Book Hunting at the Raven’s Parlour

 

Yesterday was spent driving around the top of the Barossa valley (no wine purchases unfortunately).  It struck me that the Barossa (Kapunda, Tanunda and Greenock) was really beginning to look like Adelaide, losing some of its regional/country flavour.

This has its benefits though a I suppose.  My other half found a music shop that actually sold more than keyboards and acoustic guitars.  She managed to spend the whole time we were in Tanunda playing on a grand piano that costs more than a small car.

But of course you are here to read about book hunting.  I managed to find The Ravens Parlour a very nicely presented shop combining a small second hand collection with new stock.

Now I find that your bookshops can tend to fall into two categories and this can depend on the type of people running them.  Typical of franchise stores(I know of some that buck this trend) you will have a shop that sells all the latest reality TV rubbish, celebrity biographies. A shop that sees books as more of a designer element and hose staff seem only interested in moving stock.

Then you have shops like The Ravens Parlour which takes time and effort and curates their stock.  Despite being confined by space and probably profit margin The Ravens Parlour actually manages to have a diverse collection of books.

Although their science fiction and fantasy section was only one book case I was able to find a wide selection of books.  I saw Tansy Rayner Roberts’ The Shattered city for the first time in print format.  A couple of Yellow hardbacks from the New Gollanz releases and many more that fall outside the best seller list.

The service was good despite the owner having to ferret out an invoice from a delivery.  We talked a bit about the book business, about libraries.  The experience was a pleasant one – which no doubt fed into my purchasing of the Vintage Edition of Maragaret Atwoods The Handmaids Tale.

Pro tip for Booksellers – Try and get to know your customers, take an interest in them as a person –its the only thing you have over online shops. Every time a staff member has take the time to chat I have bought a book from the shop

I heartily recommend The Ravens Parlour, excellent service and a diverse selection despite the size of the shop.

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The Dangers of Book Hunting

Today I ventured north in my hunt for books, to the metropolis at the centre of the Iron Triangle known as Port Pirie. Famous for being South Australia’s first proclaimed provincial city its also well known for lead dust contamination in its populace. 

Fear not, I braved the threat of colica pictonum and was justly rewarded with this wonderful 2nd hand purchase from Meg’s Bookshop. 

They have only just recently started their second hand service, diversifying (like many independents).  They have a good reputation locally as a an independent bookseller and that was evident in the service I received today.

The proprietor was even keen to spend time discussing the downfall of Red Group and the state of the market.  I came away from this jaunt feeling like I could go back and merely enjoy the browsing.

I have no trouble recommending them, for their service and events.  Recent author appearances have been Emily Rodda, Matt Reilly, & Fiona McIntosh.

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Book Hunting at Wallaroo - a Neil Gaiman double

I seem to have had a run of good luck recently, either that or a number of old sci-fi fans have been dropping off their perches and donating their collections to charity.


Earlier this month I was fortunate enough to visit the small coastal town of Wallaroo * on the Yorke Peninsula, this is a favorite holiday spot for many South Australians, a mix of old and industrial, with giant grain silo's dominating  the quaint historical town centre.  I have always thought that the council could redevelop the centre of town and make it unique - something similar to Newtown in Sydney


But on to the book loot
I was lucky enough to come across two Neil Gaiman books in pretty good condition, the first of these is the best seller American Gods.  Here's the description of the book:

After three years in prison, Shadow has done his time. But as the time until his release ticks away, he can feel a storm brewing. Two days before he gets out, his wife Laura dies in a mysterious car crash, in adulterous circumstances. Dazed, Shadow travels home, only to encounter the bizarre Mr Wednesday claiming to be a refugee from a distant war, a former god and the king of America. Together they embark on a very strange journey across the States, along the way solving the murders which have occurred every winter in one small American town. But the storm is about to break...Disturbing, gripping and profoundly strange, Gaiman's epic novel sees him on the road to the heart of America.

The second was Anansi Boys which I have read takes place in the same setting as American Gods, though some time after the events in that story.

To make note of another fortuitous coincidence, the Book Show happened to interview Gaiman in the same week that I found these books- it's linked below:

Neil Gaiman's Stories - RN Book Show - 6 January 2011

So what about you?  Any rare finds on your book hunting expeditions?


*The name Wallaroo comes the Aboriginal word 'Wadlu Waru' meaning wallabies urine. The early settler's tried to copy the aboriginals by calling it Walla Waroo, however they found this too big to stamp on the wool bales, so they shortened it to Wallaroo.

Book Hunting - The Clare Valley

With my nearest physical bookshops just under an hour away, hunting for good books in local thrift shops and second hand stores has become somewhat of a hobby(if not a necessity) itself.


Hunting Grounds - 
Miss Gracie Taylor's Pre loved Books & Treasures
Located just off Main Street in Clare, South Australia, Miss Gracie's doesn't look like much.  A glass fronted rectangular room packed with books, a patchwork of different coloured and sized bookshelves, sandwhiched between a health shop on one side and a scrapbooking craftshop on the other.


Looks can be diecieving though and camouflaged in this seemingly plain looking shop lurked a number of sci-fi classics.


The Trophies
Neuromancer by William Gibson.  The father of cyberpunk?  Or at least its most recognised proponent.  I'd had this book before, lost somehwere in one of my previous moves.  At four dollars it was literally a steal.








The Left hand of Darkness by Ursula Leguin.  I have only ever read the Earthsea novels and perhaps one shorty story involving monkeys by Leguin.  I heard mention of The Left hand of Darkness on the movie the Jane Austin Book Club of all things.  The book was in such good nick that I just couldn't resist - it was six dollars.





Anubis Gates by Tim Powers, an adventure novel with elements of fantasy, Victorian Science come magic.  It's often classed as a steampunk work(see discussion here).  Its been on my hunting list for a while, and this one was in Hardback no less. Snapped up at ten dollars.






The Dispossesed by Ursula Leguin.  This title was given to me for a dollar, it was an ex-class text from the late 1990's and in bad repair.  














1610 A Sundial in A Grave by  Mary Gentle.  I have been meaning to pick up a book by Mary Gentle science a read a review for Ash.  Afte reading the blurb I felt that 1610 woud tie in well with recent reads such as the swashbuckling novella Angel Rising and Anubis Gates above.












Short on time and with the sun setting I had to return to camp.  I spied many other science fiction icons though, Asimov, Wolfe and Bujold.  They would have to wait for another expedition.