'Worth a browse' revived!

Last week, I was googling trying to find out whether a particular second-hand bookshop still existed - and this old blog showed up on the first page of entries!

I'd pretty much forgotten about it. Like so many other blogs, it was one I started with enthusiasm, but abandoned when life got in the way. At the time I was busy with work and family, and didn't really have much time for going out exploring and discovering bookshops. But last week I found myself re-reading the entries, and thinking, "This was actually a great idea for a blog." So, after a few false attempts, I managed to work out the username and password and this morning got back in.

It's been nine years since I last posted. Those nine years have seen many changes. The nine-year-old son I mentioned in some posts is now 18 and in his final year of school. There have been changes in publishing and the book trade down the years too. So many second-hand bookshops in Victoria have come and gone.

Anyway, a big change for our family was that my husband retired last year. Because I'm freelance and can be flexible about when I work, we do go out exploring a fair bit, so I end up visiting a few bookshops. So I thought I'd revive 'Worth a browse', see how it goes. I hope readers will find my recommendations useful should they find themselves in the areas where the bookshops are located.

Mountains of Books Book Fair

If you're in the Dandenongs this weekend, definitely drop in on the Mountains of Books Book Fair at Ferny Creek. I went earlier this afternoon and there are lots of great stalls, including Babyboomer Books all the way from South Australia. Joan, who used to run The Old Bakery Bookshop at Warrandyte, has a stall there too, and it was good to see her again. Jilly Bookworm's chilren's book stall has loads of lovely hardbacks by authors like Elinor M Brent-Dyer, Enid Blyton, Lorna Hill, Lucy Maud Montgomery etc. Local bookshops with stalls there include Kallista Books, Rainy Day Books and Wormhole Books. Oh, and there's a great sausage sizzle outside the hall.

Book fair this weekend

I haven't updated this blog for ages ... but then, I haven't visited any bookshops for ages. Work, family and a long, cold and wet winter have all conspired to prevent me from going on any bookshop jaunts.

But, for anyone who might still check this blog occasionally, I thought I'd mention that the Mountains of Books book fair takes place at Ferny Creek in the Dandenong Ranges this weekend. More info here. Be there or be the proverbial! :)

Eclectic Bookshops Walk

On Saturday, I joined 19 other people for the Eclectic Bookshops Walk from Federation Square - one of the Melbourne Writers' Festival's more energetic events, involving nearly two hours of walking round the city.

If you've seen the Writers' Festival program, thought the walk sounded interesting, then baulked at the $45 fee ... seriously, this walk is well worth the money. I discovered a couple of bookshops I'd never heard of before - the amazing and arty Metropolis Bookshop (up three steep flights of stairs ... also worth it!) and the sci fi/fantasy bookshop Science and Swords - as well as the Sticky Institute, which produces zines, and Mag Nation, three floors of wall-to-wall magazines. And it included some great bookshops already known to me, but definitely worth a visit or re-visit: Kill City, Minotaur, the Haunted Bookshop, and the very lovely Kay Craddock antiquarian bookshop.

Time allowed only five minutes or so in every shop, though we did get a bit more time in Metropolis (our penultimate destination - the last one was a cafe, for more than welcome coffee and cake). This was probably a good thing, given the walk was strenuous enough without having bags of books to carry! It was also a chance to explore some of Melbourne's lanes and alleys, and to see buildings once part of Melbourne's publishing history - such as the original Herald Sun building.

Apparently the tour will change slightly for next year, as they are planning to add some new bookshops. In the interim, I'll need to go into the city a few times and spend a lot more time browsing in Kay Craddock, the Haunted Bookshop, et al. ...

Inner-city bookshops

It's time I got out of country Victoria and into Melbourne, isn't it? Today, thanks to picking up an eBay purchase from Malvern, I did just that ... via a couple of bookshops in Armadale.

Grant's Bookshop used to be in Prahran, but is now located in Armadale's High Street ... sort of. The sign resides in High Street, but the shop itself is at the back of number 909, down a little laneway. This bookshop has a very erudite feel about it ... I think it's the sheer volume of massive old tomes on various subjects on display! There are loads of books in the shop itself, and more in another room out the back. The shop is particularly good for Australian fiction - all the genres contain shelves full of Australian novels as well as the ones from Britain, the USA and other countries.

Just along High Street is Berkelouw Books, which I was keen to visit having loved the one opposite Eumundi Markets in Queensland when we were up there a couple of years ago. The Eumundi one was huge, with new books at the front of the shop and an amazing second-hand collection at the back. The Armadale shop just doesn't have the space for them to do that, however, and it's mostly new books, with just a couple of cases of antiquarian titles. It's still worth going in for a browse, however!

Wormhole Books

When you read a great book like Connie Willis's The Doomsday Book and want to read more by this American sci-fi writer, where better to head than Wormhole Books in Belgrave Heights?

As its name suggests, Wormhole Books started off specialising in sci-fi, but is now a general bookshop. The owner, Sandy, is very knowledgable. There was no "Who?" when I said I was looking for something by Connie Willis, and she straightaway found something for me: Passage, which isn't one of the time-travel ones, but is about near-death experiences and looks interesting.

The shelves are full of books on every topic: crime, plays, literary fiction, hobbies ... Sandy began life selling new books in nearby Upwey, but changed to second-hand because she liked hunting down old books and the eccentric customers.

Wormhole Books is a little off the beaten track and is close to the Birdland Reserve, a great place for a picnic and walking for those spending a day or weekend in the Dandenongs. Along with Rainy Day Books in the Basin and Vintage Cookbooks and Kallista Books in Kallista, it makes up the Dandenong Ranges Book Trail - don't forget to call in at new bookshop Through the Looking Glass as you drive through Belgrave if you decide to do the trail.

Fishy tales!!

Fish Tales second-hand bookshop in Fish Creek is a great little stopping-off point if you're on your way to Wilsons Promontory National Park from Melbourne. It's an atmospheric little shop, with log fire, a piano in the music section, and a typewriter to the right of the door as you enter. It is also, of course, crammed with books - and has a very good children's section, including vintage kidlit as well as more recent titles. There's an excellent crime fiction section too, plus shelves of poetry and plays, and lots of literary fiction. About the weakest area, fiction-wise, is sci-fi and fantasy - just a couple of shelves. Usually that wouldn't bother me, but I've just discovered a new-to-me author whose work I love - sci-fi writer Connie Willis. I discovered this bookshop about six years ago and no trip to the Prom is ever complete without dropping off here first.