Bibliotheca Bar and Book Exchange

Us, girls at work, trooped to this lovely place to celebrate forged friendships. Ending the year with cocktails lifted from epic book passages (can you tell me if there's anything more wonderful than that?)

Bibliotheca Bar and Book Exchange

https://bibliotheca.com.au/
27 Gresham St, Adelaide
South Australia 5000
Tuesday – Thursday 5 pm til 12 am
Friday – Saturday 5 pm til 2 am
Phone: 08 8212 6979
bar@bibliotheca.com.au

Do not underestimate Kmart

I will let you on a secret. Before you purchase that book, check online if it is available at Kmart. Especially with new releases and international booksellers, chances are, the book is being sold at a fraction of the price at our humble everyday to-go store. 

In these COVID-19 days where we try to limit our locomotion, I am fortunate to have a friend who works at Kmart and is kind enough to check and pick up a book for me available at her branch. 

(This being said, I know it gives a different thrill and satisfaction to pick up that glossy new book at the airport which inevitably sells at least 50% more of the retail price at Kmart.)

Lovely surprise waiting for me in my pigeonhole.

Hello again, Dymocks!

Things are looking up in South Australia. Two weeks ago, the Department of Education has encouraged schools and parents to return to face to face teaching in Term 2. A few businesses have started opening up while keeping the required physical distance of 1.5 meters.

I took a quick walk to the city after I heard that one of my favourite bookshops would be open. There is nothing like open bookshops to herald the return to normalcy.

Big smile when he got his surprise!

My son said that this is a perfect book for me. It is small enough to fit into my handbag
and can help me decide to do the right thing when I am confused or stressed. 

Dymocks Adelaide

135 Rundle Mall

Adelaide, South Australia 5000

Phone: (08) 8223 5380

Email: adelaide.orders@dymocks.com.au

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DymocksAdelaide

Twitter: https://twitter.com/DymocksAdelaide

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dymocksadelaide/

See you later, Booknook & Bean

I took a long walk around the city today. A very long walk.

Starting next week, my husband and I will be fully working and our little one learning from home. With the number of COVID-19 cases and the rising death toll around the globe, it will be some time before we can walk freely on these streets again, have drinks with a friend, or people-watch while leisurely sipping a cappuccino.

The world is closing in.  Restaurants and cafes can now only do takeaways. Churches, mosques, and synagogues are no longer allowed to hold services in their places of worship. Gyms, salons, golf courses, and stadiums have closed. Conferences, concerts, and sporting events have been cancelled. What may have been viewed as questionable incursions on civil liberties three months ago, are now norms without question – there are border controls, it is illegal to be congregating in groups, and in several countries, people are forcibly quarantined, required to remain at home.

I chanced upon Booknook & Bean while these dreary thoughts were crossing my mind. I have been meaning to catch up with a girlfriend in this café and I rued putting off seeing her, swamped with meetings and deadlines at work. Of course, who would have thought last New Year when we saw each other, that something this massive, horrifying, and unfathomable will happen to the world?

I ordered coffee and chatted a bit with the barista. He said they were evaluating whether they will still open next week. I wished him the best.

If there is one thing in Australia that I love, it is that we never say goodbye. We do not say adieu. We say: “See you later!”

Booknook & Bean

Topham Mall, 18/52-54 Waymouth Street

Adelaide, South Australia 5000

Phone: 0430 475 006

https://www.facebook.com/booknookandbean

 

Social distancing at Harry Hartog

Hello from our COVID-19 universe. The World Health Organisation has declared a pandemic 11 days ago after 118,000 individuals tested positive for COVID-19 across 114 countries.

We are living in interesting times where we now need to stand at least 1.5 meters away from the next person. Most of us are studying and working from home, venturing out only to buy essential items.

We went out today to get some fresh air and I thought of using a gift voucher I received last Christmas. I was pleasantly surprised to find that the bookshop has been able to remain open amidst these challenging times.

Harry Hartog is a gorgeous bookstore in Burnside Village with a beautiful display and collection of children’s books. My son was entranced, going aisle by aisle, inspecting the books.

I am hoping that when this disease comes to pass, this bookshop will be here, waiting for us.

Harry Hartog Booksellers

Burnside Village, Shop T109 and 109A

447 Portrush Rd, Glenside

South Australia 5056

Tel: (08) 8338 0920

Website: https://www.harryhartog.com.au/

Thank you Carol for my Christmas present!

Tony the Bookman

I had a massive shock last August when we went to the Port Adelaide Fishermen’s Wharf Markets and I could not find my favourite book stall. This stall held a special place in my heart because it was a large, unruly, mad, dusty shamble. Books were precariously piled high and one was in perpetual danger of getting bludgeoned by mounds of hard-cover history and biography tomes (my kind of daring adventure)!

Before

It turned out that the book stall was still there, albeit in a more controlled form. Tony the Bookman mournfully recounted that the authorities have threatened to penalise him if he does not put a semblance of order to his books.

And so he was constrained to go on a trestle-finding spree and  had to boringly categorise his babies (now where’s the fun in that?).

After

Six months later, I paid Tony a visit and he’s still there… woefully trying to marshal his books. He has told me that he still has boxes to unpack and books to lay out on the tables and shelves. 

Perhaps I should visit my friend by mid-year to check if he needs an extra pair of hands.

Thank you for this book, Tony!

With my mum and her friend on another side
 of the Wharf Markets

Fishmermen’s Wharf Markets

Black Diamond Square

Port Adelaide, South Australia 5015

Open: Sundays and Monday Public Holidays, 9.00 a.m. – 5.00 p.m.

https://fishermenswharfmarkets.com.au/

See also: There's more than footy at Port Adelaide

Meg's Bookshop

My family loves road trips and finding interesting things to do in towns and small cities where life remains sweet and unhurried.  Top in our list is always to go bookshop-hunting.

It warmed our hearts to find this bookshop, operating for almost 20 years, in the city square of Port Pirie.

Here's our list of top 10 things to do in this city.

1. Drive through picturesque Ellen Street. Australia is a land of migrants and the rows of flags attest to the country's multi-cultural heritage.

2. Get a haircut. Our son gave the shop 5-stars plus an extra point for the free lollipop!

3. Check out Meg's Bookshop. Great collection of books for young readers, comfortable seating for browsing, and a wonderful section of secondhand books.

4. Visit the Information Centre. The Port Pirie Regional Tourism and Arts Centre as well as the Shakka the Shark Exhibit (which houses a replica of the longest Great White Pointer Shark ever landed in South Australia) are within the precinct. 
Fun fact: You are 15 times more likely to be killed by a falling coconut vs a shark attack.

5. Walk through Port Pirie's history at the National Trust Museum. Lots of old photos and artifacts from the 1800s as well as shops, blacksmith, and smelters displays at the old customs building, railway station, and police station.

6. Honour the heroism and valour of Australia's military at the RSL Military Museum. The exhibits cover conflicts from the Boer War to present times. War memorabilia poignantly tell the stories of service personnel. There is also a Huey helicopter where you can sit and get a feel of what it may have been like during the Vietnam war.

8. Stroll along the John Pirie Bridge, fondly called, "The Bridge to Nowhere". Students of public policy, this is an interesting project for a case study!

9. Get your seafood fix at the SD Caputo and Sons. Fresh, smoked, and pickled seafood to your heart's delight! Be sure to go around the shop's premises. They have a charming esplanade that reminded me of my grandparents' "pantalan" in Villareal, Samar and my parents' love story. ♡

10. Talk to the locals. Folks here will happily chat about their grandparents and great grandparents. The beautiful bygone years.

Meg’s Bookshop

90 Ellen Street

Port Pirie, South Australia 5540

Tel: +63 8 8632 1590

sales@megsbooks.com.au

Port Lincoln's Book Bazaar

You know those New Year’s resolutions? As soon as I uttered mine, I realised in a heartbeat that it was not going to happen.

What I said was: “Let’s go find this Book Bazaar and I won’t buy a book the next 365 days."

Utterly ridiculous, irrational, ludicrous, preposterous, and nonsensical, right?

I must have been mesmerised by Port Lincoln’s coastal beauty to say something inane as that.

A rare Steven Saylor book

Book Bazaar Eyre Peninsula Charity Bookshop

17 Napoleon Street

Port Lincoln

+63 8 8682 4363

Monday-Friday 10.00 a.m. to 5.00 p.m.

Saturday 10.00 a.m. to 1.00 p.m.

www.epcf.com.au

admin@epcf.com.au

The Book Shed at Stirling

Stirling is one of those postcard-perfect towns in South Australia that invite meandering, languid lounging in cafes, and poking around stalls during market days.

Imagine our utter delight when we came across this treasure of a book shed. Books in almost pristine condition sold at bargain prices, sell even cheaper during market days. For sure we’ll be trekking to this town more often in the next few months!

 The Book Shed

12 Merrion Terrace

Stirling South Australia

+63 8 8339 2005
thebookshed@thehut.org.au
www.thehut.org.au