Book Hunt North Of The Yarra

Sometimes life gets in the way of collecting.  Currently my sister-in-law is in hospital and the last thing I'm thinking about while still in eternal covid lockdown is hunting for books online.

But I have been going through photos on my phone and found this bunch from October 7, 2017 when I crossed the Yarra River and searched for books north of the City.

Howard Bolton Bookseller in Northcote.  Howard always has a collection of good condition Bond novels, many from the 60's and 70's, and this day was no different.  I also always scour his wall of first edition hardbacks looking for an elusive Ian Fleming first.

Alice's Bookshop in Carlton.  This store no longer exists at this location but as you can see at the time they had a Hawkey Pan "Diamonds Are Forever" on the table on the footpath outside the store and a copy of "Devil May Care" inside.

Fully Booked in Thornbury in the Spy-Fi section.  This is a great book store that has a high turnover of quality books and friendly owners.  I would be highly surprised if these books are sitting on these shelves today.

Allsorts Secondhand Books in Northcote.  Sadly this store also no longer exists as the owner, Paul, happily retired.  I do miss this store though.  Sometimes stores that have an eclectic collection of books contain hidden treasures.

Brown & Bunting Booksellers in Northcote.  Located around the corner from Howard Bolton Bookseller this store contains quality books with a high turnover of good quality early Bond novels.

Already Read Books in Fitzroy.  I have rarely visited this store so it was great to drop in and see what was available.  I'm definitely looking forward to returning once these covid restrictions are over.

Abra Card Abra Roycroft Antiquarian Booksellers in Kew.  Containing a wide variety of novels covering many different categories over two storeys, this secondhand book store is easily one of the biggest in Victoria.  It's always a pleasure to visit this store with it's huge collection of Pan paperbacks downstairs (more often than not including Fleming) and hardback and more paperback Bond novels upstairs.

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: