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.  

Lions Club Book Sale This Weekend In Glen Waverley

I've just returned from a book sale organised by Lions Australia in Glen Waverley, VIC.  The sale is on till 4 today and midday tomorrow.  The books were all second hand, in great condition, really cheap and amazingly well organised.  No luck for me today although I did find a couple of Bonds by Jeffery Deaver and Sebastian Faulks.

"Trigger Mortis" Paperback In Oz Stores

The latest edition of "Trigger Mortis" by Anthony Horowitz is now available on Australian book shelves.  This paperback edition, published by Orion, has a great cover design by Keenan.  My wife and I visited several book stores today before finally purchasing this copy at Thesaurus Books in Brighton.

Considering there were no book purchases for PizGloria.com for the first five months of this year, July has proven to be a great month for new books to this website.

While driving home I noticed this billboard on Nepean Highway and quickly did a U-turn to take this photo.

On another note, I visited Out Of Print Books etc. in Caulfield the other day.  It was great to see several other customers in the store.  As usual they had at least 10 Bond paperbacks but none for me this time.

I also visited Cornerlamp Secondhand Books in Moorabbin.  Unfortunately there are signs on the window explaining the lease is ending soon.  Hopefully that just means this store will be moving and not closing down.

And just one last thing... while at Thesaurus Books today the girl behind the counter, Kate, recognised me and brought out a coffee book she thought I might be interested in; a copy of The James Bond Archives.  Obviously I've seen this on the web but not physically.  I had a quick flick through and it looks great so I may have to consider purchasing this in the future.

Roald Dahl Is Alive And Well In Melbourne

Despite passing away in 1990, Roald Dahl currently seems more popular than ever.  Steven Spielberg's "The BFG" based on the Dahl book has proven to be successful at the cinemas (unlike some other Dahl book adaptions to screen).  While at The Princess Theatre here in Melbourne the stage play "Matilda" has been continually performing to full houses.

This afternoon my wife, her sister, Jean-Claude, Brownie and I met in the City to see why "Matilda" is so popular.  And now we know.  It was fantastic fun, the sets were great, the girl who played the main protagonist was brilliant and Australian Tim Minchin deserves every award he received for his contribution to the songs.  If you haven't already seen this stage play you should definitely catch it some time soon

Just prior to "Matilda" my wife and I managed to visit the City Dymocks store.  In doing so I was able to pick up a copy of Steve Cole's "Heads You Die" as well as finally purchasing a copy Charlie Higson's "By Royal Command" with the new Young Bond logo.  This latter book completes my set of this series of books. 

Just before I go, here's a snap I took of the stage this afternoon.  And for those younger readers unaware of why I'm mentioning Roald Dahl so prominantly on what is in essence a blog about the character James Bond, Dahl was involved in two screen adaptions of Ian Fleming books. The first was the Bond film "You Only Live Twice" and the second was "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang".