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  • (ReacTor) The Science Fiction Book Club Will Be Greatly Missed

    From James Nicoll@21:1/5 to All on Tue Jan 28 17:24:13 2025
    The Science Fiction Book Club Will Be Greatly Missed

    If reports are true, and I did not simply misunderstand, we bid a fond
    farewell to an SF institution.

    https://reactormag.com/the-science-fiction-book-club-will-be-greatly-missed/
    --
    My reviews can be found at http://jamesdavisnicoll.com/
    My tor pieces at https://www.tor.com/author/james-davis-nicoll/
    My Dreamwidth at https://james-davis-nicoll.dreamwidth.org/
    My patreon is at https://www.patreon.com/jamesdnicoll

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  • From Chris Buckley@21:1/5 to William Hyde on Tue Jan 28 19:22:46 2025
    On 2025-01-28, William Hyde <wthyde1953@gmail.com> wrote:
    James Nicoll wrote:
    The Science Fiction Book Club Will Be Greatly Missed

    If reports are true, and I did not simply misunderstand, we bid a fond
    farewell to an SF institution.

    https://reactormag.com/the-science-fiction-book-club-will-be-greatly-missed/ >>
    When I joined, the offer was Boucher's two volume "Treasury of Science Fiction" for a dime. A much better deal than that first offer.

    Being keenly aware of the value of the Canadian dollar, I sent them
    eleven cents. I'm sure that gave someone a chuckle at the office.

    But I was then a member for about twenty years.
    William Hyde

    I took advantage of the same offer! SFBC definitely had a large impact on
    my science fiction reading and buying. I was only a member for 6 years or
    so; I had to drop it when I went off to college. I had no money - failing to disapprove of their monthly pair of selections (as I was wont to do) would
    eat up at least a quarter of my available money.

    Chris

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  • From Scott Lurndal@21:1/5 to William Hyde on Tue Jan 28 20:47:18 2025
    William Hyde <wthyde1953@gmail.com> writes:
    Chris Buckley wrote:
    On 2025-01-28, William Hyde <wthyde1953@gmail.com> wrote:
    James Nicoll wrote:
    The Science Fiction Book Club Will Be Greatly Missed

    If reports are true, and I did not simply misunderstand, we bid a fond >>>> farewell to an SF institution.

    https://reactormag.com/the-science-fiction-book-club-will-be-greatly-missed/

    When I joined, the offer was Boucher's two volume "Treasury of Science
    Fiction" for a dime. A much better deal than that first offer.

    Being keenly aware of the value of the Canadian dollar, I sent them
    eleven cents. I'm sure that gave someone a chuckle at the office.

    But I was then a member for about twenty years.
    William Hyde

    I took advantage of the same offer! SFBC definitely had a large impact on
    my science fiction reading and buying. I was only a member for 6 years or >> so; I had to drop it when I went off to college. I had no money


    I went to university here in Toronto, so saved on living expenses. I >couldn't have afforded to go elsewhere, but then I didn't want to.

    When I was a university, my office mate was a graduate student from
    China. He was buying all the SF he could find and gradually shipping
    it back home. He graciously allowed me to read a lot of it before
    shipping it. Aside that, if it wasn't in the University or local
    city library, it was out of my price range.

    Once I graduated, I did the columbia house LP 'club' for a couple of
    years, long enough to enable positive acknowledgement[*], and for a
    few years thereafter.

    [*] They'd send a card rather than the albums.

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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  • From The Horny Goat@21:1/5 to wthyde1953@gmail.com on Tue Jan 28 14:42:18 2025
    On Tue, 28 Jan 2025 15:16:49 -0500, William Hyde
    <wthyde1953@gmail.com> wrote:


    I went to university here in Toronto, so saved on living expenses. I >couldn't have afforded to go elsewhere, but then I didn't want to.

    I'm a Vancouver boy so went to UBC but went to McMaster (just down the
    road from there) and got both my MBA and MRS (i.e. I met my wife
    there) - now deceased but we had 37 years together; that and 2 girls
    and a boy now all grown up with only a 2 year old granddaughter (born
    2 months after my wife's passing) to show for it.

    I lived cheap, got a small scholarship and was the Dean's Teaching
    Assistant (which didn't pay any more than any other TA but looked good
    on the resume) so had enough left over for some basic furniture in my
    first place and her ring.

    Given cost of business schools these days that wouldn't have been
    possible.

    As for the unwanted ones, well at least when I express my disdain for
    them it is from an informed basis. Painfully informed because I read >everything I bought.

    Ditto though these days that's about 1/3 of what I read (the rest
    coming from the public library)

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  • From Ted Nolan @21:1/5 to lcraver@home.ca on Tue Jan 28 23:15:17 2025
    In article <o1nipjhs4dg61ddamqv9ofti245gbc0eso@4ax.com>,
    The Horny Goat <lcraver@home.ca> wrote:
    On Tue, 28 Jan 2025 15:16:49 -0500, William Hyde
    <wthyde1953@gmail.com> wrote:


    I went to university here in Toronto, so saved on living expenses. I >>couldn't have afforded to go elsewhere, but then I didn't want to.

    I'm a Vancouver boy so went to UBC but went to McMaster (just down the
    road from there) and got both my MBA and MRS (i.e. I met my wife
    there) - now deceased but we had 37 years together; that and 2 girls
    and a boy now all grown up with only a 2 year old granddaughter (born
    2 months after my wife's passing) to show for it.

    I lived cheap, got a small scholarship and was the Dean's Teaching
    Assistant (which didn't pay any more than any other TA but looked good
    on the resume) so had enough left over for some basic furniture in my
    first place and her ring.

    Given cost of business schools these days that wouldn't have been
    possible.

    As for the unwanted ones, well at least when I express my disdain for
    them it is from an informed basis. Painfully informed because I read >>everything I bought.

    Ditto though these days that's about 1/3 of what I read (the rest
    coming from the public library)

    So did they have a special arm for Canada or did you have to send
    international money orders and pay international postage?
    --
    columbiaclosings.com
    What's not in Columbia anymore..

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Chris Buckley@21:1/5 to William Hyde on Wed Jan 29 01:09:27 2025
    On 2025-01-28, William Hyde <wthyde1953@gmail.com> wrote:
    Chris Buckley wrote:
    On 2025-01-28, William Hyde <wthyde1953@gmail.com> wrote:
    James Nicoll wrote:
    The Science Fiction Book Club Will Be Greatly Missed

    If reports are true, and I did not simply misunderstand, we bid a fond >>>> farewell to an SF institution.

    https://reactormag.com/the-science-fiction-book-club-will-be-greatly-missed/

    When I joined, the offer was Boucher's two volume "Treasury of Science
    Fiction" for a dime. A much better deal than that first offer.

    Being keenly aware of the value of the Canadian dollar, I sent them
    eleven cents. I'm sure that gave someone a chuckle at the office.

    But I was then a member for about twenty years.
    William Hyde

    I took advantage of the same offer! SFBC definitely had a large impact on
    my science fiction reading and buying. I was only a member for 6 years or >> so; I had to drop it when I went off to college. I had no money


    I went to university here in Toronto, so saved on living expenses. I couldn't have afforded to go elsewhere, but then I didn't want to.


    - failing to
    disapprove of their monthly pair of selections (as I was wont to do) would >> eat up at least a quarter of my available money.

    I did go away for the MSc, and this did happen to me. But fortunately
    the MSc was funded so I could afford the occasional unwanted book. Many
    of which turned out to be wanted after all.

    As for the unwanted ones, well at least when I express my disdain for
    them it is from an informed basis. Painfully informed because I read everything I bought.
    Silver linings.
    William Hyde

    Looking at my Favorites bookcase, I see at least 2 SFBC that I'm sure
    were unwanted at the time (_Five Fates_ and _Chocky_) and I wouldn't
    be surprised if there was another one or two among the other 8 SFBC
    there. A nice source.

    The other big attraction for me was the omnibuses, where the SFBC
    would package 3-4 older books of a series together for not much more
    than the price of the regular selection. I got introduced to Pern and
    the Stainless Steel Rat that way (along with a number of more forgettable authors like Chalker.)

    Chris

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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  • From James Nicoll@21:1/5 to All on Wed Jan 29 02:46:44 2025
    In article <lvt6o4F4fnkU1@mid.individual.net>,
    Ted Nolan <tednolan> <tednolan> wrote:
    In article <o1nipjhs4dg61ddamqv9ofti245gbc0eso@4ax.com>,
    The Horny Goat <lcraver@home.ca> wrote:
    On Tue, 28 Jan 2025 15:16:49 -0500, William Hyde
    <wthyde1953@gmail.com> wrote:


    I went to university here in Toronto, so saved on living expenses. I >>>couldn't have afforded to go elsewhere, but then I didn't want to.

    I'm a Vancouver boy so went to UBC but went to McMaster (just down the
    road from there) and got both my MBA and MRS (i.e. I met my wife
    there) - now deceased but we had 37 years together; that and 2 girls
    and a boy now all grown up with only a 2 year old granddaughter (born
    2 months after my wife's passing) to show for it.

    I lived cheap, got a small scholarship and was the Dean's Teaching >>Assistant (which didn't pay any more than any other TA but looked good
    on the resume) so had enough left over for some basic furniture in my
    first place and her ring.

    Given cost of business schools these days that wouldn't have been
    possible.

    As for the unwanted ones, well at least when I express my disdain for >>>them it is from an informed basis. Painfully informed because I read >>>everything I bought.

    Ditto though these days that's about 1/3 of what I read (the rest
    coming from the public library)

    So did they have a special arm for Canada or did you have to send >international money orders and pay international postage?

    There was a Canadian SFBC, which I think was a different company in
    some way affiliated with the US SFBC, but it went under in the early
    '00s. I think.
    --
    My reviews can be found at http://jamesdavisnicoll.com/
    My tor pieces at https://www.tor.com/author/james-davis-nicoll/
    My Dreamwidth at https://james-davis-nicoll.dreamwidth.org/
    My patreon is at https://www.patreon.com/jamesdnicoll

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Dimensional Traveler@21:1/5 to James Nicoll on Tue Jan 28 20:00:38 2025
    On 1/28/2025 9:24 AM, James Nicoll wrote:
    The Science Fiction Book Club Will Be Greatly Missed

    If reports are true, and I did not simply misunderstand, we bid a fond farewell to an SF institution.

    https://reactormag.com/the-science-fiction-book-club-will-be-greatly-missed/

    Sorry, it died years ago when I believe it was Andrew Wheler(?) was let go.

    --
    I've done good in this world. Now I'm tired and just want to be a cranky
    dirty old man.

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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  • From Default User@21:1/5 to James Nicoll on Wed Jan 29 08:13:51 2025
    James Nicoll wrote:

    The Science Fiction Book Club Will Be Greatly Missed

    I was a bit surprised that the initial fee was $1, as I got in the
    first time during the 10c days. Like most subscription services, the financially astute way was to sign up, take the bonus items, buy the
    minimum required deliveries, then quit. Repeat.

    I didn't do that exactly, but I did quit and sign up again a few times.


    Brian

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  • From BCFD 36@21:1/5 to James Nicoll on Fri Jan 31 07:51:33 2025
    On 1/28/25 09:24, James Nicoll wrote:
    The Science Fiction Book Club Will Be Greatly Missed

    If reports are true, and I did not simply misunderstand, we bid a fond farewell to an SF institution.

    https://reactormag.com/the-science-fiction-book-club-will-be-greatly-missed/
    I just checked bcfd.com and it still exists. However, it had mostly
    OTHER genres. And their selection has not been good for many years.

    I signed up in about 1974. Got lots of books I didn't manage to cancel
    and even liked some of them. Especially The Black Company.
    --
    ----------------

    Dave Scruggs
    Senior Software Engineer - Lockheed Martin, et. al (mostly Retired)
    Captain - Boulder Creek Fire (Retired)
    Board of Directors - Boulder Creek Fire Protection District (What was I thinking?)

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  • From The Horny Goat@21:1/5 to tednolan on Tue Feb 4 22:39:06 2025
    On 28 Jan 2025 23:15:17 GMT, ted@loft.tnolan.com (Ted Nolan
    <tednolan>) wrote:

    So did they have a special arm for Canada or did you have to send >international money orders and pay international postage?

    Heh heh - mostly I bought them in the university bookstore (which is
    where I got the entire Many Colored Land series by Julian May)

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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