Surprise City Book Hunt - Part 2

Following on from yesterday's post, today my wife and I spent our second day in the City and visited a few more book stores.

The first was Dymocks on Collins Street where I was looking for the newly released paperback reprint of "Trigger Mortis" by Anthony Horowitz.  No luck though.  I also searched for a Young Bond reprint by Charlie Higson to complete the set and checked out the Bond books in the movie section.

Second we visited Robinson's Bookshop at the Emporium.  No luck here, although I did almost get hit by a wayward ladder.

We then made our way to Elizabeth Street where we checked out Minotaur.

And finally we visited All Star Comics while making our way back to the hotel to check out. I didn't even know this store existed at this location.  Heaps of mags and a lots of collectables but no Bond stuff for me today.

Finally, while in the City we visited the excellent Scorsese Exhibition at ACMI, Fed Square.  Here's some snaps.  I know it would never happen but he would direct a brilliant Bond film.  Perhaps "007 In New York" !

Surprise City Book Hunt - Part 1

Apologies, I haven't had time to post further entries about our road trip in New Zealand yet.  However my wife and I are currently walking around Melbourne as she has organised a surprise weekend away for me in the City.

We've just left City Basement Books where we found several Bond novels for sale.

And now we're sitting in a cafe in Fed Square enjoying breakfast and a hot chocolate.  There were several Bond novels for sale at the Saturday stalls too but I had them all.

Our New Zealand Road Trip Begins

A few weeks ago my wife and I along with our friends, Jean-Claude and Brownie, landed in Auckland about to embark on an 18 day road trip of New Zealand.  The trip was a surprise present for Jean-Claude's 30th birthday.

We only spent one night in Auckland so I didn't get a chance to visit any second-hand book stores there.

I had my fingers crossed there would be some books in the Bay Of Islands which was our next destination.  Located near the top of the North Island of New Zealand the bay contains 144 small islands and the first European to visit it was Captain James Cook.  

My homework told me there were three book stores in the town but being a Sunday the first store I located, a book exchange, was closed.  I did manage to grab this photo through the store window though.

 

The next second-hand book store, located in a garage near the library, only opens every second Saturday or when the cruise ships arrive.  There were no cruise ships in the bay this Sunday so closed it was.

Fortunately the third store, Paihia Bookshop was open.  Selling both new and second-hand books this store has a wide variety of books.

 

Unfortunately the lady behind the counter told me there were no Bond novels on their shelves at the moment.  C'est la vie.  There were still plenty more towns and cities to visit on our journey around New Zealand.

Finally, here's some holiday snaps of the Bay Of Islands.  On the first day we arrived there it was a bit grey, however the weather was beautiful the next day.

 

Jonathan Cape "Dr No" Received

Back in March my brother visited a second-hand book store and found a hardback copy of Ian Fleming's "Dr No" on the shelf.  He managed to purchase it for $40. Recently he dropped it off at my house and I paid him for it.

So now as I have the book in my possession I can add some photos.  It's a Jonathan Cape second edition published in 1958, has a dancing lady under the dust jacket, and the back of the dust jacket has a little foxing.  But overall it's a great book purchased at a bargain price, especially as the book is almost 60 years old.

SPECTRE Released On DVD And Blu-Ray In Australia

On March 9 the latest James Bond film "SPECTRE" was released on DVD and Blu-Ray in Australia.  Strangely I don't recall any ads on TV or radio promoting the release, however I did see lots of bus stops and phone booths featuring this poster.

And the local JB Hi-Fi had this free monthly magazine... 

and display stand...

Today, almost a month later, I visited the same JB Hi-Fi store and managed to pick up some of the advertising material they no longer needed.  I gained part of the aforementioned display stand...

As well as two of these cardboard cubes.  One is a little damaged at the top but they both look pretty cool.

They also gave me several of these posters which hadn't been displayed.

So obviously I was pretty stoked after picking up all this Bond stuff.  Now I just have to find somewhere to put it in my Bond room ! 

A Sign Of The Times

A couple of weeks ago I travelled to three second hand bookshops, on the continual hunt for more James Bond books to add to my collection.

First was Roycroft Antiquarian Booksellers in Kew.  I hadn't stepped into this store since late last year.  And it was great to see plenty of Bonds on the shelves, but unfortunately there were none for me today.

Next my wife and I travelled to Bradstreet's Books in Hawthorn.  I remember speaking to the woman behind the counter last year and she explained they would be closing due to the building being re-developed.  I didn't realise it would be so soon. Sadly it is no more.

Before...

Now.

Finally, I visited Sinbad Books in Carnegie.  I've been visiting this store for years but never really spoken to the owner, Rashad, until today.

I asked him about the usual pile of Bond paperbacks near the front counter.  All sold.  And looking around the store I could see there was something going on.  The stock in the store was dramatically reduced and several bookshelves were gone.  Rashad explained that after 20 years it was time to shut the doors for good; a sign of the times in the book trade.

So while this store exists today, with plenty of books on sale, unfortunately it won't be for much longer.  

I wished Rashad good luck in his future endeavours, and after mentioning PizGloria.com I gave him a card for my site which he said he was looking forward to visiting.  And with a sad heart I grabbed a couple more photos, including this one of Rashad, before leaving Sinbad Books for the last time.