Wednesday, May 5, 2010

Popular book exchange

In Australia, a lot of second-hand bookshops call themselves book exchanges. The idea is that you take in one or more of your books, the bookshop owner values it/them, and then you can exchange your book(s) for other books up to that particular value. I've only encountered bookshops like this in Australia - do other countries have book exchanges?

The Ramalama Book Exchange in Wonthaggi (conveniently located opposite Safeway) contains thousands of books, mostly popular paperbacks - Wonthaggi is near Inverloch and other popular Gippsland beaches so there's plenty of holiday reading. It's particularly good for contemporary crime and I've bought a few trade paperbacks from there by authors like Gillian White, PD Martin and Katherine Howell. The kidlit consists mainly of contemporary popular series and authors (Goosebumps, Paul Jennings, Roald Dahl and the like), though there are usually Enid Blytons on the shelves as well. Nothing stays on the shelves very long in this shop, though - the owner only buys books he knows will sell quickly (hence there are lots of Agatha Christies but no Margery Allinghams) - so don't decide to come back and buy later in the week.

It's a very busy shop - I don't think I've ever set foot in it and there hasn't been at least one person buying. The owner admits he knew nothing about books till buying the book exchange a few years ago, so if you're looking for a title by an author whose name is just on the tip of your tongue, it's no use asking him for help. He's a friendly guy, though, and lets you know if there are any book-related events in the area, such as book fairs. And given the rapid turnover of books, he's probably making more from his bookshop than the very knowledgable owners of one or two more overpriced bookshops I could mention, but won't.

Definitely worth a visit if you're spending any time in South Gippsland and like popular fiction.

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