We thank you all for your patronage over the last seven years.

Brrrr. Well not yet, but it’s coming so time to get those books so you have some good reading while you’re all tucked up and warm. Now, you’ve heard the one about the kindle haven’t you? That’s right, kindle, that’s what you use to start a fire with. Hmm, thought so.

What happened to March and April you may ask? Well busy reading great books of course:

Kenya Hara – Designing Design
Philip Pulman – Dark Materials Trilogy
Steven Pinker – The Language Instinct
Elizabeth Barrett Browning – Sonnets from the Portuguese
Somerset Maugham – Of Human Bondage
Josephine Hart – The Stillest Day
Carol Shields – Happenstance
Virginia Woolf – A Room of One’s Own
Agatha Christi – Autobiography
Eric Siblin – The Cello Suites

A change at The Book Room is the demise of Happy Hour for the winter months – ‘bleak mid winter’ – not quite it is Sydney afterall  but the early darkness alters our habits – we are less willing to linger on the way home even in the inviting atmosphere of the shop with a relaxing glass of wine – so until Spring… Though of course if you want to make it BYO come into the shop anytime!

Recent chats at The Book Room with customers and friends have revealed some rather quirky ideas regarding books and their uses – The first – A book burning auction (please ignore historical connotations of book burnings and the reference to kindle) as all book lovers know the world is full of books they absolutely hate and conversely those that they love forever – one man’s trash is another’s treasure.  So an auction to put your most hated book on the fire and alternatively a chance for you to save your all time favourite from the flames – which books would you choose to save? Hypothetically of course! The bonfire would not only rid the shop of unloved books but also provide a bright warm focus for the cooler months.  Thank You ‘C’.

The second idea developed from the concept of sponsoring an animal at the zoo – sponsor a bookshelf of your favourite authors at the shop! With a declining reading public of physical books and rapacious landlords it is a way for you – the book loving public – to save your local bookshop.  Even if you no longer wish to read a paper book, a book lover still loves to browse and surround themselves with books and this is a way to maintain your addiction.  Also the sponsor will be able to impress their friends by showing off “their” shelf of books.  Thank You ‘S’.

So my fellow readers if you have any ideas for The Book Room please join the discussion – Remember though, nothing can replace going into a bookshop – and that’s why I tend to all these books, so that you all can come down to the shop and fondle a book!

And remember, reading is like travelling in that they both offer something new, we can get and be absorbed by and through it but most of all, we learn more from reading and travelling than from anything else.

Enjoy your reading.

“If anyone asks you if you’ve read all those books, it means you don’t have enough books.”  Chaim Grade

Winner of this months Prize Draw of a $50 Book Voucher is Brian.

Some of the books I have read this month:
You or Someone Like You – Chandler Burr
Wild Surmise – Dorothy Porter
Oscar Wilde – Richard Ellmann
The Uncommon Reader – Alan Bennett
Sentimental Education – Gustave Flaubert
The Pinball Effect – James Burke
Table Talk – William Hazlitt
A Year in the World – Frances Mayes
The Wings of the Dove – Henry James
Naked – David Sedaris

After several weeks of 8am starts on Wednesday mornings I have decided to abandon the attempt to entice fellow book lovers for an early morning fix.  I have discovered readers and book lovers don’t enjoy early starts – unless they are all still at home with all the books they purchased on book buying expeditions the previous evening – this means of course I can have more time with Honey – the dog that is.

Storm over Curly by Steve Marshall

Luckily for me I was invited to the Opening of Steve Marshall’s most recent photographic exhibition held at Angel Restaurant in Manly.  The restaurant is perched above Freshwater Beach proved a stunning location to exhibit Steve’s wonderfully evocative photographs of Australia’s iconic bush and beach. The free glasses of wine certainly helped in my understanding of Steve’s view of the Australian landscape.

The photos were in strong competition to hold my interest with the view of the ocean combined with the fireworks of a Sydney summer storm but to Steve’s credit his expertise and unique eye as a photographer in capturing permanently an essential and personal record of the bush and beach won me and the large crowd ( I didn’t know he had so many friends) I certainly urge anyone interested in photography to take the time to have a look at this exhibition.

But don’t forget about your books.

Quote of the month:
Polonius : “What do you read, my lord?”
Hamlet: “Words, words, words.”

I must write a reminder about Thursday night drinks and Wednesday morning early opening -

In my next post I’ll also tell you about a great little book I found that has 40 coloured plates of Familiar Garden Flowers. Till then, or when I see you in the shop,

… enjoy the summer rains.

Jon has WON this month’s  $50 Book Voucher in the monthly Prize Draw and is now very pleased with himself.

The next monthly Prize Draw will be up for grabs in January. Now, just so you don’t get confused like one glorious book buyer of mine, the Book Room $50 Book Voucher is drawn monthly, and the Mystery Book Bag is available EVERY WEEK.

“Even Homer nods”

Just a few days to Christmas and my first day off since I can’t remember. See you soon and thank you for your wonderful support.

Ciao all.

Recently I found a few short quotes that resonate at this time of year and thought I would share them. After all, it is the season to be looking at words penned in this light.

1. “At Christmas play and make good cheer,
For Christmas comes but once a year.” Thomas Tusser

2. ” ‘Bah’, said Scrooge. ‘Humbug’.” Dickens

I have just discovered the American author James Salter, no matter how much one reads there are always wonderful surprises. Thank you Bruce for sharing this book. So I would like to share just two of his paragraphs from his autobiography:

“Kant had four questions that he believed philosophy should answer: What can I know? What may I hope? What ought I do? What is man?  All of these Europe helped to clarify. It was the home of a veteran civilization. Its strengths are vertical, which is to say they are deep.  The thing it finally gave was education, not the lessons of school but something more elevated, a view of existence: how to have leisure, love food, and conversation, how to look at nakedness, architecture, streets, all new and seeking to be thought of in a different way.  In Europe the shadow of history falls upon you, and knowing none of it, you realize suddenly how small you are.  To know nothing is to have done nothing. To remember only yourself is like worshipping a dust mote.”

” He was fond of books; steak tartare; gin from a green bottle poured over brilliant cubes each afternoon at five, the ice bursting into applause; cats; beautiful sentences; Stravinsky; and France.  I also liked France, that is to say I was in its thrall, but I did not know Colette or Cocteau except for their faces. I did not know Jouhandeau or Paul Leautaud who, when he was old, forgotten man wrote ‘Ecrire! Quelle chose merveilleuse! The France that Phelps revealed to me was a cultured world in which literature endured.”

Gorgeous stuff, now it’s back to reading. Oh, glorious reading.

See you soon!

News from The Book Room for the month for December

I’m giving away 50 Bucks. Your chance to WIN a $50 Book Voucher – for every $20 spent receive a ticket for your chance to win in the monthly draw!! First Draw on Saturday 19 December. (For future reference the draw will conducted on the last Saturday of each month – December offers a special freedom from this rigidity)

The following Book Room activities and ideas for you to put in your diaries:

Try a Home Theatre Production – not recommended with the plasma screen tv! Try creating a production of your favourite play. Friends and family can each have a role to make it a simple reading or a full production using imagination and flair. Come in and choose from the extensive range of plays in the theatre section. Stop being a voyeur and try participation!

Thursday night we now indulge in Happy Hour – arrive between 5 and 6pm and receive a complimentary glass of wine whilst browsing in my favourite book shop.

For your convenience The Book Room will open early on Wednesday mornings at 8 am to give you chance to pick up a book for your commute or an early start at the beach.

Remember that you are able to lay-by your books – Just ask.

Interact with the book world – send us your list of 10 favourite books of all time – share your enthusiasm. Have you read Fahrenheit 451!

Christmas and New Year Opening Hours -
Closed: Christmas Day; Boxing Day; and Sunday 27th
Closed: New Years Eve and New Years Day only.

Favourite sites this month
The Times Literary Supplement
National Library of Australia
elegant variation mark sarvas

Remember – To maintain diversity in Neutral Bay support your local businesses!

Buy and enjoy books now before they disappear!

See you soon!

Read a book beside the harbour

So please, – read, enjoy, share with friends – then do the right thing and pass it on to your friends. There will be a newsletter every month. If you register you will receive regular updates, that is, you very own copy.

If you would like to participate in the discussion or enjoy the right of reply feel free to use the newly installed NOTICE BOARD and THE FORUM pages, which is also still at the front door of the shop. As well as The Forum for discussion, the Notice Board can also be used to provide details of local events, book news, promotions, and local community news for fellow book lovers – take a look.

New at The Book Room
This regular feature will keep you up to date with the latest at The Book Room. Watch for new events, extended opening times, sales and bargains!!!

Starting this week is THURSDAY NIGHT OPENING for the summer. Now you can enjoy the convenience of stopping off on the way home after work to pick up a book before the weekend.

Bargain of the week is the MYSTERY BOOK BAG – every week there will be The Book Room paper carry bag sealed with a mystery selection of 10 books for $10! A chance to read unknown authors, pass books on to your friends and open your mind to new ideas.
All for $1 a book. Only one bag per week so come early on SATURDAY for your chance at the MYSTERY BAG.

The final great event at The Book Room for your information in this Newsletter is the SUNDAY SALE. Every Sunday a different part of The Book Room will be on SALE with 10 – 50% off selected books. Come in regularly to find out if your favourite books are part of the random roving sale.

BOOK QUOTE OF THE MONTH
“When I get a little money, I buy books; and if any is left, I buy food and clothes.” Erasmus

INTERNET BOOK SITES OF THE MONTH
Just can’t avoid the internet when it comes to reading – for those with time after reading a good book, take a look at these sites for added reading enjoyment – different local and international sites every Newsletter.

www.extempore.com.au
www.largeheartedboy.com
www.sl.nsw.gov.au

POETRY
Many of my customers and friends belong to book groups which are a fantastic way to read some great books and discuss those books with fellow book lovers – and I have noticed its also an enjoyable social occasion with a chance to relax with a glass of wine which helps those discussions extend beyond the book in question…

However, have you thought of poetry for a change – most of us remember poetry from school and not fondly. There is a monthly poetry reading at Don Bank – with various poets reading their own work—with drinks and nibbles – go along one night with some friends and discover how poetry can be. You will be surprised!

Add poetry to your book group activities – choose a poet and each select a poem to read to your friends. The words will come alive.
Poetry is meant to be heard.

The Book Room your local second hand bookshop has recent novels, classics, cookbooks, military history, art books and more. Come in and browse – we are now open every day:

Opening Times:
Monday and Tuesday 1pm to 5pm
Wednesday to Saturday 10am to 5pm (Late night Thursday)
Sunday 11am to 4pm

Please check the monthly newsletter for further extensions to summer trading hours – for your convenience.

Remember – To maintain diversity in Neutral Bay support your local businesses!

We are always happy to discuss what you are reading and are able to make considered suggestions if you have readers block.

So take the time to drop in and browse. We look forward to see you.

Regards

The Book Room