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.

Clunes Booktown Festival Returns

For the first time in three years Clunes Booktown Festival took place this weekend.  

The two day event, inviting people to visit the small rural Victorian town, was thriving when my wife and I arrived on Saturday.  I've included a "few" photos below to try and express how the town shines during this festival and how many book sellers attended.  But there were also authors doing signings and talks, publishers explaining to future authors how to get an idea to print, people in costume exciting the crowds and others quoting paragraphs from popular books.  It's not possible to capture the full extent of this event in images.

It was impossible to look in every box or carefully view every trestle table however these are all the James Bond adventures, books about Bond or related/linked books we managed to find:

My wife ended up purchasing some nice books for herself.  Meanwhile I found an excellent copy of Robert Markham's "Colonel Sun" published by Pan Books in 1968 which I couldn't resist.

Overall my wife and I both thought the festival was very well organised and we'll definitely be back.