Chapter House Books Gone ?

As usual during the warmer months my wife and I visit the beautiful beaches on the Mornington Peninsula.  On our drive there we often stop at a few secondhand book stores along the way.  One of those shops is Chapter House Books in Mornington.  Here's some photos from one of my last visits on February 1st, 2023.  I'm sure I've visited since but I can't find the photos.

In August 2022 I noted that Chapter House was displaying a sign in the window "Business For Sale".  I assumed the business would be sold, someone else would take over and life would go on as usual.  Our visit last week proved me wrong as I was saddened to discover the book shop was gone... replaced by a skin clinic.

I'm not sure if the shop has gone altogether.  Perhaps it's moved online as their website still exists.   Or maybe it's moved to another street address.  I'd like to remain optimistic because otherwise another physical secondhand book store has closed.  And with Books By The Bay, just around the corner in Mornington, rarely open it's not a good sign for the only two secondhand book stores in the suburb.

Christmas Break Book Hunt

During the warmer weather around Christmas my wife and I like to head to the beach for a day-trip when we can.  The Mornington Peninsula has some of the best beaches in Victoria and the town of Mornington is one place we always like to visit.

There are three book shops in Mornington.  Farrell's Bookshop, an independent general book store selling new books, and two secondhand book stores; Chapter House Books and Books By The Bay.

Last time we visited Chapter House Books there was a sign on the front window that read "Business For Sale".  On this visit I was pleased to see the sign gone and the store full of customers.  As always the store was well stocked and neatly organised but sadly no books for me.

Next we visited Books By The Bay but again it was closed.  We always seem to pick the wrong day to drop by.

For lunch we drove to Hastings where we stopped by a busy op-shop.  They had a couple of Bond related titles too.

Then we called by the Tyabb Packing House Antiques.  Unfortunately it turns out the entire book section has gone.  They used to have a designated section just for Bond titles but alas no more.

On our return trip to suburbia we stopped at a large Vinnies op-shop in Moorabbin I'd read about on-line.  And as the review had promised the place was huge and there were heaps of books.  I found a few Bond adventures but no luck as I had them all.  Still, I will return with fingers crossed next time.

No new additions to my collection from this book hunt, however the beach we visited on the Mornington Peninsula was too nice not to include a few pics here...

Sadly, Life Must Go On

My sister-in-law has accompanied my wife and I on many book hunting adventures.  Sadly, less than three weeks ago she passed away from Covid.  She is 47.

Two weeks ago my wife and I used her laptop and I noticed she'd opened all of the post notification emails sent from this blog.  Not only has my wife lost her sister, her family a daughter, and myself a great friend, but there's now one less regular reader of this blog.

After the funeral my wife and I took a week off work.  Collecting James Bond novels certainly wasn't a priority during this time.  In fact I still have a pile of books in their postage parcels that I haven't opened yet.  However we happened to pass two second-hand book stores while we were travelling to the Mornington Peninsula for a day trip and we made some quick stops.

The first was Chapter House Books in Mornington.  As I took photos of the street frontage I was shocked to see a "Business For Sale" sign on the front window.  

I entered the store and scoured the books on the shelves, before purchasing an unread trade paperback of Jeffery Deaver's "Carte Blanche" which contained an autographed book plate from the author.  I spoke to the friendly woman behind the counter and she explained she'd operated the store for over 14 years and it was time for a change, so they were selling the entire business in the hope someone else would continue it.  Good luck to the owners and I hope the business does continue.

Here's some photos from inside the store as well as the book I purchased with its book plate.

Next stop was Frankston Book Exchange.  Rob was behind the counter suggesting books to read to another customer.

James Bond adventures are located on the left near the front of the store, along with Agatha Christie and Ngaio Marsh mysteries, and other popular vintage authors. 

There were five Bond paperbacks on the shelf, as well as a 7th impression hardback of "The Spy Who Loved Me" published by Jonathan Cape in 1965.  I already had all the paperbacks and the Cape hardback, but the Cape still had its dustjacket which is not common.  I opened the inside cover and noticed that the jacket was taped to the inside of the cover which isn't ideal.  However for AU$40 I knew it was still a reasonable price.

Before I left I asked Rob about his brother's second-hand book store, the Pakenham Book Exchange, which was closed on my last visit and he explained it was still temporarily closed.  There had been a fire in an accompanying shop in the arcade and the owner was still waiting on repairs to be carried out.  His brother had thrown out hundreds of books because of water damage caused by the response to the fire.  I hope the book store reopens soon.