If you are reading my blog then you probably agree that there is little better than browsing around a second-hand book shop. The smell, the atmosphere, it can’t be beat. And I am lucky to have some fantastic examples in easy reach.
I often just browse for the experience and the chance to be surprised by a good bargain, or for a book to catch me completely by surprise. As I seem to be doing this more lately I have had a few great finds.
This one for example – a real bargain as I can’t imagine the cost originally. A coffee table volume, 40 Years of Queen – my favourite band.
Another time, I was looking for a book on the origins of local place names – something I am fascinated with. I did not find anything but instead came across these beauties by Mark Forsyth. I have never heard of him but these are a great, light, but informative read. Great to dip into now and then.
In another shop, I spotted this, a collection from one of my favourite Podcasts – In Our Time by Melvyn Bragg. At the time I did not have enough money on me, but my wife, ever vigilant, noted my interest and went back to get it for my birthday.
But now a new theme seems to have entered my book hunting. One of nostalgia. OK – to be fair this has always been there. For one thing, I have many old copies of Enid Blyton’s books that are identical to the ones I had, the ones that sparked my lifelong reading passion. I brought these years ago when my eldest was first born, in the hope he would pick them up and do the same. That didn’t really work as expected but at least he does read, unlike many of his peers.
But the other day I spotted one that really stirred up the sentimentality. If you read my blog regularly you can probably guess that one of the early influences on my reading, writing and just life in general is The Lord of the Rings. I of course, already have a copy – I have always owned a copy since first reading it. The one sitting there calling out to me in the shop though was exactly like the very first one I owned.
Many years ago, in the dawn of time (or primary school as it was known) we were read The Hobbit by a supply teacher. It left a profound impact on me and that was when my dream of becoming a writer was born. I went home immediately and started writing a sequel called The Hobbit’s Cousin. A few weeks later I was visiting an Uncle and mentioned what I was doing. He explained to me that there was already a sequel and produced the above book – which he gave to me to read – thus changing my life forever.
Oddly, despite the fact that I had never seen this particular edition before in a bookshop, there were, in fact, two of these, I was sorely tempted to grab both but resisted that.
This experience got me thinking and I have decided to be a bit more purposeful in my book hunting – specifically looking for these old editions packed with nostalgia ( while still watching for new and exciting things). One of these is an edition of Dune.
Another life-changing book for me. I read this at a time when my interest in reading overall was waning (I was a teenager – other distractions were occurring). This rekindled it while also switching me from being a largely a fantasy reader to becoming much more of a SciFi fan.
So I have all my original Dune books still – brought in the 1980s. But there is an issue. As this was around the time that the David Lynch film version came out, I, of course, brought that version. The rest were not the same theme and artwork.
Now, I a not that OCD about these things, at least not these days. It would only mildly annoy me, and the fact is I have lived with it for years. But this particular set of books is special in that when they are all laid out open and in order the covers make one large picture. (See here and here.)
And I am missing the first part!
I have been traipsing around bookshops looking for that first one in the same cover variant as the others. So far, no luck. I have found all the others in plentiful supply but not the first one. It seems to be much rarer for some reason.
My son suggested going online and tracking it down. That would probably work, but where’s the fun in that!
Does anyone else like to track down original versions of books they read or am I just weird. What kinds of delights and surprises have you found in second-hand bookshops? Let me know.
Scott Andrew Bailey - Author 