Finally, a road trip!

After what's seemed like a very long year, my husband and I went away for a few days' break earlier this week. We went to Cape Paterson and Wilson's Promontory, testing our fitness by climbing Mount Oberon. Proud to report we had no trouble ascending Mount Oberon, but we were very surprised by how many other people were at the top. I think Melburnians have collective cabin fever following our long, hard lockdown.

Anyway, no trip would be complete without a bookshop visit or two. This isn't a second-hand bookshop, but anyone driving to the Prom should drop into the Alison Lester Gallery and Bookshop at Fish Creek. Alison Lester is a leading Australian children's author, and the shop sells her picture books as well as prints and cards of her illustrations. It's well worth a visit, especially if you have young children or grandchildren. 

 The Ramalama Book Exchange in Wonthaggi has survived lockdown, which is good news for anyone heading to Bass Coast beaches for the upcoming Christmas holiday period. I've reviewed them before on this blog, but they stock a good range of crime, romance, children's and sci-fi/fantasy books, and are located in a former bank, complete with some of the old furniture.

There seems to have been a proliferation of little libraries over lockdown, and there are now at least three in Cape Paterson. This one, in Spray Street, is my favourite. 

I'm busy with work and writing at the moment, but hopefully we'll have a few days out over Christmas and summer, so I can check out some more bookshops.

In other news, my fictional second-hand bookshop owner, Matilda Channon, has had a couple more adventures tracking down the original owners of things she's found in donated books. 'Stranger Than Fiction' was published in The People's Friend a couple of weeks ago, and 'Secret Santas' is in their bumper Christmas issue, out now in the UK. I'm really happy with Sarah Holliday's illustrations, which capture perfectly the cosy feel of Matilda's bookshop. GOers will have noticed occasional references to children's writers and books in these stories, including (so far) the Chalet School, Enid Blyton, Malcolm Saville and Antonia Forest.

I hope everyone in Victoria is enjoying these first few weeks out of lockdown, and perhaps making trips to second-hand and other bookshops too.

Little library at Wandin

Now that we can exercise within a 25km radius rather than the 5km one, my husband and I have walked a couple of sections of the Lilydale to Warburton rail trail. This follows the path of the former railway line, and is primarily used by walkers, cyclists and horse riders. 

Near what used to be the old Wandin railway station is a little library. Pre-COVID-19 I used to always carry a book in my backpack, so I could swap it if I came across a title I wanted in a little library. That's something I'm going to have to start doing again as Melbourne opens up.

Shops are still closed for a couple more weeks, so I'm going to look out for little libraries on my walks, and let you know of their existence should you also plan on exploring the outer easern suburbs as the restictions ease.

Little libraries

I really enjoy coming across little libraries and looking to see what's in them. Recently, I had a run of finding books I wanted and then having to return the next day to replace what I'd taken. So now I've taken to slipping a book in my bag or the car, just in case. (And, of course, sod's law - I haven't found anything I want since I started doing that!)

I'd quite like to set up a little library outside our house, but until then there are a few favourite ones that I check out when I'm on my travels. Locally, there is one near Lilydale Lake, outside Lilydale Aged Care, and another in the Alchester shopping area in Boronia. The Boronia one is outside the Koko Lime Cafe, which I haven't been to, but it seems very popular, indicating the coffee is good. 

Little library near Lilydale Lake

Little library in Alchester, Boronia

I'll start adding little libraries to this blog, when I come across them. They're a great way of both coming across second-hand books and passing on books you don't want to keep.

Sainsbury's Books

The name Sainsbury's will probably always conjure up images of the UK supermarket chain for this Pommie migrant, but here in Melbourne, it's the name of an absolutely gorgeous antiquarian and second-hand bookshop in Camberwell.

Sainsbury's Books is very well laid out with shelves devoted to art, history, military history, motoring, general fiction and collectibles, including rugs, ceramics, silverware etc. There a lot of old British texts, as well as books about Asia and the Middle East.

 For my own interests, the crime shelves consisted mainly of trade paperbacks by popular authors. The children's section was a tad disappointing for me, containing mostly picturebooks, and only a few vintage GOish titles, mainly Arthur Ransome and Mary Grant Bruce.

I did, however, find two excellent titles in the history section, which will help me with some research I'm doing.

Sainsbury's Books has been around for more than 30 years, and it's great to see that it's still doing well. The staff are knowledgeable and the bookshop was busy on the day I visited.

Sainsbury's Books is in Riversdale Road. Just round the corner in Butler Street, you'll find a cute little street library, so come armed with a book or two in case there's something you'd like in there.