Rainy Day Books Visit(s)

Three weeks ago, on the same weekend as my visit to Grant's Bookshop and Bound Words, I also visited Rainy Day Books in The Basin.  The owner, Meryll, recognised me immediately I entered the store and told me she had plenty of James Bond books available.

I hadn't visited Rainy Day Books in at least a year so it was good to catch up with Meryll and find out how she'd been doing.  Her store was fortunate to survive lockdown through online sales.

There were several Bond paperbacks on the shelves...

But the majority were in plastic containers near the front door.  They were part of her husband's extensive James Bond collection.  I started going through the titles and one paperback in particular drew my attention, a Triad Grafton edition of Ian Fleming's "Moonraker".  It was in excellent condition and I put it aside.

Another container held hardbacks and tarot cards released to accompany the film "Live And Let Die".  I took some photos of these and as it was so unusual to see a collection like this for sale in one store I suggested to Meryll she display them on a shelf to increase her chances of selling them.  

I was pushed for time (my wife was still sitting in the car outside) so I had to end my visit.  After half an hour of driving toward Cheltenham I realised I'd forgotten the copy of "Moonraker".  

Rainy Day Books - Day 2: Meryll's first words as I entered the store again were "You came to check up on me did you ?" and she pointed to the Fleming hardbacks she'd organised on the shelf.  They looked great.

I quickly found the copy of "Moonraker", paid for it and said my goodbyes again.  Two visits in one weekend was unusual after such a long absence.