Mimsy Were the Borogoves

Book Reviews: From political histories to bad comics, to bad comics of political histories. And the occasional rant about fiction and writing.

Las Cruces, New Mexico: Coas Books

Jerry Stratton, May 23, 2018

Coas Books, Solano: The Solano storefront of Coas Books in Las Cruces, New Mexico.; New Mexico; bookstores

I can’t believe I haven’t listed Coas Books here yet. I found three of the Doubleday/Ballantine “Classics of Science Fiction” books here, as well as the elusive Volume IIB of The Science Fiction Hall of Fame.

They’ve also had some nice retro BASIC books, which have been useful now that I’ve been trying to do things with a TRS-80 Model 100.

Las Cruces is almost exactly halfway between Round Rock, Texas and San Diego, California. One of my examples of “Texas is big” is that when I drive to and from San Diego, it’s a two-day trip. One day of the trip goes completely across New Mexico, Arizona, and California all the way to the coast. The other day goes through half of Texas.

Because I make it a two-day trip, Las Cruces is the natural place to stop, and for that reason I looked for used bookstores in the area. The best, by far, is Coas, both locations. Unfortunately, because it’s at the end of a nine-hour day, whichever direction I’m coming from, I don’t go as often as I’d like. In fact, the April 24 spree you see in the list below was because I decided to spend a day in Las Cruces, and that day was spent mostly browsing books, reading books, and eating Mexican food. Because I had a day to spare I was able to hit both locations. And it made a nice break between two full days of driving.

They have a huge and wonderful selection of fantasy and science fiction, including a lot of older titles. The Solano location is smaller, so if you only have time for one, it should be the main location on Main Street. But as you can see I found some nice things in the smaller location, too. Members of my writing group have been recommending Richard Ford for a long time, and they were right; I already knew that Michael Chabon was worth reading but wasn’t aware of his semi-memoirish Maps and Legends until I saw it there.

If you’ve got a long day ahead of you on Highway 10 and you need an excuse to stop in Las Cruces to walk around a while, Coas makes a great break.

Next to the Solano location is a Mexican restaurant called El Patron. I recommend that, too.

Coas Books
317 N Main Street
Las Cruces, New Mexico

Feb. 7, 2023

The Great Iridium Con Stephen Dedman $5.00
Search for the Sensei Joseph W. Liotta $5.00
Omni’s Continuum Dick Teresi $8.98 hardcover

Feb. 11, 2022

Logic Machines and Diagrams Martin Gardner $3.00 small trade paperback
being digital Nicholas Negroponte $6.00 hardcover
prefiguring cyberculture: an intellectual history Alessio Cavallaro, Annemarie Jonson, Darren Tofts $8.00 hardcover

May 22, 2019

The Moon is a Harsh Mistress Robert A. Heinlein $0.98 mass market paperback
To Tackle the T.O.T.E.M. Jeff O’Hare $3.50
Terror by Night Steve Crow $3.50
Where Wizards Stay Up Late Katie Hafner, Matthew Lyon $8.00 mass market paperback

March 13, 2018

The Long Tomorrow Leigh Brackett $0.62 mass market paperback
The Farthest Shore Ursula K. Le Guin $0.87 mass market paperback
Night’s Black Agents Fritz Leiber $0.87 mass market paperback
A Wizard of Earthsea Ursula K. Le Guin $0.97 mass market paperback
33 Challenging Computer Games for TRS-80/Apple/PET David Chance $6.00 hardcover

April 24, 2017

Lord of Light Roger Zelazny $0.75 mass market paperback
The Best of C.M. Kornbluth C.M. Kornbluth $0.98 mass market paperback
Act of War Brad Thor $1.00 hardcover
The BASIC Cookbook Ken Tracton $5.00 hardcover

Oct. 19, 2015

The Best of Murray Leinster Murray Leinster $0.98 mass market paperback
The Best of Henry Kuttner Henry Kuttner $0.98 mass market paperback
The Science Fiction Hall of Fame IIB Ben Bova $1.25 mass market paperback
Swords Against Darkness IV Andrew J. Offutt $1.25 mass market paperback
Stormbringer Michael Moorcock $3.00 mass market paperback
57 Practical Programs & Games in BASIC Ken Tracton $3.00 small trade paperback
Swords Against Darkness II Andrew J. Offutt $3.00 mass market paperback
Kyrik: Warlock Warrior Gardner F. Fox $3.50 mass market paperback
The Southern Living Outdoor Cookbook $3.58 hardcover

Coas Books
1101 S. Solano
Las Cruces, New Mexico

Feb. 6, 2024

Thongor in the City of Magicians Lin Carter $0.87 mass market paperback
State of the Union Brad Thor $5.00 mass market paperback

Feb. 11, 2022

Sign of the Unicorn Roger Zelazny $1.48 mass market paperback

March 13, 2018

Creating Adventure Games on Your Computer Tim Hartnell $5.00 trade paperback

April 24, 2017

Third From the Sun Richard Matheson $0.13 mass market paperback
Rock Springs Richard Ford $5.00 trade paperback
Maps and Legends Michael Chabon $8.00 hardcover
Coas Books haul: A nice collection of science fiction and other books picked up at Coas in Las Cruces. Also, Fanta.; books; bookstores

This was a great day for science fiction. Also, the (now defunct, unfortunately) motel served free Fanta.

In response to The bookstores less traveled: These aren’t the bookstores people travel across the country to visit. But if you’re already traveling across the country, you’ll want to take advantage of the opportunity to visit them.

  1. <- Palestine Public Library
  2. Ed’s Books and More ->