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.

Community Book Library

While visiting some friends over the weekend my wife and I spent some time with them walking around their suburb.  As I commonly do whenever I see a community book library containing books and CD's/DVD's donated by people for others to take I always look for James Bond novels.

This is one community book library we came across...

No luck here.  In fact I've never seen a James Bond novel in any of the library boxes I've ever peered into... until we walked past the next one.

This copy of "The Spy Who Loved Me" by Ian Fleming looks in pretty good condition in this photo however it's really only a reading copy, which is exactly why I left it in this box, for another person to discover the literary 007.

Daylesford Bookshop And Another Fair

After visiting the Clunes Booktown Festival on Saturday my wife and I then drove thirty minutes to the town of Daylesford.  The town was on our way home anyway, perhaps not the quickest route, but it made sense as we were so close.

First we visited the cafe by the lake that also sold second hand books.  Well it used to anyway because the books have long gone now.

Next we visited Paradise Books on the main street.  This store sells both new and secondhand books.

The store was busy as it always seems to be.   And there were plenty books neatly organised on the shelves.

I managed to find these three copies of "Devil May Care" by Sebastian Faulks but I decided not to make any purchases.

On Sunday morning I woke early to attend the Vintage And Modern Toy Fair at the Malvern Town Hall.  

Considering entry was in 30 minute waves I was surprised how many people were already inside when I arrived.  And the hall was full of stalls.

Sadly though, apart from a few complete sets of James Bond trading cards these were the only Bond collectables I could find.  These two Corgi "The Spy Who Loved Me" vehicles, still on their unopened cards, would have been a great buy for someone (especially at only $35 and $40).  In fact when I returned just a few minutes later I noticed the white Lotus had already been sold.

So no purchases today for me but it was great to see all the different toys and collectables from my youth.

More Love Found, This Time Online

A few weeks ago I found a Jonathan Cape first edition of Ian Feming's "The Spy Who Loved Me" for sale online.  The hardback was published in 1962 and was one of only 30,000 copies printed.  It also features a really nice dust jacket by Richard Chopping.  For the "Buy It Now" price being asked I couldn't let it go, and the book arrived in the post today just in time for Christmas.

The strange thing is this is the second Jonathan Cape copy of this novel I've purchased in the last five months.  The previous was a 1963 fifth impression purchased in August.  

I'm hoping instead of another "The Spy Who Loved Me" the next Jonathan Cape I purchase is an earlier one in the series, preferably a "Casino Royale" first edition... well we can all dream anyway.

Have a great Christmas and New Year everyone and may you have a successful year of Bond collecting next year.

Love Found In Mornington

I visited Mornington again a couple of weeks ago and it turned out to be very fortunate.  First stop was the secondhand store Books By The Bay.

After a bit of a wander through the store I found two Bond paperbacks; a copy of Ian Fleming's "From Russia With Love" and a copy of Anthony Horowitz's "Forever And A Day".

Then after speaking to the store owner, Leonid, I was introduced to a Jonathan Cape copy of "The Spy Who Loved Me".  The hardback was a fifth impression printed in 1963.  There was some slight silverfish damage on the back of the dustjacket but that only momentarily deterred me from purchasing it.

And here's some photos of the book at home.

After bidding farewell I then visited Charter House Secondhand Books, but wasn't as fortunate here with the Bond novels.  I will return again though.

Mountains Of Books Bookfair 2019

It's a wet and cool Saturday morning on this unofficial Melbourne Cup long weekend and I'm sitting in my car near the Ferny Creek Hall in the Dandenong Ranges.  The rain is pelting on the roof as I write this, having just returned from checking out the many books available inside the hall where the Mountains Of Books Bookfair is being held for another year.

As usual Meryll from Rainy Day Books is present behind her book stall, along with many other familiar faces.

When I entered the hall earlier I made a bee-line for the book stall I've had success with in the past.  The stall holder even recognised me from my Jonathan Cape - Moonraker purchase last year.  He said he had no hardbacks this year but directed me to his pile of Ian Fleming paperbacks.

Leaving him I briefly spoke to Joy who was sitting in one corner of the hall making Christmas decorations from unwanted books and sheet music.  I was assured no Bond novels were harmed in the making of these particular decorations.

I then worked my way around the other tables.

One stall had several nice Ian Fleming - Pan paperbacks...

And after asking if it was ok to take these photos of them the stall holder pointed to some Ian Fleming - Jonathan Capes and Book Club Editions also on her stall, as well as a Robert Markham - Colonel Sun first edition.

Unfortunately no new novels for me today, but I did grab plenty of photos from the book fair.  Here's a couple more:

The Mountains Of Books Bookfair 2019 closes today at 4pm and begins again tomorrow at 10am.  Lots of books for sale on a variety of topics and categories, as well as all these Bond novels.  It's well worth a drive to the Dandenongs this weekend.