Finally Another Book Hunt

It's been a while since I went on a book hunt.  And it was also a double great day yesterday as it was my first day out of isolation after a bout of Covid.

First stop was Abra Card Abra Roycroft Antiquarian Booksellers in Kew.  I've been itching to visit this book store for years.

The store was full of potential customers which was great to see. I checked out the old Pan paperbacks downstairs where I found a copy of "You Only Live Twice".

Then I moved up the old stairs, flicked on the light switch, and perused the alphabetised hardbacks there.

There were a couple of John Gardner - James Bond titles and an Ian Fleming omnibus, but sadly no Bond novels for me today.

Next stop was the Merchant Of Fairness in Balwyn.  Well that was the plan anyway.  I walked back and forth along the small strip of shops next to the Palace Balwyn Cinema before I came to the realisation this bookstore is no more.

Here's a picture from my last visit in 2017.

I've been visiting the Merchant Of Fairness in all its different locations in Balwyn for many, many years so this was definitely a sad occasion.  I hope the smaller Merchant is still operating at the South Melbourne Market.

Last stop was a Vinnies Op-Shop which I've had some luck at in the past.  The books are well organised and there always seems to be a large selection of new titles.

However apart from a copy of Anthony Horowitz's "Trigger Mortis" there were no titles for me today.

There was a strange moment for me though while searching through the books.  For a second I thought I'd found a copy of the Penguin hardback "Quantum Of Solace" from 2008....

But it turns out I was wrong.  Here's a copy of the rear of the aforementioned hardback from my collection:

No luck for me today but it was great to be outside in the real world again and hunting for books.

 

Hunting For More Books

A couple of weeks ago I visited South Melbourne Market and dropped by the Merchant Of Fairness book store.  I had a quick look but alas there were no Bond novels for me.

Next stop was Balwyn where the Merchant Of Fairness sister book store exists.  I found a couple of Bond continuation novels but again no luck.

Last stop was Roycroft Antiquarian Booksellers (Abracardabra) in Kew.  I hadn't visited this book store for a while so it was great to drop in.  As usual they had plenty of Bond novels on their shelves but unfortunately I had them all.  Finding new books for my collection is certainly not easy!

OHMSS Model Car + Bookstore Visit + Turkish Book

Three James Bond connected events this week.  First was the arrival of a 1:43 scale model car in the mail; Irma Bunt's Mercedes from "On Her Majesty's Secret Service".  This car first appeared as part of the James Bond Car Collection, a part-works magazine series released a few years ago.  I think the car looks great, especially with the snow diorama in the background.

Next was a visit to the the secondhand book store Merchant Of Fairness in Balwyn.  No books for me today but it was great to visit.

Lastly I received a Turkish language copy of Ian Fleming's "From Russia With Love" in the mail.  This becomes the twelfth book I own in this series published by Tay Yayinlari with cover images by Aslan Sukur.  I really like this series featuring Roger Moore likenesses on each cover.