Otherworldly Treasures and Nice People!

I seem to have acquired a few really cool things lately and I thought I'd share with everyone. Two of them come from eBay, and one comes from Barnes and Noble.

The first is something that I have sought after for a long, long time (well, as long as it's been out), but have never been able to afford. But thanks to the wonders of eBay, I now own The Absolute Sandman Volume 1 and it is gorgeous!! I had never actually seen a copy of this book...just online. But I knew I wanted it as Sandman was one of my favorite comic book series. It comes packaged in a beautiful slipcase (not pictured) and the book itself is just amazing. Leather bound and perfectly done. The inside pages are done beautifully and I don't even want to read it for fear of ruining it! There's an afterword by Neil Gaiman with some bonus stuff in the back too. I can actually say that this book is worth the $100 sticker price on it, but I got it for a little less than half that on eBay and it was still sealed! Volume 2 is due out on Halloween of this year and can be pre-ordered on Amazon now for $62.37 which is a great price!

The second thing that came from eBay is Season 1 of the new Doctor Who series which is being produced by the BBC. They've been showing these on the Sci-Fi channel and I'm obsessed! One of the best shows on tv in a long time. They are currently airing season 3, which is where I started watching, so I picked up season 1 on eBay. This one's also costly if you order it through Amazon or another retailer, but I got a great deal on eBay. The show has been picked up for a fourth season which will air in 2008 and there's a cool looking spin off that hasn't hit the states yet called Torchwood (an anagram of "doctor who").And the last thing I picked up is yet another copy of The Hobbit. This is the fourth copy I own of this book and won't be the last, but dammit, I keep finding all these great versions of it. This one was in the bargain book section of Barnes and Noble. Only $7.98. It's a hardback and it's The Annotated version of The Hobbit and has all of this incredible info along the way along with all kinds of Hobbit art by different artists. I couldn't pass it up. I swear that the last one I'll buy is the beautifully illustrated Alan Lee version and then I'll stop! Can you tell it's one of my favorite books?

Different topic: The ever so nice Robin of A Fondness for Reading has nominated me for the Nice Matters Award. Robin is an amazing person and I can definitely see why she was chosen. Nice is a term that describes her...well, nicely :) She writes wonderful book reviews and I love reading about her wonderful family and her thoughts on life. So I was honored when she chose me as one of her nominees. And in the company of such nice people as Carl, Bookfool, and Jenclair...3 people who I consider some of the nicest bloggers out there. Here's my 4 Nice Matters Award nominees:

Nymeth of Things Mean A lot: Nymeth is one of the most passionate people I know in the blogosphere. Her love for all things creative, be it books, music, or art come across perfectly in all of her posts and she's a joy to talk to. I always look forward to a new post from her and her comments. Definitely a nice person ;)

Bellezza: Many of you know Dolce Bellezza. She definitely has to be one of the nicest bloggers I've met. She's such an honest and caring person and I get the impression that she would be a great person to sit down with for coffee. Her passion for books and life in general are expressed beautifully in her well written posts. Pop on over for some good reading.

Jean Pierre of Bombastic Bagman: JP's blog is one of the newer blogs that I've started reading and is quickly becoming a favorite! He's just an all around nice guy. He lives in Oxford and shares his love of words, books, and life in posts that are always entertaining and he's always up for some great conversation.

CJ of My Year of Reading Seriously: Cj's great! Her blog is also one of the newer ones that I've started reading and I love it. She's an incredibly nice person and I'm really looking forward to the craziness of NaNoWriMo with her this November! Her book reviews are wonderful and I always enjoy reading her Booking Through Thursday and Thursday Thirteen responses to get to know her a little bit better.

Stay tuned tomorrow for a book giveaway in celebration of the 10,000th visitor to Stuff As Dreams Are Made On!!!!

For Dave McKean Fans

Now that I think about it, if you're a Dave McKean fan, you probably know about these, but if not, you may find your new favorite artist.

The first is Dustcovers. I just got this in the mail today and it is a wonderful book. It is a collection of all of the Sandman covers that Dave has done for Neil Gaiman's masterpiece comic series. Along with his covers, the book also collects some other illustrations, sketches, and an extra little short collaboration by the duo. Each picture has commentary from both Neil and Dave. I would say it's a must have for any Sandman, Gaiman, and/or McKean fan.

The second is another great collaboration of Gaiman and McKean's. It is entitled The Alchemy of Mirrormask. It's another great art book collecting Dave's art for the film Mirrormask. It has early sketches, paintings, sculptures, etc. along with original ideas and brainstorming for the film from both McKean and Gaiman. It would make an excellent coffee table book if you're brave enough to put it there (I tend to be slightly protective of my books). It's an amazing book that brings you from the beginning to the end of the production of Mirrormask and has all kinds of treats in between. Highly recommended.

Finally, Subterranean announced a new title by author Gordon Dahlquist entitled Glass Books of the Dream Eaters, which is a victorian-era novel from what I get with wonderful cover art by McKean. This one may be worth it for the cover. The novel sounds interesting as well.

That's all I've got for now.