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...

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.