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Books in the garage

Since closing our shop, I’ve been working hard to sort out books in our garage.

The front part of our garage was originally going to be a spare bedroom but now… well, it’s overflowing with books!

The plan is that people can make an appointment to come and browse. Groups of 3 or 4 people would also be welcome but please be aware that I don’t have eftpos facilities.

Use the Contact Page if you would like to visit.

Steve

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Shop closure

Sadly, Variety Bookroom closed on 30th June 2023. There were many reasons, I know this has disappointed a lot of our very loyal local book-lovers. All I can say is that our little bookshop served the community well for nine years and I made some good friends across the journey.

We continue to offer an online service of course but not so much current bestsellers. We hope to be adding hundreds more rare and interesting books to our website over coming weeks and months.

Thanks to all the wonderful casual staff who have worked at Variety Bookroom, especially Lisa Tops and Jade Rendell who were there right to the end. Thank you and God bless.

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The Last Hurrah?

It’s Saturday morning, 25th September. Grand Final Day. Victorian football fans are grieving that the MCG stands silent and empty. Two Melbourne teams will play off tonight in Perth. Brisbane did a great job hosting last year’s one-day-in-September and I’m sure Perth will put on a magnificent game.

I was a keen Melbourne fan back in 1964 when Neil Crompton snapped a late goal to give them the lead over Collingwood in the ‘grannie’. I also remember well the controversy that followed, with legendary coach Norm Smith leaving the club, and then, horror of horrors, Ron Barassi left for Carlton! As a ten-year old kid, I was devastated and my hatred of Carlton lasted for… well… let’s just say a long, long time.

Earlier this year, well before it was obvious that Melbourne would finish top of the ladder and get through to a Grand Final, Adam Woolcock published a book called “The Last Hurrah – Melbourne Premiers 1964.” The cover shows a jubilant Norm Smith celebrating the win with uncharacteristic flair and enthusiasm. Reading the book some months back was quite a nostalgia trip. We still have a few copies of the book in store but maybe the title will be incorrect by siren time tonight. Or it might be even more painfully relevant for Melbourne fans.

And, just to put the record straight, I gave up barracking for the hapless Demons in the 1980s when I became a Christian pastor. It just didn’t seem right to barrack for demons, so I switched to the St Kilda Saints. At least their club song is a variation of a Christian hymn! But sadly, their premiership drought continues.

We are continually adding more books to our website, not so much the current bestsellers which, of course, we stock, but the website features books that people might be looking for. Thanks for checking us out.

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Welcome to our updated website.

We will be adding hundreds of new and used books in the coming weeks and months. If you’ve been looking for, like, forever for that certain book, why not bookmark us and check our growing lists from time to time? If you find something you want, you can purchase it online and we will ship it out for you.

Thanks to Emma Fisher for doing such a thorough job setting this up.

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Leading Edge

Variety Bookroom is now part of Leading Edge Books, a national buying and marketing group with more than 170 Australian independent bookstores.

There are many benefits from membership in Leading Edge, including better buying power and better access to major overseas suppliers.

 

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News

Our current competition, extended until the end of September, invites you to complete the following sentence.
A good novel does more than just entertain me: it also…
We will give $20 vouchers for the 5 most interesting and/or original answers. Submit your answer on Facebook or fill out an entry form in-store.

If you’re writer and interested in meeting with other local writers, come to the new Moe library, meeting room 4, 7pm on the 1st and 3rd Mondays of each month.
Coffee and tea available. More details on the M&DWG Facebook page or in our shop.