(no subject)
There was a bookshop called Fantasy Island on Holloway Road in London. It was a second hand book dealer who dealt only with Fantasy and Sci-Fi and Horror books. I used to live just down the road from it and so whenever I needed a new book I would pop in on the way home from work. The guy who owned it had been in the business for years and knew so much about all the authors as well as the book collectors market. He was great to talk to, whether comparing thoughts on an author or him talking about book conventions and various editions of book that were coveted by collectors and why.
It was only a little shop, but the front half of the shop was for the contemporary books. He had a section where, as he bought or traded them off customers, he had formed them into sets and stuck an elastic band around them. Anyone who has spent much time trawling through second hand book shops, trying to find a complete set of a series will appreciate that particular touch.
The back half of the shop was dedicated to old sci-fi and fantasy magazines, compilations and other vintage books. There was some great stuff there that was fun to flick through. Also in the back half of the shop was the locked cabinets with the rare collectors books in them. I'm not a book collector and don't know anything about what is worth collecting or not, but that didn't make staring at the old books through the glass any less pleasurable.
I liked shopping there for so many reasons; the adopting a pre-loved book to continue it's life, rather than it ending up in landfill and me buying a new one from a generic chain like Borders. The chats to the old guy who owned the place. The smell of the old paper in that shop :), the supporting of a small local business run by a man who did it for the love of it and for no other reason.
It has now closed down.
Just over a year ago, I moved a little further away and so I hadn't been there for several months. I had been meaning to go back there for a while, since a little while back I got the first book in George R. R. Martin's "Song of Ice and Fire" series signed by him and so wanted to go to Fantasy Island to buy the rest of the series. But I've got a pile of books to get through and so there was no rush. Now I won't get the chance, which is a shame.
So here is my cheers to Fantasy Island and the man who ran it. One of the little gems of London now gone. I can only hope that he closed up shop in order to enjoy a comfortable happy retirement filled with many a good book by the fireside.
It was only a little shop, but the front half of the shop was for the contemporary books. He had a section where, as he bought or traded them off customers, he had formed them into sets and stuck an elastic band around them. Anyone who has spent much time trawling through second hand book shops, trying to find a complete set of a series will appreciate that particular touch.
The back half of the shop was dedicated to old sci-fi and fantasy magazines, compilations and other vintage books. There was some great stuff there that was fun to flick through. Also in the back half of the shop was the locked cabinets with the rare collectors books in them. I'm not a book collector and don't know anything about what is worth collecting or not, but that didn't make staring at the old books through the glass any less pleasurable.
I liked shopping there for so many reasons; the adopting a pre-loved book to continue it's life, rather than it ending up in landfill and me buying a new one from a generic chain like Borders. The chats to the old guy who owned the place. The smell of the old paper in that shop :), the supporting of a small local business run by a man who did it for the love of it and for no other reason.
It has now closed down.
Just over a year ago, I moved a little further away and so I hadn't been there for several months. I had been meaning to go back there for a while, since a little while back I got the first book in George R. R. Martin's "Song of Ice and Fire" series signed by him and so wanted to go to Fantasy Island to buy the rest of the series. But I've got a pile of books to get through and so there was no rush. Now I won't get the chance, which is a shame.
So here is my cheers to Fantasy Island and the man who ran it. One of the little gems of London now gone. I can only hope that he closed up shop in order to enjoy a comfortable happy retirement filled with many a good book by the fireside.