I've been thinking about picking up some historical books on OKC, particularly ones laden with photos. Well I finally did this morning. I ordered 4 books from amazon.com. Should get them in about 4 or 5 days.

They are:

1.
Historic Photos of Oklahoma City
Larry Johnson

http://dl.dropbox.com/s/ctb0r12dx5zhznl/Historic%20Photos%20Of%20OKC%20-%20Cover.jpg
http://dl.dropbox.com/s/7tej9x80d9vy4f0/Historic%20Photos%20Of%20OKC%20-%20TOC.jpg




2.
Oklahoma City: 1930 to the Millennium
Terry L. Griffith

http://dl.dropbox.com/s/nz8caxkklxwjo6w/OKC%20-%2030s%20To%20Millennium%20-%20Cover.jpg
http://dl.dropbox.com/s/zqqci1tbm2fc11p/OKC%20-%2030s%20To%20Millennium%20-%20TOC.jpg




3.
Bricktown
Steve Lackmeyer

http://dl.dropbox.com/s/4cs6zd397bm6ad1/Bricktown%20-%20Cover.jpg
http://dl.dropbox.com/s/bbbuv9whx5ch865/Bricktown%20-%20TOC.jpg




4.
Oklahoma City Rediscovered
William D. Welge

http://dl.dropbox.com/s/e2p64e9ncsu3koq/OKC%20Rediscovered%20-%20Cover.jpg
http://dl.dropbox.com/s/pieqb4h27x7tvsf/OKC%20Rediscovered%20-%20TOC.jpg




Should be some good stuff.
I'll let you know what I think after I've had a chance to go through them.

I believe you could have found all of these at Full Circle Book Store, in the ground floor of 50 Penn Place, and not have had to wait for shipping...

I believe you could have found all of these at Full Circle Book Store, in the ground floor of 50 Penn Place, and not have had to wait for shipping...

Thanks, I'll keep that in mind next time. The few days of waiting for the books to come in doesn't bother me at all though.

I've seen the last three books for sale at the Walgreens at 23rd and Classen as well. Haven't read any, please let us know your thoughts on he books after you have a chance to read them.

I've seen the last three books for sale at the Walgreens at 23rd and Classen as well. Haven't read any, please let us know your thoughts on he books after you have a chance to read them.

Sure thing. I plan to do exactly that.

I bought one of those a while back. It was the Edmond edition. They're all at Barnes & Noble ;)

I am obviously biased on this one, but I think it's without dispute that Full Circle has the BEST selection of local history books, and I know a couple of my own titles and several others are not available on Amazon. Amazon, for what it's worth, is not exactly an author's best friend when it comes to royalties (which are already pretty meager by the very nature of the biz).

I picked up a copy of the 2nd book pictured, above, (at Walgreens--Britton and Penn) and gave it to some relatives from Minneapolis as a going away gift at the end of a recent visit. I want to thank everyone involved for producing these entertaining and educational reference books. Also a tip o' the hat to Walgreens for making them easily available to the general public.

I have most of these books and have enjoyed them immensely. They answer many questions for me, make me wish I'd been around a litttle earlier, and make me wish I'd paid closer attention when I was younger.

I am obviously biased on this one, but I think it's without dispute that Full Circle has the BEST selection of local history books, and I know a couple of my own titles and several others are not available on Amazon. Amazon, for what it's worth, is not exactly an author's best friend when it comes to royalties (which are already pretty meager by the very nature of the biz).

Amazon only sets royalties for authors that are self-publishing through CreateSpace or the Kindle. The publishers set the pricing on Amazon and the publishers negotiate the royalties with authors. Amazon has nothing to do with that.

As for the self-publishing royalties, price your book over $3.00 and show me anywhere the author could get royalties like Amazon offers. Not some tiny ebook website, but a real outlet for physical books and ebooks. Compare Amazon with Doubleday when it comes to royalties. People are getting RICH publishing strictly for the Kindle.

Full Circle is a great bookstore, but that was a cheapshot against Amazon. I know you've been going through a tough time recently or I would have been even harsher because you should know better. I hope things are getting a little better for you, Steve. I know it's a tough loss to say goodbye to a parent. Grieve at your own pace and don't let other people tell you when you should be better. Good luck, sir. You're the best The Oklahoman has!

Thanks for your kind words zookeeper. I'll admit, I'm cranky a lot right now. But trust me, though, Amazon is not a that great a friend for traditional local authors. Maybe it's different with those who do self publishing ebooks....

Incidentally, I'm currently working my way through these books, enjoying the photos and the informational bits. I'll post some opinions after I've had a chance to thoroughly go through it all (probably in a couple of days).

Oh, and any authors reading this... put on your flame-retardant suits as I will likely be merciless in my critiques!
:wink:

Also, if you happen to be in the state capitol area, the Oklahoma History Center Museum Store carries all of the above titles and more.

Although I've not updated my 2007 list for much too long, a good list of Oklahoma City history books is here: Doug Dawgz Blog: Okc History Books (http://dougdawg.blogspot.com/2007/06/okc-history-books.html)

The books that you ordered, Praedura, are well worth the money.

Yay for the book by Terry L. Griffith! He's a friend of mine, and we worked together at the Harn Homestead Museum while he was writing this book. I don't know if you noticed his others, but you would probably enjoy them as well. They're a series, you got the 3rd book. Oklahoma City: Land Run to Statehood, followed by Oklahoma City: Statehood to 1930 preceded the one you've already got.

Since you're interested in photo laden books, I would also highly recommend some books by Bob L. Blackburn. Dr. Blackburn is the executive director of the Oklahoma Historical Society & has written and co-written several books about Oklahoma & Oklahoma City, as well as one about the OK State Fair. I'd suggest starting with his book Images of Oklahoma. It's an oldie (published in 1984 I believe) but a goodie. They've got some available through Amazon from some used book stores but you might check with the gift shop at the History Center or local used book stores, or even Half Price Books. If you don't have any luck there but are interested, contact me via private message & I'll see what I can do about locating a copy for you (Bobby is my cousin - but I assure you, I'm not being biased in recommending his books!).