus
> >> >less bucks than the retail book store would charge, and there would
> >> >likely ultimately be a better selection.
> >> My main response to that was 'how could such a thing economically
> >> survive at an airport?' given the high level of rents there and the
> >> fact that airport stores are normally dominated by chains (with the
> >> sole exception of eateries) and the used book business is usually a
> >> single location type of store.
> >
> >It may be that they did not survive. But RDU at the time had some empty shop fronts, so I suppose rent wasn't that high.
> >
> Looks like it is no longer there.
>
> https://www.rdu.com/shops-and-restaurants/shopping/

Alas.

William Hyde

On Sunday, February 20, 2022 at 4:58:19 PM UTC-6, William Hyde wrote:
> I was desperate for fantasy at the time this came out, but the nearest bookstore was too far away (1), so my source of SF&F was K-mart, and they chose not to sell this. I didn't discover it until it was mentioned here (thank you!).
>
> To be fair, K-Mart did have a pretty good selection usually, but this somehow fell through the cracks.
>
> (1) The airport bookstore, and to this day I have an unseemly love of airports. This was nearly derailed by Ottawa airport, where I had eight hours to wait and which scandalously had no book store, but restored by Raleigh-Durham, which had a delightful used book store.

When I was in college in the 70s, the St. Louis airport had a nice pinball/arcade game area. It had the advantage of not being overrun with little kids like so many other establishments were. We'd go up there and burn a few bucks worth of quarters.

Brian