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.

First Book Store Visit In A While

Since the Covid-19 restrictions came into force here in Melbourne I'd resorted to searching for books online (more on that in a future post !).  But as those restrictions are now easing and more businesses have started opening again, I decided to venture outside last Saturday and visit my first secondhand bookstore in several months.

The store was Books By The Bay in Mornington, and while I had copies of all the Bond novels they had for sale it was great to get out there again.

And for anyone curious how I'm going with the Lego James Bond Aston Martin DB5, I've completed Stage 1 with three more stages remaining.   Here's some photos so far:

Five Canadian Bond Novels Arrive

Ian Fleming's literary works entered the public domain in Canada in 2015.  In most countries this copyright exists until 2034, but in Canada it's possible to re-publish all of the James Bond novels without owing any royalties to the copyright owners.

To my knowledge only five Ian Fleming titles have been re-printed in Canada since 2015, and today I received copies of them, sourced by a fellow Bond book collector.  The titles are "Casino Royale", "Live And Let Die", "From Russia, With Love", "Goldfinger" and "Thunderball" and were published by Arcturus Publishing Group in 2019.

The covers are uniform in design and while the artist/designer is not credited I think they've done a pretty good job.  Hopefully the other nine will also be printed soon.

Ps. It's about time I had some new James Bond covers to add to www.PizGloria.com !

Lego James Bond Aston Martin DB5

It was my birthday just over a week ago, and the grand plan was to invite my friends and their partners to see a classic film with my wife and I.  Obviously due to the current Covid-19 restrictions that didn't happen.  But my mates still bought me a present; the Lego James Bond Aston Martin DB5.

I first saw this Lego set in San Francisco in 2018 and was excited by it then.  Now I own it I can't wait to start construction.

I know this set has been around for a while but here's some photos:

"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.