Tuesday, December 30, 2008

The irony of it is...

I've just now received from a Canadian bookseller what is very likely my final mail-order Gothic: Wyndspelle, by Aola Vandergriff:



That's an Ebay scan.

This is likely my last mail-order Gothic on the basis of my dislike of ordering books "on the blind." Of course with Absinthe and Gloomy Sunday we were able to see what Gothics she'd obtained and reviewed; at least 12 of them caught my interest and I placed orders.

The irony here is, if I recall correctly, Absinthe said "Wyndspelle" was her first Gothic and the one which started her off to acquiring and reading more. And it turns out this same novel is my last to receive via mail-order. Sure, just a coincidence but it's ... sort of ironic.

Prior to receiving "Wyndspelle" in the mail, I received the 2nd-to-final mail order Gothic: "Vengeance of the Cat Goddess" by Jennifer Stephens [Trixie's already given it an enthusiastic 4 Paws, on the basis of the cover art alone]:



That was scanned by Absinthe.

***

Yesterday my husband and I paid a visit to a nearby large border (US/Mexico) city. Sad to say the Gothic offerings there are nil. The city was impoverished for decades, and the dominant culture frowned upon "ladies of leisure" -- particularly taking time out to read. Many of them likely could not read nor speak English for that matter. It's another reminder of cultural differences.

It seems our little city 55 miles to the north is an oasis as Gothic novels go, for this region. We've had hundreds of northern retirees moving in, and I'm again certain it's these ladies cleaning out their packing boxes and filling the shelves [keep them coming!!].

7 comments:

Barrymore Tebbs said...

What???? No more gothics???? What will you read? What will you review? How will I get my vicarious gothic thrills?

Cindy M said...

Oh - no, no! You've misunderstood [?]; there are still *dozens* of Gothics in the two used bookstores in my city, and more rolling in [if the constantly refilled shelves are any indication]. I do intend to keep buying/reading Gothics locally...but not via mail order.

And I've got probably 200 Gothics in the spare closet, waiting to be read/reviewed besides. :-)

I'm not going anywhere; heck, I could probably keep this blog up and running the next 20 years easy. :-) I'm not committing to 20 years by the way [lol!], but I will keep the blog indefinitely and post as I'm able.

It's only order-by-mail Gothics which I likely won't obtain anymore; there's no one else to review/recommend. :-(

Otherwise? We're still in business and the OPEN sign is on.

Barrymore Tebbs said...

ohhhhh - wipes forehead - had me going there for a minute. I need to move to "your city" - I can't find nary a one gothic in the used bookstores around here.

Cindy M said...

Really? :-O

Sorry to know it, Barrymore.

I'll consider myself doubly fortunate then. And I'm keeping very good care of my Gothics; fireproof metal containers and shrunk-wrapped after reading.

Barrymore Tebbs said...

oh excellent! (except for the one you left at the restaurant)

I keep my old Dark Shadows paperbacks in a wire book rack. the tops are covered with dust and the last time I picked one up a piece of the cover just crumbled in my hand.

Happy New Year and I must say I am looking forward to your review of Vengeance of the Cat Goddess. What a great title, the cover is ok, and it is, well, you know, Satanic and stuff >:)~

Cindy M said...

"oh excellent! (except for the one you left at the restaurant)"

::blushes::

Barrymore, I get the feeling you're never going to let me live that down. :-( ;-)

I still cannot believe I did that...**KICKS SELF**!!

Gothic Writer said...

I live in Brownsville Texas, not sure where you are. There are NO good bookstores here in town proper, BUT Harlingen has a lovely one I just found with a very nice gothics section. :)