A Few Previous Book Shop Visits

Here's some more book store visits I made prior to the covid lockdown here in Melbourne.  The first is Helena's Curiosity Shop in Bentleigh where Helena was most helpful in trying to find all of the Bond novels in her store.  We only managed to find the two shown but she assured me there were more to be found.

 

Next is Howard Bolton Booksellers in Northcote.  It was great catching up with Howard and browsing the Bond novels on his shelves.  Sadly I had them all but I hope Howard and his store is coping ok during these strange times.

Another book shop I visited was Bound Words in Hampton.  I remember Ailsa greeting me and commenting that she hadn't acquired any new Bond stock lately, but I had to look anyway.  There were five Bond novels on the shelves but none for me today.  I will return as soon as possible though.

Lastly, I've been reading some recent Facebook posts about Bairnsdale Bookshop with sadness.  Unfortunately this store permanently closed this week.  Bairnsdale is a fair drive from Melbourne so it's not local for me, but every time I visited Lakes Entrance or Metung I made sure to drop in.  Here's some photos from my last visit and also my last blog post of there.  I wish the store owners all the best for the future.

Abra Card Abra Bookshop Visit

I'm catching up on book store visits I didn't get around to posting earlier this year, and this week it's Abra Card Abra Roycroft Antiquarian Booksellers.  This book store has heaps of cheap books and every time I walk in the door I always get the feeling there's a James Bond book sitting on a shelf that I'm missing from my collection (perhaps partly obscured by another book) just waiting for me to find it.  Over the years I've purchased many quality books from here and I can't wait to visit it again after these covid restrictions end.

On this visit I found a couple of 1960's Pan - Ian Fleming titles as well as the Bond hardbacks shown above.

 

Alice's Bookshop Will Rise Again

Back in November last year I visited Alice's Bookshop in Carlton North with my wife.  To my dismay the building was up for auction and at the time the store owners, Luke and Selina, were unclear what would happen to their business once the hammer fell.

Roll forward half a year and I've just read that Alice's Bookshop will be re-opening, this time in Preston.  This is exciting news.  The owners of this business are very knowledgeable, friendly... and love books, so it's great news they're continuing their passion.

I imagine because of the current pandemic there may be a delay before the new store is opened, but I'm very pleased to hear I will be able to visit their store once again.  Good luck guys, I wish you both all the best.

Here's some photos of the old Alice's Bookshop in Carlton North from my last visit:

And finally... a photo of Luke behind the counter.

Also, here's an update on construction of my recently acquired Lego James Bond Aston Martin DB5.  This is Stage 2 complete and it's starting to look more like a car now.