Second-hand bookstore suggestions?

PB have you read Richard Littlejohn’s ‘Littlejohn’s Britain’? Classic look at the Blair years.

Yep, definitely stocked up at the Bookfair, and have been loving Canty’s and Beyond Q (although they charged me $4 for less than half a milkshake!) but still can’t find the Joan Aiken book I’m searching for!

Oh bottoms! They are book seelers, they waterproof your books so you can read them in the shower.

The bookshop at Mawson saved me some big bucks. He had a book for $15 which Angus & Robertson had for $70.

Didn’t you stock up at the Lifeline bookfair??? I got a bargain there; a copy of Dr Oliver Sacks’ (Awakenings and The Man who mistook his Wife for a Hat)autobiography which is signed by Dr Sacks. Only $3.50. The Lifeline people missed seeing the signature.

Cantys is now closed on Tuesdays.

There’s usually a couple of good second hand book seelers at the Jammo “Trash and Treasure” car boot sale.

It’s a bit off track but can anyone recommend something else for my 13 year old once she’s finished devouring (no pun intended) the Twilight series?

Laurell K. Hamilton; Anita Blake Vampire Hunter Novels

mother of many said :

Cantys. Definitely Cantys.

Great range – you want it, they probs have something like it – and great prices. My kids have an AWESOME time there… as do I.

There is another store just down from Cantys, name…?, also great range and great prices.

Then down the road (still in Fyshwick) in one of the little cul-de-sacs there is Gaslight Books, which is a specialist in Scifi/Fantasy/Gothic types of genres. They have second hand as well as new; prices on both are pretty good.

There used to be a market on at ANU on Thursdays near the Uni Bar, sold old clothes etc – there was a bookseller there who often had current (but secondhand) textbooks/reference books at very good prices… years since I was there, anyone know if it is still there?

Yes he still comes there and sometimes has good books and if you are a regular buyer he gives a couple of dollars off as well. I haven’t seen him for the month or so may be because of holidays he wasn’t coming.

Meant to add Passion books at the Belconnen Markets and Dickson (I think) have a reasonable range too. Not sure if they are secondhand though.

The secondhand book shop at the Mawson shops is quite good for fiction. Winchbooks at Bungendore is huge with a vast range of books in all genres. They used to be in Fyshwick I believe but moved out to Bungendore a couple of years ago.

Sad to hear the Chifley book shop closed, they had a good range for a wee shoppie.

It’s not a Canberra business, but if you’re doing a weekend trip up to the Southern Highlands, dropping by the Berkelouw book barn in Berrima (how’s that for alliteration?) is a worthwhile diversion.

http://www.berkelouw.com.au/about/berrima

Gaslight books in Fyshwick sell new and secondhand crime books. They have a website where you can check to see if they have the book you are after. I reckon that second hand book prices in Canberra are high compared to many other places.

http://www.booksandcollectibles.com.au/ and http://www.abebooks.com, where you can filter to Aust and NZ. By all means browse the local shops but don’t miss out on the opportunities that the internet provides to tap into more resources. Unfortunately international parcel post is getting too dear but at least in this corner of the world it is affordable. Most of the Aussie and NZ online bookstores I use from the above sites get the books to me at $7-$10 for an average 1kg package.

Shhhhhh, will you all stop telling everyone about Cantys? 😉

I’ve been volunteering to be locked in overnight for years but they’re having none of it.

With respect to the Twilight books Skid, I’m half with you. The other half of me is just relieved that my 13 year old is reading even though it’s what my 16 year old calls, “junk food for your brain”. Miss 16 read Twilight and then got into the Anne Rice stuff. We both agree that the Twilight books are incredibly badly written.

It’s a bit off track but can anyone recommend something else for my 13 year old once she’s finished devouring (no pun intended) the Twilight series? There’s a series of books by someone called Charlaine Harris (the Sookie Stackhouse books which were the basis for True Blood the tv show apparently) but I’m thinking they might be a bit too adult for her. Has anyone here read them? Or do you have any other suggestions? Now that we’re on a roll with the reading I’d like to see it continue.

Thanks,

Pris

I also like the secondhand bookshop at Lyneham – it has an excellent range and is very cheap. There are a couple of secondhand bookshops at Mawson, and Alexander Fax books the specialises in military history books and always has a great range – it’s not the cheapest shop though.

I’ve bought a couple of books from a seller on eBay called purplelouise111, quite a good range and reasonable prices.

Don’t buy from spudchukar1 a seller from USA, had literally thousands of books listed cheap (from as low as US$1.00 BIN) but I bought one and a month later I’m still waiting for it to arrive and the seller doesn’t reply to my emails. I guess this is a good reason to buy from a ‘bricks and mortar’ local shop…

I love the YMCA “Y-Buys” at Belconnen (near Jaycar abd Rubees) They have a fantastic range of second hand books ($4, $5) prices – lots of penguin editions and you are helping a good cause

The Berkelouw Book Barn near Berrima is well worth a visit. True, it is not in Canberra, but it is close by and can be easily incorporated into a southern highlands day trip.

Holden Caulfield said :

I went to drop off some books to the store in Curtin just before Christmas and it looked like it was closed up. Have I missed something?

This is the one you used to enter down the stairs…

It moved a few months ago. It’s now downstairs below the takeaway, next to the Greater Indian International Restaurant

Skidbladnir said :

Pommy bastard said :

My teenage daughter has recently become a fanatical reader (mainly vampire novels, ah well, we all go through that stage,)

If its because of Twilight, she’s fallen into a trap.

It was Bram Stoker’s original “Dracula” followed by Anne Rice’s “Interview with the Vampire” which set her off. She’s read the Twilight stuff now and found it lightweight.

I went to drop off some books to the store in Curtin just before Christmas and it looked like it was closed up. Have I missed something?

This is the one you used to enter down the stairs…

Pommy bastard said :

My teenage daughter has recently become a fanatical reader (mainly vampire novels, ah well, we all go through that stage,)

If its because of Twilight, she’s fallen into a trap.
Stephanie Meyer has written not a story about love, just one about women’s narcissistic fantasy wish fulfilment.
One where every woman is so special that she is chosen by an impossibly gorgeous and horrifically powerful, yet also timid gentleman of her dreams, who will protect her from his enemies.
Hence the ‘vegetarian’ vampire bullshit.

As counterpoint, a similarly successful book (if we were limited to gender specific stereotype books) would be targetted at boys, and involve a main character who is so strong and handsome and smooth and charming and intelligent as to be immediately attractive to all women that they forgo any inhibitions, and where suddenly he and two or more women go at it like dogs whenever he walked into a room.

The scary parts of Twilightare that 1) unlike even J K Rowling she writes like a five year old, 2) all of her women are very subservient to their men. 3) Stalking is love. 3)a) Stalking by men who are much older than school-age is normal, and also just a sign of healthy love. 4) when the stalker\love-interest\actually a much older man gets close enough to share with her, he’s basically got no personality, and puts the girl into an emotionally abusive relationship. But all of that’s fine because he’s gorgeous. He only abuses her because he loves her and is showing her ‘how things are’.

The scariest part is that this is the way that abused women justify the actions of their abusive partners in real life, and the author herself actually expects readers to excuse Edward’s behavior.

Healthy and wholesome teen fiction? Not quite.

For anyone going to check out Canty’s just make sure you also pay a visit to the book store at Curtin. It’s just as big, has a great variety of stuff and the people there are incredibly nice.

I’m in no way related to the owners of the store, it’s just one of the many second hand bookstore’s I visit on a monthly basis.

http://bookmooch.com/

Haven’t actually tried it myself yet. Would be keen to hear from anyone that has.

I’ve also gained a lot from this topic, many thanks to all.

Canty’s will be checked out this weekend, and the book fair will be a must visit.

My teenage daughter has recently become a fanatical reader (mainly vampire novels, ah well, we all go through that stage,) seeing as I am a five books a week reader, and her mother enjoys a good novel, it was probably inevitable. These shops are a great resource therefore.

Thanks.

emd said :

Beaky’s Books

Beaky’s always has the largest collections of bodice-ripper fiction, and is full of middle-aged divorced women and elderly widows.

Thanks for all these great ideas (my poor wallet, but my lucky bookshelves!) – much apreesh!

The library is a good idea but it’s partly due to them that I’m searching, as they have a series but don’t own book #2 for some reason! I’ve suggested they buy it, but I can’t wait that long to read the next book!

Bookfair also a great a idea, but I’m impatient so can’t wait long enough for that either!

Didn’t (one of?) the shops down the street from Canty’s close down a few months ago?

Don’t forget the book fair next month.

Beaky’s Books in Woden Plaza near the exit to the bus interchange is small but good value.
The bookshop at Ainslie shops has a bigger range.
Kanga Books at Chifley closed December 2007.
And go have a look at the EPIC calendar for the next Lifeline book fair, they’re fantastic.

Also +1 for the lyneham store. very nice browsing wise and decently priced for lovely hardbacks etc. Also, close proximity to the front/tilleys to find a nice little possie to enjoy new book with a cuppa! 🙂

(you could also visit your local library – plenty of choices there 🙂 )

Cantys. Definitely Cantys.

Great range – you want it, they probs have something like it – and great prices. My kids have an AWESOME time there… as do I.

There is another store just down from Cantys, name…?, also great range and great prices.

Then down the road (still in Fyshwick) in one of the little cul-de-sacs there is Gaslight Books, which is a specialist in Scifi/Fantasy/Gothic types of genres. They have second hand as well as new; prices on both are pretty good.

There used to be a market on at ANU on Thursdays near the Uni Bar, sold old clothes etc – there was a bookseller there who often had current (but secondhand) textbooks/reference books at very good prices… years since I was there, anyone know if it is still there?

Pommy bastard said :

MissMoniker said :

The little secondhand bookstore in Chifley has been closed for awhile now, yes, Beakys in Woden is good.

Has it? Damn!

The owner said she’d often only sell a few books during a week.

There’s a tiny one in the arcade of Green Square in Kingston. You can take the books back for half price too, which is good. Right near the local All things Chocolate shop too.

+1 – Big Rons @ Hawker

+28 – Canty’s @ Fyshwick. it’s reasonably priced, but the range is HUGE. Bigger and better than any retail book store in Canberra.

And for both of those stores, the staff somehow seem to know if they have a book in stock, without a computer.

P.S. Not sure if I can do +28, but if I can, Canty’s deserves it.

MissMoniker said :

The little secondhand bookstore in Chifley has been closed for awhile now, yes, Beakys in Woden is good.

Has it? Damn!

I second the suggestion for Q Books in Curtin. It is also one of the biggest if not the biggest.

The little secondhand bookstore in Chifley has been closed for awhile now, yes, Beakys in Woden is good.

Squil said :

The one near Tilly’s at Lyneham shops is quite good…

+1

There’s 2 bookstores out at Fyshwick (one of which is Canty’s). They are located in one of the plaza’s along Wollongong street. The plaza just up from them there is another bookstore that specialises in fantasy/sci-fi

There is also a great bookstore at Curtin shops. Located down the bottom of the stairs next to the chemist. They also have live music and a small cafe operating on weekends.

The one near Tilly’s at Lyneham shops is quite good…

I’ll have to check out all these others. Thanks all for the info.

You would be doing yourself a terrible disservice if you din’t check out Canty’s in Fyshwick Plaza on Woolongong St. 6280 6414.

There is a great one at Ainslie Shops and in Fyshwick there are 3 bookstores all in the same little mall thingy (one of them is called Canty’s and they have a massive range of books). It’s the one that has Mama Wear and Elaines(?) Pies.

I like Beakys at Woden and Tuggers, but fairly cramped. Good range though.

Happily reccommend the place at Hawker shops, (Joe’s? Jim’s?) no, I’ve got it Big Ron’s books.

Also the small place in Chiffley, and the place next door to Tilley’s, whose names I will not remember even if threatened with a spoon.

I was saddened to see that Gilbert’s Book Shop in Civic has closed down a couple of weeks ago.
I’ve spent many hours browsing through the shelves in there while waiting for buses.

There’s a place at Woden Plaza (near the bus interchange entrance) and a place at Hawker Shops (next door to the newsagent). Haven’t been in to either, so not sure of quality.