"No Time To Die" Would Have Premiered In Oz Today

"No Time To Die" was supposed to premiere in Australia today.  Obviously because of the corona virus the film's release has been delayed until November.  And I'm sure everyone reading this agrees it was a very wise decision by EON and MGM.  But it's still a shame.  A necessary shame.  Bring on November !

Piz Gloria Website Celebrates 8th Birthday

Today is the eighth anniversary of the launch of PizGloria.com.  Despite acquiring few books over the past year resulting in only a handful of cover images being added to the website, and my planned changes to the website yet to occur, I'm still very proud of my contribution to the internet and the world of James Bond collecting.

A quick visit to Google Analytics reveals the following statistics about PizGloria.com over the last eight years:
- There have been 22,385 visitors
- Over 232,000 pages have been viewed
- The average visitor spends 3:20 minutes on the website
- On average each visitor views 6 different pages during their visit

There are now so many ways to find out information on James Bond novels, from Facebook groups to other websites to brilliantly detailed bibliographies; collectors and fans of Bond novels are very fortunate nowadays compared to when this website was first launched, so I'm very pleased that so many people are still visiting my website.

Anyway, thankyou everyone for taking the time to visit both this blog and the PizGloria.com website. Your continued support is greatly appreciated.

Cheers Baz

U.S. "Forever And A Day" Paperback Arrives

The Harper paperback version of Anthony Horowitz's second James Bond novel "Forever And A Day" was released in the US just a few days ago.  I pre-ordered a copy a few months ago and it arrived in the mail today.

I like the cover too.  It's a bold concept with the emphasis on the circular "007" logo instead of the name "James Bond" which appears in a smaller typeface.  The cover is almost identical to the advance copy I received in New York in September last year, save for a couple of minor differences (for example the speed boat is below the "T" on the advance copy and below the "Z" on this copy.  There is also additional "Not for sale" text on the cover of the advance copy).

I'll try and scan this cover on the weekend and add it to the PizGloria.com website.  This is the first addition to my collection in months so I'm pretty pleased !

Ps. Below are the two covers; advance copy (top) and this latest cover (bottom)

Mountains Of Books Bookfair 2019

It's a wet and cool Saturday morning on this unofficial Melbourne Cup long weekend and I'm sitting in my car near the Ferny Creek Hall in the Dandenong Ranges.  The rain is pelting on the roof as I write this, having just returned from checking out the many books available inside the hall where the Mountains Of Books Bookfair is being held for another year.

As usual Meryll from Rainy Day Books is present behind her book stall, along with many other familiar faces.

When I entered the hall earlier I made a bee-line for the book stall I've had success with in the past.  The stall holder even recognised me from my Jonathan Cape - Moonraker purchase last year.  He said he had no hardbacks this year but directed me to his pile of Ian Fleming paperbacks.

Leaving him I briefly spoke to Joy who was sitting in one corner of the hall making Christmas decorations from unwanted books and sheet music.  I was assured no Bond novels were harmed in the making of these particular decorations.

I then worked my way around the other tables.

One stall had several nice Ian Fleming - Pan paperbacks...

And after asking if it was ok to take these photos of them the stall holder pointed to some Ian Fleming - Jonathan Capes and Book Club Editions also on her stall, as well as a Robert Markham - Colonel Sun first edition.

Unfortunately no new novels for me today, but I did grab plenty of photos from the book fair.  Here's a couple more:

The Mountains Of Books Bookfair 2019 closes today at 4pm and begins again tomorrow at 10am.  Lots of books for sale on a variety of topics and categories, as well as all these Bond novels.  It's well worth a drive to the Dandenongs this weekend.

Metung Getaway

My wife and I are currently enjoying the AFL Grand Final long weekend in Metung, Gippsland.  My wife's sister has also joined us for the getaway.  We travel to Metung annually this weekend for a break and it takes around 4 hours to drive from Melbourne via the Princes Highway.

On our way yesterday we stopped at Bairnsdale Bookshop but unfortunately as it was a public holiday it was closed, but I managed to grab these snaps.

However this morning we returned and fortunately it was open this time.  They had a couple of Bond novels but sadly I had them all.

Next we drove to Lakes Entrance where we played some mini-golf (a must in Lakes) and also checked out Just Books.  I've been visiting Just Books for around 35 years so it's a favourite of mine.  No books for me today though.

Here's a couple of quick photos of Lakes Entrance:

And here's some photos from Metung:

And just as an addendum, on our way home from Metung we visited The Cog in Traralgon.  This coffee shop also sells secondhand books.  Unfortunately it doesn't open on Sundays so we'll have to visit again later.

Tyabb & Moorooduc Book Hunt

Tyabb is located on the Mornington Peninsula close to Western Port Bay.  It has a couple of antique markets that I visit regularly, looking for Bond paperbacks.

The first is the Tyabb Packing House Antiques containing a huge number of stalls selling every conceivable item you could think of; car parts, furniture, film posters, toys, cameras, crockery, art, jewellery... the list is endless.  It also sells second hand books.

There are hundreds of second hand books for sale, including a section specifically for Bond novels.

I visited the Packing House with my Mum so we had a coffee break afterwards.  I can definitely recommend the carrot cake on sale at the cafe.

Just down the road is The Bottom Drawer Antiques in Moorooduc.  Unfortunately on the day we visited I learned the place was soon to be permanently closing down.

Lots of antiques and a few books but none for me.  Regardless it's sad to see an antiques store closing.