So,

Saturday's trip to Eastbourne was a slight wash. Despite spending a couple of hours in Camilla's (which, before you ask "Camilla's what?" is the name of the bookshop), thoroughly examining the goods across two visits (broken up by a fruitless trip to the old town to visit another second hand bookshop that turned out to sell mostly new books and some old charity shop-style tat in the back), all I came out with was Stephen King's Cell. Still, I've started that already, and it's a decent enough end-of-the-world romp so far. And it's not like I haven't got plenty of other books to read, not to mention comics, old and new.

Speaking of comics, only read a couple of last week's haul thus far, but the first issue of new Vertigo series Sweet Tooth was rather good. Seems to be a post-apocalyptic scenario, which I hadn't worked out from the preview, and I likes me a good post-apocalyptic scenario, as my enjoyment of Cell testifies. I'll give it another few issues. If nothing else, it'll be interesting to see how an indie creator – Jeff Lemire, whose work I don't think I've read before – copes with the demands of a proper monthly comic book.

I'm not

going to list the comics I got this week because, frankly, that's getting boring. Suffice to say I bought fewer comics than I have done on similar weeks. Well done me, think of the money I've saved, etc. etc. But of course, being an inveterate collector, I've merely been spending money elsewhere. Modern first editions have been floating my boat recently. Either first editions in hardback, or first paperback editions. I just picked up a copy of Kingsley Amis's The Alteration, for example. Rather nice cover it has too:













And I'll be heading to Eastbourne at the weekend to have a good look around a great old second hand bookshop there.

There's really no hope for me.

Guh.

Just, guh. That's all I have to say right now.