The Australian Literature Review’s tour of mainland Australia has begun.
Spending some time in Brisbane over the New Year’s period, I enjoyed the simple literary pleasures of a book exchange and bookshop bargain tables.
For those not familiar with book exchanges, the idea is that in a place like travel accomodation or somewhere else that gets a regular flow of different people, there is a box from which you can take a book as long as you put another book in its place. Strangely enough, the last time I used a book exchange was almost exactly opposite Brisbane at Carnarvon on the Western Australian coast.
I had a great time reading a few books which I got from the book exchange, such as the detective mystery novel Don’t Look Back by Scott Frost, and I bet others enjoyed the new releases I had finished reading which I left in their place.
To top it off, I walked into Dymocks (off Queen St Mall) to find they not only a great selection of Australian fiction amongst the international fiction and signed copies of novels from authors such as JJ Cooper, Peter Watt and Darren Groth, they also had bargain tables with books for as little as $1. Since handing over the sum of $4, I have had many hours of enjoyment reading books such as teen fantasy novel The Lost Castle by Michael Pryor, the teen novel The Spark Gap by Scottish author Julie Bertagna and the memoir A Three Dog Life by Abigail Thomas (which came with a strong recommendation from Stephen King on the cover).
Something as simple as a book exchange or a bargain table can be an inexpensive way to fuel days of enjoyment.
But Australian literature is not all book exchanges and bargain tables: Coming soon - coffee with author Jonathan Englert in Mosman (Sydney’s northern shore).
The Australian Literature Review
www.auslit.net
