Tag: Gamebooks

Gamebook Collection

~ Veselin ~ 4 Comments

Some good folks created a tool where collectors can flag all the books they own so they know how far they are from a full set. I stopped buying old gamebooks some time ago because I wasn’t able to keep track of them.

So, this evening, I dug into the dusty shelves, and using that tool, I flagged all of my gamebooks. It took me almost two hours. I was surprised by many things, some pleasant, and some not.

  • I only have 230 gamebooks out of 491. I thought I owned a lot more than that, given how much space they take. I somehow Imagined that I have 300+.
  • There are maybe 20-ish I was absolutely certain I owned that didn’t appear, including some I purchased within the last 1-2 years. Maybe I mixed the shelves at some point.
  • Found 5-6 duplicates.
  • Found two super-rare books I had no idea I owned and prepared one of them for reading.
  • Found 2 books that I own but the tool doesn’t have 😀

I’m not sure how I feel about this experience. I need to think about it. Buying and reading gamebooks brings me joy but keeping them at home brings me dust and clutter. I don’t like dust and clutter.

Daily Harvest

~ Veselin ~ 2 Comments

I got 3 new gamebooks from the 1990s today. Planning to read toe UFO one soon.

All three are on subjects that fell out of fashion in the literature over the years. Flying saucers, samurais, and the Vietnam war. I hope at least one is actually good. Has to be the flying saucer 🙂

Meeting Robert Blond at the Christmas Book Fair

~ Veselin ~ Leave a comment

Today was the last day of the International Book Fair in Sofia. My book harvest this year was primarily gamebooks because there was a shortage of books I wanted and didn’t already buy before it. The Black Friday promotions were too good.

The Gamebook association organized a signing with one of our local gamebook celebrities, Robert Blond, who published a new book and a short story. I had a chance to read both. I finished the short story before it was published and the book – before writing the post.

The 2024 edition of Agamor is also out, which holds 4 gamebooks. One of the books is an official spinoff of Blood Sword. It’s expected to be published in English as well.

We also got a translation of Simon Duhope’s Shadow Chaser, which was surprisingly sophisticated. Took me 3 days to discover the path to the end.

The Shadow Chaser is available in English. Agamor is of local significance as of today.

Another writer who visited the city this week was Rhianna Pratchett. Despite being subscribed for updates on the publisher’s Facebook page, Facebook let me see the event’s announcement after it was over. Missed that opportunity.

Rhianna Pratchett is the author of Crystal of Storms. Would’ve loved to attend her signing.

The Goblins Return

~ Veselin ~ 1 Comment

Found this gem on Facebook. Fresh humor on yellow pages that barely hold. I enjoyed it very much. Not sure if it can endure another read without starting to fall apart. But the book was cool, well written, short, and brought me good memories.

I finished the monumental Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo yesterday and my original plan was to blog about it today but then I read the above book to fix the my tastebuds. The Goblins deserve a post, and the Six of Crows can be left to less critical book bloggers.