Tuesday, October 31, 2006

It's free book season!

I just received my third package of the day containing free books, and I have to say that this is definitely the best perk of my job (it's better, even, than walking into this town's best coffeeshop and being hailed enthusiastically by the student-barista as "Dr. Fescue!").

I'm designing two new courses for the spring, so many of the books I received today are for those classes (which is to say, they remind me of all the work I have to do, and so aren't an entirely unqualified joy), but I also just received my shipment of seven--count 'em, SEVEN--free books as my publisher's reviewer's honorarium. I don't need any of those books urgently, and I may in fact never need two of them at all. . . but isn't that what makes them fun? Whatever isn't required reading, after all, must be pleasure reading. Or if they're not that, at least they'll look good on my bookshelves.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

MMM...free books....

Now if there only an ethical way to get free coffee...

Anonymous said...

A completely unsolicited Riverside Shakespeare appeared in my mailbox last week. It was the Greatest Day Ever.

Terminal Degree said...

Free books in exchange for reviewing something I wanted to read anyhow? What could be better? (Free books were one of the most surprising, yet delightful, parts of the gig.)

Hieronimo said...

First of all, I would have thought that if your student hailed you as "Dr. Fescue," you might be kind of freaked out that she had managed to discover your secret blog-identity!

2) At my old school, there were a couple guys who would come around buying books. And I used to get a *ton* of free books, including duplicates and books I'd never use. These book-buying people had a little handheld computer where they could scan the UPC symbol and it told them what they were authorized to pay for the book. Fascinating business. Possibly illegal. But I made a couple hundred dollars a year doing it. It doesn't seem to happen at my new school... and I haven't gotten any free unsolicited books yet! hmm...

Anonymous said...

Hieronomo is right ... it's the book buyers, not the free books, that are the greatest perk of this job. We have a few who come around every month or so and I get many freebie samples. If I don't want the free book, they give me cash in my hand.

Unknown said...

I am chartreuse with envy of your free books - when I'm teaching, I can always count on Norton to send me a little tidbit. But who are these "Book Buyers in Black"? I've never heard of them, but I want to see one before I die...

Tenured Radical said...

The book buyers are always showing up at my Neue Englande College in Zenith. But last summer, one of the dizzy old farts who comes in to sip bourbon out of a cofee cup all day called public safety to say that there was a man lurking around hte building, claiming to be a book buyer. Public safety came over and arrested him immediately. Upon further investigation, he turned out to be....a book buyer. This entire story was then circulated as part of a public safety report to the community, warning us that you can't be too careful, and that such people should always be reported.

BTW, Dr. Fescue -- this is a great blog. You are my heroine.

Flavia said...

Ah yes, the book buyers! I've heard of them, but so far the only one I've seen appears to be with a charity organization of some sort (raising money for cancer research? I think), and so I suspect he's not paying money, but rather taking donations.

TR: that's the funniest damn story I've heard in a long time--thanks for sharing, for the compliment, and welcome!