European Holiday 2025 - Warsaw, Poland

My wife and I are currently in Warsaw, Poland enjoying the first city of our European holiday.  We've found Warsaw to be lovely; the people are friendly, the city is easily accessible by foot and public transport, and the food is great.

We have participated in two "free" guided walking tours so far, the Old Town and the Warsaw Ghetto.  The tours were both interesting, moving and informative.

We have also already done some obligatory book hunting.  Yesterday we travelled by tram to the Mokotow district to visit The Books.  This store sells both new and second-hand English language books.  There are two premises around 100 metres apart.  We learnt about this bookshop from a video on YouTube but sadly the store owner, who features in the video, wasn't behind the counter.

Here's some James Bond books we found including several printed by Penguin as a promo give away with The Times in the UK back in the 2010's.   Some of these books were found in the main store while most were found in the second.

From The Books we travelled by tram back toward Warsaw and stopped near the University Polytechnic where we visited the only other remaining English language book store in the city, As You Like It.  A compact store with books shelved from floor to ceiling, and a friendly staff member behind the central counter.

Opposite our hotel was a bookstore that only sold new books, Empik.  Here we found several new Bond novels in Polish.  This is one of a chain of book stores in Warsaw that are great places to visit for toys, magazines, music, books and many other items.  It actually reminded me of an old Borders store.  Fortunately these Empik stores are always busy.

We also encountered several other book stores during our travels.  Here's a few photos:

My wife was excited for me when she noticed an international book fair being set up near our hotel.  There were tens of white tents being pitched.  Sadly it will occur this coming weekend when we will have already left for Krakow, Poland.

Finally, here's some photos of our travels so far:

The Old Town

My favourite building in Warsaw, The Palace Of Culture And Science, which with a name like that was obviously built during a communist period in Poland's complex history

The short row of remaining buildings from the Warsaw Ghetto

The only remaining Jewish synagogue in Warsaw constructed prior to WWII.  The only reason it still exists is because it was used as a storehouse by the Nazis

A statue commemorating the Warsaw Uprising during WWII

Another statue commemorating the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising during WWII (which also appeared in the recent film "A Real Pain")

Latest US James Bond Series

Back in 2024 William Morrow, an imprint of Harper Collins in the US, released all 14 Ian Fleming - James Bond adventures in a new paperback series.  The predominantly black covers feature the text "James Bond" at the top, then the book's title, the text 007 with colour images inside both the zeroes and then the author's name.

Compared to the cover designs for the Ian Fleming Publication paperback series released in the UK in 2023, I initially found these William Morrow covers slightly lacking in creativity, however I am warming to them.  No one can say they aren't bold in design.  

I also realised recently the cover font, while a little jarring at first glance, may have been inspired by the font used on this 1967 Italian poster for "You Only Live Twice".  But I guess that's a question for the cover designers.

Here's a comparison:

Two other Ian Fleming titles were also published with similar cover designs; "Thrilling Cities" and "The Diamond Smugglers".  At the time of writing this blog post I had already received a copy of "Thrilling Cities" by mail, however...

Since their release last year I've been trying to acquire this series.  But as I live in Australia they can only be purchased from the US and postage costs are prohibitive.  Finally I bit the bullet and purchased them online from a large book selling company, as it meant I would be saving hundreds of dollars compared to other book retailers.  Sadly they arrived not in a good way.  

Of the initial 9 books delivered, 5 were damaged enough for me to have to return them.  I was so disappointed.

Here's three of the titles I returned showing spine lean and scraped edges.  Not what you want for brand new books.  There were also several creases and bumps.  Sure they were readable, but I know I won't be reading them.  They arrived in five different thin cardboard parcels, and while I'm pleased the parcel material was environmentally friendly, it offered no protection at all.  A simple box stuffed with newspaper would have been so much more effective.

Ok, enough of my whinging.  The online company was very efficient in offering free returns and allowed me to cancel the remaining books which hadn't been despatched at that stage.  So no complaints there.  I guess I'll have to pay a little more to get the remaining books in the series.

Book Shop Visit 2: Fully Booked

Fully Booked in Thornbury was the second bookstore I visited while searching for secondhand James Bond novels last December.

The store is owned by Tadhg and Rallou and has been operating for 22 years. !   There appears to be high stock turnover, probably because the book prices are so reasonable, and there's always Bond books on the shelves.

The husband and wife team are super friendly, and very enthusiastic about books and their store.  It's definitely a really nice place to visit.

While I was scouring the "SciFi" section at the rear of the store I overheard a conversation at the front counter between the owners and a customer from New South Wales.  She said to them that "this book store is a real treasure trove", and that's the perfect way to describe this store.

Not a Bond novel but I often confuse it on the shelf with John Gardner's "Role Of Honour".

Open Tuesday to Saturday, this store is definitely worth a visit.  And it's only a short distance from Howard Bolton Bookseller in Northcote which is also open Saturdays.

Book Shop Visit 1: Howard Bolton Bookseller

Back in December 2024 I visited several secondhand book stores around Melbourne.  At the time I neglected to post any pics on this blog however I'm planning on amending that, starting now, with pics from each visit.

The first is Howard Bolton Bookseller in Northcote.  This book store is open only Saturday and Sundays.  As well as paperbacks it sells a huge range of first edition hardbacks.  The books are all high quality and as Howard has been in the book trade for several decades he is very knowledgeable and always ready for a chat.

This is a lovely store to visit.  There are always plenty of James Bond paperbacks for sale and on the day I visited Howard also had a copy of "The London Magazine" for sale which features the short story parody "Bond Strikes Camp" written by Cyril Connolly.

I ended up purchasing this copy of Ian Fleming's "The Man With The Golden Gun" as it was in such nice condition.

James Bond After Fleming

I recently purchased this fine looking book titled "James Bond After Fleming - The Continuation Novels".   Written by Mark Edlitz it chronicles the further adventures of James Bond from all authorised continuation novels written since Ian Fleming's untimely passing in 1964.

The book appears to be very comprehensive, and also features several illustrations including this one of Bond by Pat Carbajal.

And there's also this acknowledgements page which features yours truly !  I definitely feel honoured.

Now I'm really looking forward to having a read.