Book Storage

How do you store your books. In the house I hope. Whatever you do, please do not keep them in a non-climate controlled area. Like the garage or a storage shed. Case in point, I was just offered a
sizable book collection to buy. However they had been kept for several years in boxes in an area
that had no electricity. Guess what. ALL of them are ruined. Books take on smells, like smoke
from a smoker and in this case a very musty smell. So for me they are non-sellable. Too bad for
the seller. He is now stuck with a lot of books that are of little use to anyone, except himself.
They also show signs of roaches, whom leave behind roach "markings". So again, keep your
books in good shape. Like yourself. You both will last a longer time.

You can never have too many books.

Panzers in W.W.2

How about something different. Tanks, and you are welcome. A friend of mine, and a customer,
who now lives in Vegas, was in the store this weekend for a visit. He says he reads my blogs.
As he is only a few that have ever said that, I decided to write this for him. He is an armor
builder. In fact he helped me start our local armor club. So here is my first tank book review.
"Repairing The Panzers" German Tank Maintenance In World War 2 by Lukas Friedl.
This is from the Panzerwrecks publishing company. They do a very nice soft cover series.
Now they have the first in a new hard cover series and it is a must have for Panzer people.
In a 11 1/2 x 8 1/2 landscape format ( making for some great full page photos ) and 256
pages, that include 290 b & w photos ( most unpublished ) I am very impressed. I do not
collect armor books, but if I did this would be in my library. What a great book. No real
text. Just lots of photos with good captions and all in English. Get this one.

F.A.O.W.

F.A.O.W. What is this you say. For those that do not know, it stands for "Famous Airplanes Of The World". This is a book series from Bunrindo, the very good book company out of Japan. The series has been around for many years and has changed in looks several times. Mostly with the covers.
This 7 1/4 x 10 1/4, soft cover book now has a gloss black slip cover with a black & white drawing.
With an average of 100 pages, mostly b & w ( some color ) photos, some very nice color profiles,
several pages of line drawings including multi-views these make great references. They are now up to number 143, "Lavochkin Fighters". Although the text is Japanese, they are very much worth having. Remember as I have said before, text should never be an issue with books. So if you have some, good for you. If not, try at least one or two. I think you will be pleased. Trust me!!!!!

new Italian book series.

Hello everyone. It has been awhile.
I hope to update this more often now.

Ali D'Italia has a new series out now called
Ali D' Immagini, and the first title is the CR.32.

This is a black & white photo book only. No text,
no color. The captions are Italian & English.
But WOW, what good photos. Some I have
never seen before, and I have a lot of books.
So do not hesitate to add this one to your
collection. I do look forward to the next one.

And if you do get one, please send them a thank
you e-mail for yet another good book.

Re-Circulating Books.

I think that it is a very good idea to let your other half, or someone close, know of your book collection and its' value. As I have said before, if you keep your books in good shape they never loose their value. Most of the time they increase in value. So keep things current.

Case in point. Recently a friend of mine passed away at a still young age. He had a nice military book collection. His widow contacted the local club and they helped her out. Then they put her in touch with me. I bought the remainder. Now I will re-sell these to other book collectors. This way the books will get back into circulation with the people that will enjoy them the most.

It is sad to see what happens to some of these collections. They just disappear.

So please, let friends and family know of your intentions. Keep the books active.

Italian Military Aviation In W.W.2

Finally, after waiting for two years, La Bancarella Aeronautica has a new title out in the
Ali D'Italia series. This one ( #29 ) is on the Siai S.81 and as usual is very good. I very much
enjoy this series of books from them, and anything else they do, as they give us some very
good information on a wide range of Italian aircraft. Some of which have not had good
coverage until now. And this is a good one to have. Go get one. The book is full of black
and white photos, color profiles, scale drawings, and a full color page of the cockpit area.
I can not say enough about this publisher. Please support them as I, and any serious
book collector, would like to see more new stuff. Also, as soon as I figure out how to
take and post color cover photos better, I will do so.

Military Aviation ( must have ) books.

Well, much to my delight, people do read my blogs. Several of you have written back. Thanks.
This has encouraged me to keep writing. This will be a good year for military aviation books.
I have seen many good titles in the works from all around the world. What a great time to be
in the book collecting business. Sometimes the best are close by, as in the USA. I am speaking
of Jerry Crandall's "The Focke-Wulf Fw 190 Dora, vol.2". This is a must have book for any
fan of military aviation. Even better than vol.1. If I ever had to pick the perfect book, this
would probably be the one. There are others I have seen that come close, but this one is
just a bit better. The in-depth research on this airframe makes all the difference. All 400
pages of it. Get this book. And when you do, send thanks to Jerry.

Check back soon. I have some more book information to pass on. Thanks again.