Sometimes you stumble on the most unexpected things.

Take today for example. I was doing a little shopping at a bookstore called Half Price Books when all of a sudden from the corner of my eye I spotted a groovy little box I had never seen before. 

Granted I was almost across the store from the display that held the box but even from a distance I could see some very familiar pictures. As I rounded the corner to make my way to the display the image of four Beatles albums became clearer and clearer.

“What on earth is this?” my mind wondered as I reached for the display. The box wasn’t quite the size of an album so what on earth could it be?

As I picked the quite heavy box up I noticed that it contained four books by one of my all-time favorite Beatles authors Bruce Spizer. The box went by the title “The Beatles Album Series By Bruce Spizer: Sgt. Pepper, White Album, Abbey Road, Let it Be” and contained four smaller paperback versions of his books about these very albums.

Now as hardcore Beatles fans know Bruce Spizer has put out a series of lovely and somewhat pricey books on The Beatles that he self-publishes and sells at his Website http://www.beatle.net.

Books such as “The Beatles Records on Vee-Jay” and “The Beatles’ Story on Capitol Records – Part 1 & 2” have understandably been lauded as great reference books that any diehard Beatles fan should have in their collection.

I’ve purchased quite a few of Bruce Spizer’s books and can attest that they are superbly written and are also filled to the rim with great photos and are bound so beautifully that they are truly worth every penny of the asking price.

In the last few years Spizer has begun a new series of books that detail specific Beatles albums. I believe he started this new series when the newly remixed version of The Beatles “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club” album came out in various formats in 2017.

Since then Spizer has also tackled books about the “Magical Mystery Tour”, “The BEATLES (White Album)”, “Abbey Road” and “Let it Be” albums usually as those said albums have been remixed and reissued in spectacular multi and double CD or vinyl box sets.

Because many of these fantastic newer Beatles CD and vinyl box sets also contain nice hardback books detailing that particular album (“Sgt. Pepper”, the “White Album”, etc.) I decided that even though I love Bruce Spizer’s work I’d sit his new album series books out at least in physical form.

(Note: I did manage to get a couple of his album series books in digital form (great books as usual) but until today I had thought I’d totally pass on the physical forms of these books … famous last words.)

It’s not that I didn’t think Spizer’s Beatles album series books would be great but I’ve been trying to cut down on the physical books that I buy and the size of most of Spizer’s books seemed to be too much for me seeing as the deluxe Beatles sets already contained great books.

Until I walked into Half Price Books today I had no idea that Bruce Spizer had published smaller versions of his latest series and in paperback to boot. While these books do contain Spizer’s 498 Productions logo which is on all his self-published books this new set also says its being published along with Imagine & Wonder Books.

I took a glance online and it seems that this particular book set was released in August of 2021 with a pressing of 10,000 copies (the sets I saw were numbered but check out the number in the photo above, not quite under 10,000).  The price online is $80.00 for the set and I did manage to see if for sale online others places like Target around $60.

(Note 2: I do see this set for sale on Amazon with a price of $60.00. Amazon says the set came out in December of 2021 while Imagine & Wonder Books says it was released last August)

I’m sure other Beatles fans out there may have heard of this new and smaller collection of four of Bruce Spizer’s Beatles album series but it was a very welcome surprise for me. And to add to the excitement Half Price Books is selling this set for $39.99 which comes to $10 apiece for the four books in the set. That’s a fantastic deal!

Now the original hardback versions, which are still for sale on at http://www.beatle.net as well as other online sellers at $30 apiece, may be a bit more sturdy and printed on better stock but the four paperback books in this set are really beautiful and at that price a no-brainer for me and I’m sure others out there who may be interested in buying these books.

As for the books in this set they are all four very well done and like all of Bruce Spizer’s books worth the price of admission. If you happen to live near a Half Price Books (or check their Website) the $39.99 price is a steal and well worth adding this set to your collection.

I love the smaller paperback format for the books as they are much easier to hold and peruse and they are still full of great text and photos and these books are truly wonderful to behold in a physical format. Even the digital copies of these books sell for $20 each so this set is really a great purchase.

I wonder of Spizer will reissue some of his other Beatles books in smaller sets like this? Probably not but I love that he did with this album series and when he continues the series I hope he puts out another collection just like it for his future installments.

Well, that’s just a quick update on my latest Beatles find.

As usual take a gander above at this new collection and if you’re a Beatles fan it may be worth hunting this set up as these books are a great read and very informative.

Until next time be well and see you soon!