Tuesday, May 1, 2012

Books Signed By Authors

Do you own any books autographed by the author in your permanent collection? Which autographed books do you cherish the most? How did you obtain the book(s) and what's the special meaning this particular book(s) has to you?

I have several autographed books from various authors. Some of the books I've purchased from author signing events and others from bookstores where an author has recently signed their book.  The following is a short list of some of my most cherished autographed books in my collection.

I have three hardback novels, The Silver Lotus, In the Shadow of the Cypress, and Down to a Soundless Sea, signed by author Thomas Steinbeck, son of Nobel Laureate John Steinbeck, that I have in my permanent collection. I had the opportunity to briefly meet Mr. Steinbeck at two different events that my husband & I attended in Santa Barbara, California. On each occasion, we had Mr. Steinbeck sign a copy of his book. Mr. Steinbeck spent quite a bit of time talking to each person who came to see him, including us. He is a really interesting person and had a lot of great stories to share as well as simply being a delightful person to meet. My husband took a picture of me standing next Thomas Steinbeck, which is really cool!

I also have an autographed copy of Buzz Aldrin's novel Encounter With Tibur. I am not a science fiction genre fan, nor have I read this novel. I merely purchased this book back in 1997, so that I could have Buzz Aldrin autograph his novel for me as he was the second human being to set foot on the moon in 1969. I've tried reading Encounter With Tibur a few times, but I just couldn't get into it. The cool part was meeting Buzz Aldrin briefly at a book signing event and having my picture taken with him.

I have an autographed copy of Diana Gabaldon's novel Lord John and the Private Matter, which I purchased from a bookstore in Scottsdale, Arizona called The Poisoned Pen. Unfortunately, I've never had the opportunity to meet Ms. Gabaldon, but hopefully one day I will! My maternal grandmother was the person responsible for me becoming an avid Diana Gabaldon fan as she had read and recommended the Outlander series to me in the late 1990s. Some years ago now, I sent Ms. Gabaldon a letter in the mail to express that I was a huge fan of her novels. In return, she sent me a couple of autographed bookplates, which I've placed inside two other books she has written in the Lord John Series.

Last but not least, I have an autographed copy of Brain and Belief: An Exploration of the Human Soul by John J. McGraw. This book is a work of nonfiction, fabulously well written, and definitely well worth the read if you enjoy books that include such genres as religion, psychology, and neuroscience! I first met John several years ago now through my mom, as he was a neighbor of my parents, and we've been acquainted ever since. John is a really cool person. I'm glad we met.

4 comments:

  1. I own quite a few books that are signed by the author; and there's some I didn't get to meet author, I just found them that way.

    'House on the Hill' by Estelle Pinney - personally signed by her when it first came out and I bought it off her.
    'Nocturnes' by John Connolly - found at a Publisher's Sales store when I wasn't really looking for anything in particular.
    'The Wave' by Todd Strasser - I received this in the mail from Bookcrossing.
    'Me & Her' by Karen Tyrrell - bought at her book launch 1st May; and she was there to sign as many as possible.
    'Working for Rupert' by Hugh Lunn
    'Lost For Words' by Hugh Lunn - both of these Mum got him to sign; but the second was signed to me by him with 'Watch your language' written in by him. I've met him before too; lovely man.
    'Baby It's Cold Outside' by Addison Fox - Won on the Romance Bandits site
    'The Accidental Courtesan' by Cheryl Ann Smith - Won on the Romance Bandits
    'The School of Brides' by Cheryl Ann Smith - won on the Romance Bandits site
    'Redeeming the Rogue' by Donna MacMeans' - won on the Romance Bandits site
    'Death, Taxes and a French Manicure' by Diane Kelly - won on the Romance Bandits site.

    I hadn't realised just how many books I've won on the Romance Bandits until I wrote them down here... that's a lot of romance novels that have been signed to me... I better get in and read some of them!

    PS: Actually, I'm halfway through one of them and it's very cool and funny. :D

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    1. That's so cool that you've won so many books online!

      Autographed books signed by the author are pretty neat to collect. I actually purchased two bargain books from Amazon within the past year, only discover the books were autographed by an unknown author to me! I've yet to read the books.

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  2. I treasure my signed Terry Pratchett books, most of them are from his many book signing tours.
    I also have a signed first edition of 'Wild Swans', which is one of my all time favourites. I bought this when it turned up in the second-hand bookshop I was working in at the time.
    I've passed a few signed copies on, usually ones that don't have any particular meaning for me.
    My biggest mistake was deciding not to go to Nottingham to a certain JK Rowling's book signing as I didn't fancy tackling the rush hour traffic! Aaarrgghhhh!

    http://carolines-chronicle.blogspot.co.uk/

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    1. I'm with you on passing along autographed novels by authors that don't have any special meaning to me or are at the very least unknown to me.

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