37 new Lawrence Block eBooks now available

So, anyone who has read this blog for the past few years has probably figured out that I’m a huge fan of Lawrence Block. In 2009, I figured that this would lead me down a frustrating, costly road where I tussled online against other fanatics to secure the few extant copies of long out-of-print titles. Block announced at that time that he was done with writing, or, as he put it to me in a May 2009 interview, “I may really not write another book,” he said. “I don’t know. It wouldn’t surprise me if I’m done writing novels. I may have tapped out that well.”

So, the fact that 2011 is shaping up to be the biggest year for Block fans ever makes that bait-and-switch statement worth the pain. Not only will Block return with a new novel in the new year — a novel featuring his best character, Matthew Scudder, nonetheless — but he also has more fully opened the door of the vault that long protected his ancient, pseudonymous work. I have a dog-eared list I compiled pre-Internet that lists every book of his I knew, with a tick mark next to each I’ve read. So far, 60 of them are marked, but a handful of those early book remain elusive.

No more. As Block mentioned earlier this year, he has inked a deal with Open Road Media to sell eBooks of many of his titles. The first batch of 37 has been revealed, and it includes 10 books that I either don’t own or haven’t read. All are under the category of “erotica,” which, while not my favorite of his endeavors, still constitute a remarkable opportunity for an unrepentant completist who was previously forced to scan eBay and similar outlets for expensive, yellowed copies.

So, the question now is, what eBook reader do I finally break down and buy so I can read all of these books?

While I ponder that (and feel free to weigh in with a comment if you have advice), here’s a video from the Open Road folks that features a nice, short interview with Block.