Category: News

Our Albert Street, Moe, store was officially closed on 30th June 2023 but we still have a range of high quality audio books. The following audio books are now available at well under half retail price. All of these audio books are still in their original unopened packaging. Trade enquiries welcome. $10 postage and handling.

1. Love Stories, by Trent Dalton, CD format, 9 hours, original price $39.95, our price $15.00.
2. Body Lengths, Leisel Jones, CD format, approx 9 hours, original price $39.95, our price $15.00.
3. Black Snake, the Real Story of Ned Kelly, by Leo Kennedy with Mic Looby, CD format, approx 8.25 hours, original price $39.95, our price $15.00.
4. The Postmistress, Alison Stuart, CD format, 12 hours+, original price $39.95, our price $15.00.
5. The Ambassador, Morris West, CD format, 8+ hours, original price $39.95, our price $15.00.
6. Animals Make Us Human, Leah Kaminsky & Meg Keneally, CD format, 10+ hours, original price $39.95, our price $15.00.
7. The Power Game- Book 3 the Montsarrat Series, Meg & Tom Keneally, CD format, 8+ hours, original price $49.95, our price $20.00.
8. Brilliance of the Moon, Lian Hearn, CD format, 10+ hours, original price $29.95, our price $12.00.
9. Great Outback Trucking Stories, Bill ‘Swampy’ Marsh, CD format, 11+ hours, original price $39.95, our price $15.00.
10. The Ickabog, J.K.Rowling, CD format, 7+ hours, 2 copies, original price $29.95, our price $12.00.
11. Colonial’s Son, Peter Watt, CD format, 10+ hours, original price $39.95, our price $15.00.
12. Great Australian Mysteries, Graham Seal, CD format, 9+ hours, original price $39.95, our price $15.00.
13. A Collection of Conversations, Richard Fidler & Sarah Kanowski, CD format, 5+ hours, price $24.95, our price $10.00.
14. Cloudstreet, Tim Winton, CD format, 12+ hours, original price $39.95, our price $15.00.
15. Les Miserables, Victor Hugo, CD format, 6+ hours, original price $39.95, our price $15.00.
16. Great Australian Volunteer Firies Stories, Bill ‘Swampy’ Marsh, CD format, 12+ hours, price $39.95, our price $15.00.
17. Untold Resilience, Future Women, CD format, 6+ hours, original price $39.00, our price $15.00.
18. Brilliance, Marcus Sakey, CD format, 12+ hours, original price $49.95, our price $20.00.
19. 10 Things Every Parent Needs to Know, Dr Justin Coulson PhD, CD format, 6+ hours, price $29.95, our price $12.00.
20. Death Interrupted, Blair Bigham MD, CD format, 7+ hours, original price $29.95, our price $12.00.
21. Beyond the End of the World, Amie Kaufman & Meagan Spooner, CD format, 13+ hours, price $39.95, our price $15.00.
22. Kundu, Morris West, CD format, 6+ hours, original price $39.95, our price $15.00.
23. The Ripper of Whitechapel, Yvette Fielding, CD format, 6+ hours, price $24.95, our price $10.00.
24. Psychopaths Anonymous, Will Carver, CD format, 9+ hours, price $39.95, our price $15.00.
25. The Work Wives, Rachael Johns, CD format, 13+ hours, original price $29.95, our price $12.00.
26. Motherhood, Sheila Heti, CD format, 5+ hours, original price $35, our price $12.00.
27. Happy As, Larry Emdur, MP3 format, 8+ hours, original price $39.95, our price $15.00.
28. Footsteps in an Empty Room, Lilly Sommers, MP3 format, 12+ hours, original price $39.95, our price $15.00.
29. Coping With Grief 4th Edn, Mal & Dianne McKissock, MP3 format, 2+ hours, price $24.95, our price $10.00.
30. Books That Made Us, Carl Reinecke, MP3 format, 9+ hours, price $24.95, our price $10.00.
31. A Far Cry From Kensington, Muriel Spark, MP3 format, 9+ hours, price $29.95, our price $12.00.
32. The Ickabog, J.K.Rowling, MP3 format, 7+ hours, price $29.95, our price $12.00.
33. Romeo and Juliet, William Shakespeare, CD format, 2+ hours, price $34.95, our price $15
34. Heal, Pete Evans, CD format, 2+ hours, original price $39.95, our price $15.00.
35. Elizabeth Finch, Julian Barnes, MP3 format, 5+ hours, price $29.95, our price $12.00.
36. Red Dog, Louis de Bernieres, MP3 format, 2+ hours, price $34.95, our price $15.00.
37. One Plus One a Collection of Interviews, Barrie Cassidy, Kurt Fearnley and Stan Grant, MP3 format, 2+ hours, price $39.95, our price $15.00.
38. Cobalt Blue, Matthew Reilly, CD format, 3+ hours, price $39.95, our price $15.00.
39. How to Raise an Elephant, Alexander McCall Smith, MP3 format, 8+ hours, price $39.95, our price $15.00.
40. The Dressmaker, Rosalie Ham, MP3 format, 7+ hours, price $34.95, our price $15.00.
41. Tripping Over Myself, Shaun Micallef, MP3 format, 6+ hours, price $29.95, our price $12.00.
42. Times Tables, CD format, 37 minutes, price $19.95, our price $8.00.
43. Mr.Men, CD format, 40 minutes, $19.95, our price $8.00.
44. The Magic Pudding, Norman Lindsay, MP3 format, $29.95, our price $12.00.
45. Jake and Pete, Gillian Rubinstein, MP3 format, price $19.95, our price $8.00.

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

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.

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.

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.

A bit of a teaser for Australia Day, Thursday 26th January. One half of our window display features all Aussie authors – with one exception. We are wondering how many people can pick the one book by a non-Aussie author.

Check it out, day or night, at 82 Albert St, Moe.

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.

 

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.