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One of Us Is Lying

Not sci-fi, but a very cool vintage edition of Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter. I like Hester’s sorrowful-yet-steadfast expression. It is part of the Reader’s Enhancement Series from Washington Square Books and published in 1969; it includes supplements about things like context and language. I imagine that once upon a time these were popular with students, since they could help with understanding and analyzing the story in the pre-Sparknotes days of yore.

George Orwell’s “Negative Utopia” 1984, chewed by some unknown creature. 1960′s Signet Classics paperback. The cover is plain, and in my opinion not really indicative of what is in the book, but this Signet version at least has some color to it. Usually, the ones with the blocky writing are just white all the way around.

Robert A. Heinlein’s Starship Troopers from the late 1960s. I like the green tones of this cover. Starship Troopers is special in its era, published in 1959, for featuring a protagonist that is a man of color, which was fairly rare in the Golden Age. Johnny Rico is Filipino, and spoiler alert--he saves the galaxy. 

Book Club first edition of Sphere by Michael Crichton with cover design by Paul Bacon from 1987. Interestingly simple and appealing to the eye, with an added spot of what is probably coffee from the previous owner as a bonus. I like Crichton best when he’s writing accessible, fast-paced sci fi scenarios, which of course Sphere has in spades–plus, it is set in the ocean! What could possibly go wrong? It is no Jurassic Park, but it is still a fun read, and this version is well worth the $1 I paid for it (according to the sticker on the spine.) I am glad that, many years ago, my husband encouraged me to read Crichton, because I might not have otherwise.