Weekend Book Hunt

Last weekend I drove around Melbourne to visit a few book stores and managed to purchase another James Bond book.  

The first store I visited was "Abra Card Abra - Roycroft Antiquarian Booksellers" in Kew.  (Sorry, I couldn't decide which photo to use below so I used both).

A while ago the owner decided to move the Bond paperbacks from the paperback section downstairs to the hardback section upstairs.  I thought it was an interesting and intelligent move.  In fact these are the only paperbacks on the upstairs fiction book shelf.

Unfortunately I had all these books, but this nice first edition of John Gardner's "Icebreaker" was calling my name so I couldn't refuse.  It's the second copy of this particular hardback I've bought in as many weeks.

The second store I visited was "Howard Bolton Bookseller" in Northcote.

I always enjoy catching up with Howard and discussing books and book stores.  As usual he showed me some Bond books that weren't on his shelves, and I took these photos of a copy of Ian Fleming's "Thrilling Cities" and of the books on his shelves.

Next up on the book hunt was "City Basement Books".  

I always walk down the stairs into this store with my fingers crossed.  I remember making a number of great purchases in this store when it was located just around the corner on Elizabeth Street.  No luck today though. 

And now some snaps of other stores I visited during my travels that day.

"Bradstreet's Books", Hawthorn (second-hand)

"Readings", Hawthorn (new books)

"Dymocks", Prahran (new books)

"Readings", Malvern (new books)

"Jeffreys", Malvern (new books)

"Books In Print", Malvern (new books)

"Corner Lamp Books", Moorabbin (second-hand)

"Dymocks", City (new books)

"Kay Craddock Antiquarian Bookseller", City (second-hand)

"Reader's Feast", City (new books)

"The Merchant Of Fairness", Balwyn (second-hand)

Annual Yarragon And Warragul Visit

Last week my wife and I, along with my parents, drove a little over an hour to Yarragon in Gippsland, Victoria for the Yarragon Book Fair.  The annual fair is held in the town hall to raise money for the local fire brigade.

This is our fifth visit to the fair and probably my most successful.  I suppose having four pairs of eyes instead of two helped.

As we entered the hall I noticed how busy it was compared to previous years.  Word is hetting around.  And there seemed to be fewer of the books I'd seen in previous years, however I did notice the box of Dan Brown novels that I saw last year !

I'd like to say I noticed the Bond novels below during our search but in actual fact my wife pointed most of them out to me.

 

I ended up purchasing this copy of John Gardner's "Licence Renewed".  It's a Book Club Edition and I already have a copy, but for $1 how could I go past it !  I also bought this Sean Connery autobiography which my Mum managed to find.  As you can see from the photos above we found no Fleming Bond novels.

After leaving the hall we then had lunch in a cafe near the main road.  I highly recommend the sausage roll and chips.

We then spent over an hour strolling along the strip of small shops in the town and purchased a few items.  In one gift store I noticed these meerkat figurines for sale...

... and then unexpectedly I noticed a James Bond meerkat standing at the back of the cabinet.  It looked great and I considered it for a moment but had to let it go.

We then returned to the car for our return drive to Melbourne.  But our trip was interrupted as usual by a quick stop in Warragul at the Red Door Bookstore.

Unfortunately this store is closing down in August but I got the feeling after chatting to the owner, Wayne, that while he's sad about it all he's happy it's occurring on his terms.  The building he's leasing is being sold.  It's still a shame though as the store is so well organised and Wayne knows a thing or two about books.

I ended up purchasing these two John Gardner first editions and and also an early paperback edition of Ian Fleming's "Moonraker".

Make sure you visit this store before it closes in early August as there's plenty of great novels on the shelves, they're all in good condition, and there's currently a 50% discount on all stock.

My Dad and I spent about half an hour chatting to Wayne in the book store while the girls sat in the car.  We then made our way home talking about how much we'd enjoyed the entire day and how we'd definitely be returning next year.

Old Young Bond Arrives

A copy of Charlie Higson's "Silverfin" arrived in the mail today from the US. This edition was published by Disney - Hyperion Books in 2009.  

As a result of receiving this book I am now just a "Double Or Die" short of completing this series that features numbers on the cover (not text) to indicate the sequence in which they were written.

Yarragon Book Fair Starts Tomorrow

For any Melbourne book collectors reading this blog the Yarragon Book Fair starts tomorrow, July 11 at 9am. My wife and I have visited this fair every year for the last four and have always enjoyed our morning and lunch there.  All money made from the fair goes toward the local fire brigade.

If you are planning on visiting don't forget to stop at the Red Door Bookshop in Warragul during your travels to or from Yarragon.  Unfortunately this bookshop is closing in August but there's plenty of bargains on offer as all stock is currently 50% off.

Book Store And Fair Visits

Over the past two days I visited a second-hand book store in Hampton and a book fair in Oakleigh.

"Bound Words" in Hampton has been a regular haunt for me over the years.  I remember my best purchase from this store being a set of three 1960's Jonathan Cape hardbacks of Ian Fleming's "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang", all with great dust jackets.

As soon as I entered the store today, Ailsa who was sitting behind her counter, recognised me and informed me she had no new James Bond novels.  Regardless I said I'd still take a look and also asked permission to take these photos of her store.

Despite having no new Bonds today I always enjoy visiting this store.  I'm not sure how but Ailsa often manages to source Jonathan Cape / Ian Fleming hardbacks so I'm always curious what she's selling in her glass cabinet.

 

I next visited the annual Anglican Church Book Fair in Oakleigh.  There's always a wide selection of books available at this fair and they're also very cheap.

 

  

 

 

This year I found these two Bond paperbacks which I already had, but I did purchase this copy of "The New Official James Bond 007 Movie Book".  My other edition of this movie book didn't include "Licence To Kill".

Finally I also purchased these two Jonathan Cape first editions of Len Deighton novels (sans dust jackets).  I think I saw them and wished the spine read "Ian Fleming" !  Being so cheap I really couldn't go past them as they're in such good condition.  I hope to be able to on-sell them some time in the future and in so doing fund other Bond purchases.

I did drive past "Broadstreet's Books" in Hawthorn but it was closed.

And finally... I saw this car at the traffic lights.  While I think it's an Aston Martin DB6 and not a DB5 I personally would still spray paint it silver-birch !

Bond Book Arrives In The Post

Yesterday I received a parcel I'd purchased from the UK containing two different copies of "Icebreaker" by John Gardner.  The first was published by Berkley Books in 1986, while the second was published by Coronet in 1993.

The Coronet edition is fairly rare (at least here in Oz) so I purchased it despite the fact I already have a copy in my collection.  I personally rarely see this book for sale.

The Berkley edition however is a variation on a similar cover by the same publisher.  Both books are almost identical however one has white text reading "James Bond" on the cover while the other has the same text in gold.  A comparison of the two covers can be seen on the Slight Cover Variations page.