Another Saturday Book Hunt

A couple of weeks ago my wife and I travelled to Northcote to check out the secondhand book stores.

The first was Howard Bolton Bookseller where Howard immediately greeted me as I entered the store.  He then showed me a 2013 Book World Night edition of "Casino Royale", published by Vintage, from behind the counter.  These editions are quite rare in Australia however I already had a copy so couldn't buy it.  He also showed me what I call his "secret stash" of books (excess stock he doesn't display on his shelves) but none for me today.  I will return again soon though.

 

Next was Brown And Bunting Booksellers just around the corner from Howard's.  Unusually I could only find five Bond's in the store today so I think they've been selling a few lately.

Finally I visited Paul at Allsorts Secondhand Books just a few steps down the road.  I managed to find four Bonds here but unfortunately had them all.

 

New Bookcase + Collecting 007

Almost 30 years ago, when I was still living with my parents, I decided to buy a cabinet to store my burgeoning James Bond book collection.  When it was delivered to our house I remember thinking how huge it was and how I couldn't imagine ever completely filling it.

As my collection grew over the years, so the shelf space in the cabinet gradually disappeared until finally I had to store the books two deep.  And then as my collection increased further the books not only filled the cabinet but also spilt into other bookcases.

After searching for another bookcase to buy, and realising there are few around nowadays, I decided to get a cabinet custom made instead.  I carefully placed my books in plastic containers, sold my old book cabinet and waited for another to be built.  Yesterday the new custom made one was installed.

So along with the photo of it below I'd like to add these fateful words; this book cabinet is huge and I can't imagine ever filling it !

When I've placed all my books in it I'll add another photo, but for the moment I'm just working out how high the glass shelves need to be and how I'm going to organise the books.

On another note, today my Q & A about Collecting 007 was published on The James Bond Dossier website.   If you're interested in reading it please click here.

Melbourne (Unofficial) Secondhand Book Trail - Part 3

After posting Part 2 a fortnight ago, here's Part 3 of what I've titled the Melbourne (Unofficial) Secondhand Book Trail.  This time I'm including the two remaining secondhand book stores existing in the Melbourne CBD:

9) City Basement Books, Melbourne

As you descend the stairs into the quiet peace of this book store it's easy to forget that just moments ago you were amongst the hustle and bustle of Flinders Street and the City.  This fantastic subterranean space is a relaxing maze of tall wooden book shelves; the perfect place to get lost in prose.  You'll either find Verity, the store owner, or Kerry, happily sitting behind the counter, always ready to offer their assistance or recommendations.  Despite the huge number and variety of secondhand books available, they're all well categorised and alphabetised, affordably priced and in great condition.  The novels range from vintage to recent, and when you're ready to venture back to the real world upstairs you'll be hard pressed not returning with at least one purchase from your underground adventure.

Addresses:
- http://www.citybasementbooks.com.au

- 342 Flinders Street, Melbourne

10) Kay Craddock Antiquarian Bookseller, Melbourne

This antiquarian bookseller has been located on classy Collins Street since 1990.  It has a large and varied stock of antiquarian and secondhand books, some hundreds of years old.  Bibliophiles visiting Melbourne must add this store to their list of essential places to visit while in town as there are always plenty of first editions on the shelves catering to all budgets.

Addresses:

- http://www.kaycraddock.com

- 156 Collins Street, Melbourne

Church Book Sale, Camberwell

Up early this Saturday morning to visit the St Johns Book Sale on Burke Road in Camberwell which finishes at 3pm today.

The books have been neatly organised on trestle tables, cover a wide variety of subjects and as you would expect from a church book sale are very cheap.

I did manage to find one Bond novel for sale.  Just $2 but I left it for someone else to discover.

It was also good to quickly catch up with Rallou and Tadhg from Fully Booked secondhand book store in Thornbury who were picking up some books.

Chinese Theater Visit

My brother and his family are currently on holiday in the US and from the photos I've seen so far they're having a great time.  So at 3.45am this morning (Australian Eastern Standard time), and now just 7 minutes ago, my wife and I were woken by a beep from my phone.  And to my surprise he'd sent me this photo from the Chinese Theater in Hollywood:

Thanks Bro.

New "Trigger Mortis" Paperback Arrives

The newly released US paperback edition of "Trigger Mortis" written by Anthony Horowitz and published by Harper has just arrived in the mail.  The cover was designed by Gregg Kulick and illustrated by Patrick Leger and is slightly reminiscent of the old Pan painted covers of the 50's and '60s, as well as the Richie Fahey US Retro Series published by Penguin in the 00's.

I really like this edition of "Trigger Mortis".  In fact it would be great to have all of the recent James Bond continuation novels re-published with similar covers so they form a new series.  But for the moment I can only dream...

Fantastic Find (Finally !)

On Saturday afternoon I was fortunate to visit Bound Words in Hampton.  It's a great secondhand store with a wide variety of books, and it's always clean and well organised.

As I entered the store Ailsa, who was sitting behind the counter, recognised me, smiled and said "Hi".  She then remarked "Sorry, but I don't think we have any new Bond's on the shelf".  I replied "That's a shame.  I'll have a look anyway... just in case".  And I'm glad I did because there sitting on the shelf was a copy of a book I've been searching for for at least a year.

It was a copy of "From Russia, With Love" published by Pan Books in the early 70's.  There are five books in this Pan White/Model series with a colour logo.  I already had four in the series but the fifth was proving elusive to find in good condition.

So to say I was stoked finding this copy in excellent condition was an understatement !  And as it completed the set I couldn't be happier.  I guess if there's one lesson collecting Bond paperbacks has taught me it's that there's always a book on a shelf somewhere that you don't have yet.

I'm hoping to scan this new addition to my collection and add it to the PizGloria.com website soon.

Melbourne (Unofficial) Secondhand Book Trail - Part 2

Last September I started what I called the Melbourne (Unofficial) Secondhand Book Trail on this blog.  Part 1 featured four secondhand book stores.  Now I'm finally adding Part 2 in this series which features another four stores:

5) Already Read Bookshop, North Fitzroy

This neat little secondhand book store is located off the main road, between St Georges Road and Brunswick Street in North Fitzroy.  The store has been open for over 10 years and has a wide selection of fiction, thrillers, science fiction, non-fiction and children's titles. The shop is very bright and welcoming and the books are well organised, affordably priced and in great condition.  Make sure to visit this store.

Addresses:
- http://www.alreadyreadbookshop.com.au

- 98 Scotchmer Street, North Fitzroy

6) Red Wheelbarrow Books, Brunswick East

It feels like every time I enter this store I find at least one paperback to buy.  I'm not sure where the owner, Paul, sources his stock from but he always seems to have old novels in excellent condition sitting on his shelves.  The store is neat and tidy with plenty of books on the shelves or occasionally in piles on the floor, and Paul is very welcoming and happy to offer his assistance if required.  This secondhand book store is definitely worth a visit.

Addresses:

- https://www.facebook.com/Red-Wheelbarrow-Books-568841589816204

- 105 Lygon Street, Brunswick East

7) Grub Street Bookshop, Fitzroy

If you collect/read secondhand books you've already visited this store as it's been around forever.  It has a huge variety of books on almost every subject you could imagine.  You'll find pre-loved books that just a few weeks ago were sitting in the New Releases section of Dymocks or Readings, comfortably resting beside "unusual" novels from the 50's and 60's.  This store has something for everyone.

Addresses:

- https://www.facebook.com/Grub-Street-Bookshop-140721419452978

- 379 Brunswick Street, Fitzroy

 

 

8) Alice's Bookshop, Carlton North

Alice's Bookshop is located in a perfect building for a book shop.  There's a lovely old awning outside protecting a table of books on the footpath.  The entrance is simple with a glass counter in the centre of the room and book shelves around the walls.  While a doorway on the right leads to a maze of bookshelves reaching to the roof out the back.  It's obvious Luke and Selina, who purchased Alice's Bookshop just a few years ago, enjoy selling books.  Within the glass counter are some rarer editions for sale, while resting on top is a pile of 1960's Bond novels (at least on this visit anyway).  The lighting in the store is perfect.  Great books, well categorised and a definite must visit.   

Addresses:

- http://alices.com.au

- 629 Rathdowne Street, Carlton North

Cornerlamp Books In Moorabbin Closing

A couple of weeks ago I visited Cornerlamp Secondhand Books in Moorabbin but it was closed.  Last Friday I visited again as I knew it would be open this time.

But not for long it seems, as the store's lease is up in late September.  And while the owner will be reopening Cornerlamp in a new location in the future, until then the store is open every Thursday, Friday and Saturday with all books half price.

Here's some snaps I took while in the store.  If you're looking for some quality books at a cheap price definitely make a visit to Station Street in Moorabbin before the door closes for good in five weeks time.  There's heaps of pulp crime novels, thrillers, Australian literature, science fiction and everything in-between.

A Visit To Fully Booked

On Saturday afternoon my wife and I found ourselves in Coburg. And because we had the opportunity we decided to quickly visit Fully Booked in Thornbury.

 

As I entered the store I was immediately greeted by the owners, Rallou and Tadhg.  These guys are easily the most enthusiastic and passionate secondhand book store owners in Melbourne. The store is really well organised, has a huge variety of books and always seems to be have new stock on the shelves. 

I headed to the "SpyFi" section at the back of the store and managed to find four Bond novels; two by Fleming and two by Gardner.  Unfortunately I had them all.

 

I then made my way to the "Bond, James Bond" section in the Film category.  Here I found a really nice copy of John Pearson's "James Bond 007: The Authorised Biography" which I immediately purchased.  I almost bought this same edition in Vancouver back in 2013 but was concerned about the book's weight in my suitcase so I reluctantly had to let it go.  So this copy, with a fantastic dust jacket, was a great find.

Finally, Rallou showed me a phamplet for a book fair in Abbotsford in October.  I'll definitely try to visit this one.  Thanks guys.