COLLECT BOOKS WITH DOUG...NEW WINE IN OLD BOTTLES !

  I am delighted to announce my new blog :-

                                         www.collectbookswithdoug.com

It would seem that my monthly newsletter (dougfindsbooks.com) has become increasingly popular amongst my book buyers where in  addition to announcing the new additions to my web site,I have  tried to be topical about happenings in the book world, but space has it's limitations.
Having changed the name of this blog to"collect books with Doug" I have also managed a link from my new blog to my web site   " Dougfindsbooks.com".So, if you are browsing an article on my blog,say on Andre Brink ,and you would like to know which of his books are available on my site all you have to do is to'click' on to the box on my title page and this will take you to my web site 'Home Page'.You can then order from there if you wish.
It is hoped that 'Google' permitting I can install the reverse,i.e web site to blog, in a simple way.Watch this space.
Whist I will continue to keep you informed on such matters as the 'postal strike' and so on I will now be able to advise you on the relative collectability of  both authors and their books etc etc by using the extra space that a blog gives one.For example, whilst I don't much like the idea of an obituary section for departed writers ,I do like to bring these to your notice as it does have an immediate effect on both availability and collectability. See below.
Fundamentally I would like to be informative as the life stories of the authors often as interesting and informative as the books they write(or have written)
Let me start by mentioning a few recent facts..........

IS JOHN GRISHAM COLLECTABLE ?

John Grisham must be one of the most prolific of modern day popular thriller writers.But is he collectable ? Due to his remarkable success a great number of his books have been filmed.However the initial quantity of first edition printing of his hardbacks increases all the time,
Answering my own question I would say that his early books certainly are and will become more valuable and sought after as time goes by.After all look what has happened to Wilbur Smith. First editions of his earlier books are virtually unobtainable(mainly the Heinemann series).
I will certainly still obtain John Grishams for my customers.

HOT OFF THE PRESS ! TOM CLANCY HAS DIED !

One of the most prolific writers of the modern thriller passed away this week.His epic novels will be missed! RIP.
For information on his many books  you can contact me on colnic@telkomsa.net

STEPHEN KING BOOKS AT SPECIAL PRICES

I have accumulated a good range of Stephen King hardback novels, mainly First editions, which I am anxious to clear as ,frankly I need the shelf space.I have never personally been a great fan but recognise that he is very popular and collectable and my prices will surprise you.For a list send me an e mail on colnic@telkomsa.net.  FIRST COME, FIRST SERVED ! If you are desperate phone me (Office Hours) on (27)12 361 5144. and ask for Doug

RUDYARD KIPLING...A TRAGIC STORY

I was in the process of adding to my catalogue www.dougfindsbooks.com a book by Rudyard Kipling that I had not come across before.It was described as "his forgotten masterpiece" Well aware of his stories such as 'Kim', 'Puck of Pooks Hill' and his'Just So' series and that he had served as a correspondent in both India and South Africa,I was a little surprised to see the title as The Irish Guards in the Great War...The Second Battalion.
However behind this book was a very tragic story.His only son John Kipling, who was born in 1897,was not only deeply loved by his famous father but who was featured as Dem in Puck of Pooks Hill. When World War broke out in 1914, John, who was only 17 and below the minimum age to volunteer of 18,begged his father to allow him to join by using his influence.Reluctantly Rudyard contacted his old friend from their Boer War days, the eminent Lord Roberts(who had lost his own son,who was awarded a posthumous V.C attempting to save the guns in Natal during the Boer War).Lord Roberts succeeded in getting John Roberts a commission as a 2nd Lieutenant in the 2nd Battalion,The Irish Guards before his 18th birthday.His father accepted all this with great foreboding and a very heavy heart but accepted his son's wishes.
It was leading his platoon  at the battle of Loos in 1915 he was seen to have been wounded and was never seen again alive and was posted as 'missing' and later as killed in action.He was later buried with a tombstone as an' Irish officer' and it was only many later that a formal identification was made.Kipling died in 1936 never knowing where he fell and where he was buried. A sad story but it lead to him writing this very accomplished history of his son's regiment in World War 1.A very good read !

HEMINGWAY

Is Ernest Hemingway collectable a number of people have asked me ?

Well certainly I have always answered, although scarcity is not necessarily a criteria.But now in

recent weeks I have started to come across his books. "The Old Man and the Sea" and "For whom the

Bell Tolls" and so on. Fascinating ! I wonder how many readers ever saw the great, if a little

depressing, movie , about the old fisherman and his epic battle with a very big fish,starring Spencer

Tracey, and the story of war and love  in World War 1, starring Gary Cooper and I think Ingrid

Bergman,

And how many of us know that Hemingway committed suicide with his own hunting rifle ?

Interesting ? Perhaps ?