Campus Book Stalls

Once a year I attend an event for work at La Trobe University in Bundoora.  Today was that day.  At lunch my work colleagues and I grabbed a beer at the campus bar as is our tradition. And on our walk there we passed the usual Thursday book stalls.

There were two stalls this year.  I couldn't see any Bonds at one of them but the other had two Fleming paperbacks and a Jonathan Cape "You Only Live Twice" with a dust jacket that had sadly seen better days.  Unfortunately I had to pass on it.

Signet "Octopussy" Variant Arrives

A few months ago I was browsing the web and came across an "Octopussy" variant cover I'd never noticed before.  The book, published by Signet in 1967, most obviously differs from a similar Signet edition by the colour of the title text: orange versus white.

Recently I was able to acquire a copy of this variant and today it arrived in the mail.  I was very pleased.

I haven't had a chance to scan the cover yet and unfortunately I can't access my original book to display the two together, but here's today's book with a scanned image of the original.

John Gardner - James Bond Box Set Arrives

Last year I came across a post on The Book Bond that discussed reprints of five John Gardner - James Bond paperbacks released in a box set by Orion in the UK.  Like John from The Book Bond I'd also never seen this box set before.  As time has gone on this set has become more visible on online shopping sites and recently I was able to acquire a set for a reasonable price.  Today it arrived in the post and the box looks great.  It was extremely well packaged too so it arrived unscathed after it's long journey from the other side of the world.  Thanks also to my Aunt for organising postage to Oz. 

There's alse a synopisis of each novel included on the back.

I've got a few Bond box sets now and as a result I've decided to add another page to the Piz Gloria website showing my collection of box sets.  It certainly won't be complete as I'm missing at least three sets, but I'm hoping to add the page shortly.

Piz Gloria Website Launched Three Years Ago Today

Three years ago today PizGloria.com was launched on the web.  I remember when I first launched the website and then while I continued adding books I nervously awaited criticism from other Bond paperback collectors that I was missing heaps of books.  But thankfully the negative emails never arrived.  There were plenty of positive emails though as collector's found my site and enjoyed browsing it and I'm still indebted to those people for their support.

Obviously there are still a number of covers I'm missing, and as 2014 was a very quiet one for Bond paperback releases I spent the year concentrating on finding those absent covers.  Unfortunately our house renovations sucked up much of my time (and money) resulting in fewer purchases also.

As I have done on this date in previous years I'd like to add some stats.  I fear they're not going to be as good as previous years but I'm still glad to be one of many Bond fan sites on the web.  All stats are care of Google Analytics:

Year 1 - Jan 24, 2012 to Jan 23, 2013

Year 2 - Jan 24, 2013 to Jan 23, 2014

Year 3 - Jan 24, 2014 to Jan 23, 2015

So after comparing the three years the basic summary is:
1) The number of visitors marginally increased from year 1 to year 2 but then decreased from year 2 to year 3
2) The time spent on the site by users has decreased by almost a minute as each year has passed

3) The number of pages visited has also decreased as each year passes

On a positive note the percentage of New to Returning visitors has remained almost the same for each year:

Year 1 - Jan 24, 2012 to Jan 23, 2013

Year 2 - Jan 24, 2013 to Jan 23, 2014 

Year 3 - Jan 24, 2014 to Jan 23, 2015

As of today there are 579 covers shown which is only 8 more than this time last year.  That's probably the least number of books I've purchased in a year.  But there is another book currently in the mail and as soon as I can access my books again (the room is currently full of boxes) I plan to add a new page to the website of other Bond paperback items.

Anyway, thanks again everyone for visiting PizGloria.com and contributing to the stats above and I hope you'll return again soon,

Cheers Bazeer

First Book Hunt For The New Year

Firstly, wishing you a belated happy New Year and I hope you find some great additions to your Bond collection this year.

Prior to seeing the excellent "The Imitation Game" with my wife over the weekend I managed to do my first book hunting for the new year.  Here's some photos (in no particular order):

Kay Craddock Antiquarian Booksellers (second hand) - No Bonds this time.  I was informed the hardbacks displayed in the glass cabinet on my previous visit were sold just prior to Christmas

Alice's Bookshop (second hand) - No Bond paperbacks but there was this lovely first edition Cape "The Spy Who Loved Me" on sale at the front counter

Cornerlamp Books (second hand) - About 6 Bond paperbacks but no photos sorry

Abra Card Abra Roycroft Antiquarian Booksellers (second hand) - At least 10 Pan Bond paperbacks and 5 hardbacks

Broadstreet Books (second hand) - 3 Fleming hardbacks and 1 Gardner (not pictured).  I decided to buy the middle Cape sans dust-jacket as it was a really clean copy

The Little Library (second hand) - I visited this "store" a few weeks ago.  It runs on an honour system so there's no money involved.  No Bonds on this day (again not sure what I would do if there was) but at least I took a less blurry photo this time

Christmas Book Hunt In Melbourne

I managed to visit City Basement Books while staying in the City for a couple of nights.  It was great to see a few people in the store.  There were 3 Flemings, a couple of Woods, a Faulks and 4 Gardners.

There are so many books in this store yet they are well organised and cared for.  And travelling down the stairs beneath the footpath it always feels like you're entering a hidden part of the City.

During our travels my wife noticed this store in Melbourne Central, The Little Library.  Sorry the photo is a bit blurry.  It's an honour library where any book borrowed must be replaced with another book.  Not sure what I would have done had there been a Bond I was missing on the shelf as I didn't have any old books on me !

There was also this New Years Eve party being advertised at a pub upstairs.

And here's some other pics I took of the City while my wife and I were walking about.

Shoot To Kill + Christmas Card

I managed to purchase a great copy of "Shoot To Kill" in a bookshop in Malvern today.  I don't know about other collectors but I dread trying to find a good copy of a silver or gold covered book; they always seem to get scratched during transport to the book stores.  I remember having to visit many book stores a few years ago to find a good copy of "Hurricane Gold", so I was very happy after my visit to "Books In Print" today.

Also, while at work today I received a Christmas card from Adrian Harrington Rare Books in the UK.  I've never received a Christmas card from a book store before so it was certainly a pleasant surprise, especially with it having been sent from the other side of the world.  

I visited Harringtons in 2013 when on holiday with my wife.  It was an awesome book store with heaps of Jonathan Cape Bond books for sale.  And as an added bonus I was given a tour of Jon Gilbert's private Bond collection.  I doubt I'll ever see a better set of books.

Here's a photo of the card (which includes a figure of Bond).  For those planning a visit to Harringtons please be aware that they are moving to Royal Tunbridge Wells in Kent in January 2015.

Just as a final note to this blog entry, presently a gunman is holding a group of hostages captive in cafe in central Sydney.  Here's hoping it all ends peacefully.

The Merchant Of Fairness - Take 2

Monday week ago I visited The Merchant Of Fairness book store in Balwyn.  Unbeknown to me the store is closed one day a week - Mondays.  So last Sunday I managed to make a stop there again when the store was open.

As I entered, the lady behind the counter greeted me.  I asked about Fleming only to discover there were no Bonds on the shelf as a gentleman had bought all three the day before.  (Spewing !)  I did manage to find one Gardner book club hardback though.

Mavis, wife of Rod the owner, then showed me around the store and was happy for me to take these pics.

As you can see the store is really well laid out.  The many books sit neatly organised on the shelves with no doubt something for everyone.  I'll be visiting here again soon... and hopefully before that other bloke.