A line from the comedian Bill Hicks sums up our little joint venture of Blue Bird Cafe and Blue Bird Bookshop. Readers visiting our town have something to tempt them at The Blue Bird in our range of quality second-hand books. Having been a librarian for so long (one who was so passionate about encouraging the lifelong love of reading that I started seven book groups) I haven't been able to give up the books. The original plan was to start a second-hand book shop in Melbourne but when we saw this sad and lonely, lovely Blue Bird, we decided we might be able to combine the traditional with the contemporary business of cafe bookshop. We knew that it works in Melbourne with BookTalk in Richmond (not to mention many other cities around the world) and we figured that Lockhart needed a bookshop to boost the businesses in town.
There was a bookshop here when we arrived and so we had decided to shelve (ha, ha) our idea, but a couple of months after we started our own project, it closed down and moved elsewhere. So, we figured, why not..we had the stock and saw no sense in leaving it in storage. So Blue Bird Books began. And now here is my pledge to our reading customers.
The books we stock are and always will be...quality books. This means that they are newly published or perennial classics, in good condition, reasonably priced and hand selected by a trained professional (yes that is me). The choice on what goes on our shelves comes down to...either I have read it myself and have recommended it to others, have discussed it in a book group or it comes on the high recommendation of a respected customer of mine in one of the libraries I used to work in. So in other words, I can vouch for it.
So next time you are in Lockhart and The Blue Bird check out our titles. The prices range from $10 to $4. Here are a few of our choice picks:
When Colts Ran by Roger McDonald (2012 Miles Franklin Shortlisted)
Mr Pip by Lloyd Jones
Room by Emma Donoghue
There Should Be More Dancing by Rosalie Ham
Indelible Ink by Fiona McGregor
Dear Fatty by Dawn French
House Rules by Jodi Picoult
Father's Day by Tony Birch
The Post-Birthday World by Lionel Shriver
Those Who Came After by Elisabeth Holdsworthy
Everything I Knew by Peter Goldsworthy
....and
Matilda is Missing by Carol Overington
Happy Reading.
