Yea! I just received Dozois' The Year's Best Science Fiction anthology. I know it's been in the bookstores for a full month, but I usually order it every year from Amazon.com, along with Datlow's The Year's Best Fantasy & Horror anthology. To save on shipping, I order both together, so I have to wait until the Datlow is released in August before they ship it with the Dozois. But I've already read parts of it. I keep a keen eye out for the Dozois book early in July, and read much of Gardner's annual summation on the couch at Barnes & Noble (and, of course, my vanity always makes me turn immediately to the "honorable mentions" section in the back of the book -- three for me this year, hooray), but I don't buy it there.

The reason for my delayed gratification in buying the books is financial. The books costs $19.95 plus 7.5% sales tax, for a total of $21.45 each at my local bricks & mortar stores. At Amazon, the same books cost $13.97. No tax, and as I'm ordering more than $25.00, there's no charge for shipping. I save $7.48 on a $21.45 book, or about 38%.

Now, remind me again how much better the local bookseller is. 'Cause, like, they really love books or something?