Driving to the store, I wasn’t sure what to expect. I had gone off with my stepdad – away from our yearly family reunion – to the center of Salt Lake City. Being from Los Angeles, I was a bit disoriented by the strange numbering on the streets on our drive there – but with the help of my trusty new iPhone (which I am way too in love with), we got there safe and sound. 

We found a parking spot right in front of the store, next to a cute cafe that I would love to snuggle up with a big fat cup of coffee and read, read, read at.  Utah Book and Magazine is a second hand book store with rows and rows of books – a cordoned off porn section and an enclosed comic book section.  There are fans going constantly (it is the middle of summer right now) and there are cardboard signs that swing gently in the breeze, telling you what kind of section you are in.  This is the kind of bookstore someone who really really loves books started.  It’s literally packed with books, most stacked in shelves under various headings – some not under any real heading at all. 

I tried to check out the comic book section, since that was what the article that told me about the store spoke about, but it was closed up due to there just being too many. Also, per the guy at the front, they sell a lot of the comics on eBay, so it’s not really feasible to let people browse through them.  Fortunately for me, I’m not a big comic collector – though I do like them – so I didn’t push the point too much.

There is a hefty supply of old pulp magazines – the eldest I found was from 1949 – in various states and conditions. Any fan of X Minus One would be pleased to find the piles of Galaxy Science Fiction magazines, other sci fi and fantasy fans would be pleased to find good ol’ Astounding Science Fiction and Fact (now Analog) along with assorted other old pulp mags.

A connoisseur of good deals, lots to browse and really old books would have a blast in this neat second-hand store.

It looks like I’m going to be having my family reunions in Utah from now on (my grandma’s getting too old to leave), so I guess I’ll have to just suck it up and go to Utah Book and Magazine to get old pulps and cheap, good books.

I’m going to have to check around Los Angeles now for good second hand book stores and review them once and a while. In a world full of Borders, Barnes & Noble and Amazon, it’s nice to know that some of these treasures still exist.

Author: L. Ron Hubbard

Genre: Fantasy

Julia Rating: 10

Comments: This is a fun book that contains two shorts: If I Were You and The Last Drop, both stories published in pulp magazines during that era. 

The first story, If I Were You, is about a dwarf who works at a circus.  An old man leaves books of black magic to the dwarf, who quickly discovers that there is a way for his soul and the soul that occupies the other body to switch.  He decides to switch with the ringmaster, so he can be the true lead of the circus.  Unfortunately his dream does not go according to plan. 
If I Were You is a lighthearted story with good character development, humor and a little suspense thrown in.  While reading it, I felt as if I were reading and old pulp magazine – like Astounding Science Fiction and Fact - from back in the day.

The second story, The Last Drop, is about Mac the bartender who has been looking to make the perfect cocktail for some time.  He finally does make it with a concoction that comes from Borneo.  There is an unfortunate side effect, however.  The Borneo alcohol, when mixed with certain substances can make one grow bigger or smaller.  Another complication arises – the gang is out to get Mac and his bar patrons.  Will they escape?  Will Mac ever get smaller?  Find out.