Here we take a brief look at the working definition of what crime fiction is: Crime fiction is the genre of fiction that deals with crimes, their detection, criminals, and their motives. Most – though not all – crime novels crime novels share a common structure. First there is the crime, usually a murder; then there is the investigation; and finally the outcome or judgement, often in the shape of the criminal’s arrest or death. This description is taken from findmeanauthor.com website

Modern crime fiction

ozzbooks crime fiction

There’s not a day that goes by when I’m not buying or selling crime fiction. Like the modern authors Janet Evanovich, Patricia Cornwell P D James, James Patterson and I can go on indefinitely, and there are probably hundreds of other authors that I don’t have time to list or maybe I might add a few later.

Classic crime fiction

But people are always asking for classic crime fiction authors like Agatha Christie, Dorothy L Sayers, Raymond Chandler,

More obscure crime fiction authors

Only the other day I came across little cache of crime fiction with many authors Josephine Tey, W.J. Burley, Jill Churchill, Edmund Crispin, Dell Shannon, Dorothy Simpson, Ellery Queen

Places to find out about crime fiction

There are many places you can find on the internet, here is a small list please take a look.

•  Crime Fiction Lover set up by two journalists who love reading crime stories.
• CrimeFiction.com a database of crime fiction authors, detectives although I’m not sure how often this site is updated.
• findmeanauthor.com  This site is very good for searching for details on crime fiction and many other genre’s.

crime fiction novels

By far most of these books will be sold at the shop or at Maitland Markets or give me a call on 0447 330 911

 

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Kismet is the only thing you can say about AJOBookbinding it only came about through a conversation with a regular customer Eileen Jinks a lady that would frequent my old shop at Warners Bay

some years ago. When browsing my shop for books Eileen would mention to me that her brother was a bookbinder, to which I always replied “I would like to meet him.” Eventually Eileen said she would

tell her brother Rob. On the appointed day Rob drove Eileen down & I got to meet a real live bookbinder. I didn’t realise at that time that I would make such a good friend & mentor.

Over the next 5 years Rob happily instructed me in the art of book repair & bookbinding.

Things change as do & the next piece of luck was a chance encounter with a bookbinder his name by the way is Mark Jarman with over 35 years experience came in looking for work.

I’d been collecting tools and materials over those last five years & with the equipment Mark had it seemed like the perfect idea, open a bookbindery in Morisset in the twentieth century Isaac Asimov

wouldn’t dream of that, but yes that’s what we did. The birth of a new business AJOBookbinding

Over 100 years experience at AJOBookbinding

Using old world tools AJO Bookbinding

Bookbinding is an old world art using tools from past centuries, but tools very similar to the ones I learned to use in my youth working as a carpenter & joiner, when Rob said he would be happy to teach me a little about bookbinding, I took to it like a duck to water

AJOBookbinding for your bookbinding needs

Whether you want an old paperback repaired a family Bible or a thesis you just completed that book you’ve just finished & you need someone to take from a pile of paper

to a finished book that’s just briefly what we do. We take you wants dreams & turn them from a pile of paper to a finished book. AJOBookbinding takes great pride in seeing

peoples written dreams turned into a book that can sit on your shelf

Finding AJOBookbinding

Were only 2 minutes from the F3 Freeway see map AJOBookbinding

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Great value & save money

You can always get books from Lake Macquarie Secondhand Books at fantastic prices sometimes up to 70% off Original Book Prices. We have thousands of used books & many hundreds of books at up to 70% off original book prices. From authors such as Sue Grafton Diana Gabaldon John Grisham Joanne Harris, Wilbur Smith. If you can’t find it on-line there’s a very good chance we have in stock at our used bookshop at 3/33 Advantage Avenue Morisset about 3 minutes of the F3 Freeway at the Morisset exit.

OzzBooks and get up to 70% off Original Book Prices

Why pay for a new book when you can buy excellent used books at prices up to 70% off original book prices. Its easy all you have to do is look at our prices you can compare them to Booktopia or QBD booksand find that our price are in lots of cases our books will be much lower for a used book sometimes these books have never been read at all.

Out of print used books at up to 70% off Original Book Prices

Maybe the book you has been republished and you can buy it at the new bookshops around your area in that case your in luck but I think you’ll find that its price will be considerably above what our prices are the you to can save up to 70% off original book prices.

up to 70% off original book prices.

Phone us for up to 70% off Original Book Prices

If you want to talk to us direct then just phone Anne or Jim Owens on 0249 735 925 for fast no nonsense help we can process your credit card or you can do a direct deposit for fast help in most cases the book will be posted the next working day & you can save up to 70% off original book prices.

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Jim Owens

See Jim Owens for used books

Quite often we get used books & rare books  in a foreign language.   These present problems that at first you don’t fully realize. Last week I saved some of these used books from a trip to the dump. Mostly German language used books,  a mixture of fiction and non-fiction and history. There were hundreds of used books on hundreds of subjects from Australiana used books to engineering manuals, electrical theory, books on Lalique glass Millers guides, used books on identifying silver hallmarks.

Well known authors & classic used books

Some of the authors were John Steinbeck, Margaret Mitchell, Charles Dickens, Alexander Dumas, Hammond Innes. There are literally hundreds of used books of all sorts for those lucky enough to read books in another language. While the vast majority of our books are written in English we like books , so used books in any language is of interest to us.

The are other authors from Adolph Hitler Johannes Busch, Goethe and dozens of other authors

These books had me looking for a way to learn about the German or Gothic alphabet. By good luck I had a copy of German made simple by Eugene Jackson & Adolph Geiger it has a copy of the Gothic alphabet that enabled me to at least read the titles

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Here at Lake Macquarie Second Hand Books at Morisset, we have gone from major disappointment to happiness overnight.  We were contacted to peruse second-hand & used books on Thursday evening at Sunshine.

A mini jackpot in used books

There was an excellent selection of used books in very good condition to choose from.  There were Local History used books, art,

Monet a Retrospective

art magazines, fiction and Australiana used books.

We purchased a selection of these used books at a fair and reasonable price.  In fact some of these used books  looked like they had never been read.  Very nice to browse.

A many & varies haul of used books

Out of the second hand & used books for sale that we purchased were a couple of  “The Australians” series.  These couple of used books will add to the collection we are gathering so as to have a complete set .  What a great read,  these used books are written by William Stuart Long (Vivian Stuart) .  Book One in the series is called the Exiles and it is the story of Jenny Taggart , driven as a child from her rural Yorkshire home, seeking refuge in the slums of eighteenth-century London, then shipped as a convict to distant savage Australian shores.  There are twelve books in this series.

A small selection of the used books

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Jim Owens used books

Everyday I talk to someone that’s traveled from abroad to live in our area, whether it be the United Kingdom or the United States, China, Europe, India and  Malaysia. Why we even have people moving in from all suburbs of Sydney and dozens of other places around Australia. I guess that means that the sleepy old Morisset that I first remember like Kenny’s general store, Frost’s Butcher shop, the local identities that are long gone I don’t remember any used books shop in Morisset in those days but there have been a few over time but selling used books in Morisset like any where else is hard work.

Who would have dreamed we’d have McDonalds Coles Woolworths a pub at Bonnells Bay. That the Lake Macquarie city council would let south & western Lake Macquarie join the 20 century and let developers open up the area, that’s been held in Rip Van Winkle state for to long. Its good to see our area growing but with ever day our past is becoming more that.  The old identities quietly exiting new generations coming on to learn new things build a hopefully better world. But the Morisset I first remember has gone forever only to be spoken about in conversations, for me I hope the last of the older generations write their histories like Beryl Mullard or Michael Chamberlain that you can find every now and then at garage sales when your searching for used books.

Used books around Lake Macquarie

But here in my neck of the woods, looking for a used books or rare books from the past or a new or lightly used books,  but the one thing they mostly have in common they seem to be settling around Lake Macquarie, from the south end at Mannering Park to the northern shores at either Speers Point or Warners Bay from Belmont to Wangi Wangi. Or then again they could have settled somewhere around the Watagans Mountains. There aren’t many places to buy used books around Lake Macquarie. Gert at Toronto has a very well organised used books shop called Arcade Books, There was used books shops at Belmont, Cardiff, Warners Bay but the rents for used bookshops is just to much for small businesses like used bookshops.

Now I might be biased

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Talk about freaky Friday it was that indeed it sees me sorting used books you know the best used books for the internet and the bookshop the rest go to a charity then the bin, rather like John West and his Sockeye Salmon, informing customers that their used books arrived, cleaning the floor all those mundane tasks that have to be done working in a secondhand bookshop, but important nevertheless.

An interesting request for used books

Around 10.00am I received a call about a used book “You have used books? “Yes” Do you have this book in stock?” “Yes.” “Can you send it to Melbourne it has to arrive Saturday.” “I think I can do that.” Ten minutes later after Goggling the term overnight parcel delivery with a quote of over $100 in hand I rang my customer back yes I can do that. Now to ring the courier to arrange the details, only to be told that the price was now $220 that is nearly twice what was I quoted. Back on the phone to explain my predicament to the customer, with the response that, okay it has to be here, so yes go ahead with it. Now I have everything right it is back to the courier only to be told that is not the price, the price is now over $400 dollars. What do I do now I I had already committed to send the book I really could not go back on my word.

Lateral thinking or just lunatic about used books

Google is right in front of me why don’t I check, the airfares a quick look tells me I can get a flight that leaves first thing Saturday morning  is back just after lunch not much time for anything else but he’ll get the book. “bugger it why not”. I was talking about this very thing on another website yesterday what is the law of abundance in action?

At 4.00 am next morning in the car dodging a kangaroo wow that was close. I’m on the road to Williamtown airport into the car park check in sit down and read guess what one of my used books and flight goes smoothly I’m in Melbourne by 7.30am. I just have to wait for Adam to meet me in due course we meet I give him the book we have a brief chat but its cold down here and he is on a Harley and probably chilled to the bone no time for chit chat. All I have to do now is wait for my flight back to Newcastle home and the used bookshop.

Now about used books this particular one, if you’ve got this far you deserve to know the title, well if you want to know then give me a call I can’t give everything away now can I. The main thing about it was that it was important to the new owner they simply had to have this used book it.

So remember if you ever need used books and I have it or it’s around Newcastle or Australia and you want it delivered to anywhere I don’t care I’m up for a challenge. Give me a call 0447330911. I’ll do almost anything to deliver one our used books that someone wants, provided its legal.

whatever it takes for used books

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Last competition for 2010

Welcome to our last book giveaway for 2010 in this competition you have a chance to win from the ozzbooks bookshop at Morisset

3 Classic Novels

1. The Catcher in the Rye J D Salinger
2. In Cold Blood Truman Capote
3. A Clock Work Orange Anthony Burgess

I’ve always wanted to read these 3 classics, but I’ve got to many books on the go now, I want someone else to enjoy them. Here’s your chance to win these books. All you have to do is enter this competition for your chance to win. If you would like more chances then link to our Facebook, Twitter & our OzzBooks Blog for every one of these sites you follow you will have a one chance to win this competition.

Bonus Entries completing these simple tasks

Follow our ozzbooks blog…………………………………………………one extra chance to win
Follow Lake Macquarie Secondhand Books on Facebook………….one extra chance to win
Follow us on Twitter LakeMacUsedBook……………………………….one extra chance to win
Provide a Link to our Book Giveaway on Your Blog…………………….two extra chances to win

Closing Date

Entries are open until 5pm EST on Monday 19 th December. The competition is open to residents of Australia, New Zealand, Canada, USA and the UK. The winner of the competition will be announced on Wednesday 22 th December.

Merry Christmas to everyone

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Coffee & Friends

After I finish work I usually go straight home, but sometimes I call into the local shopping center at Bonnells Bay to buy supplies for lunch or dinner, every now and then I run into my friends chilling out having a chat, having a cappuccino or a healthy snack. The usual suspects today were Jan & Steve, Russ.

Fun Conversations

Most afternoons there is talk of people that we knew from long ago, it could be people we know that walk past at various times. The subjects can be anything from automobiles or aphrodisiacs through to the Oak milk bar at Peats Ridge or bandit chasing truck drivers. Now me being a shameless used book dealer always seem to turn the talk around to books, I guess I’m like Billy Fields I can’t help myself “Bad Habits” (1981). Nearly everyone that I talk to reads some sort of book whether it’s a stick mag or a simple western, and if they don’t perhaps I can find something for them to start on, what you read doesn’t matter so much as that you read. You could be like Gary Cooper who admitted to reading only 10 books in his whole life but he was probably busy with the girls.

The things we do

This little group bring a world of experience from many diverse jobs, nurses & AIN’s, undertakers, auto body builders, motorcycle mechanics, crane & dozer drivers, drovers, butchers retired teachers carpenters joiners, bricklayers and laborers. Now with this cast of these characters there is no shortage of things to talk about, many jokes plenty of tall tales and sometimes true, but I can tell you an hour goes very fast indeed, to get your two cents worth you cannot hold back.

Ying & Yang

For me this has some side effects that can be good and bad the good always out do the bad, the thorny ones you have to endure. Very often I’m asked to find books. The good is I find books that people want this is great when it goes to plan everyone is happy.

About a book

But the rare failures are another story, I will share this one with you. It’s about a book called “I Just Want to be a Jockey: the Arthur Lister Story” by Helen Lister. I was asked to find it by a friend and I naturally thought it was an older book but I tracked it down through a larger book seller who I no longer deal with.

Success & Failure

I relayed the price of $100.00 to my friend. He said “terrific get it” so it was ordered and a short time later it was delivered, imagine my surprise when later he told me he could buy the same book at a local shop for $28.00 result one very upset ex friend, that I see nearly every day. I suppose at least he hasn’t taken me for a drive down to Charmhaven yet & I won’t be in a hurry to go anyway.

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Anthony Marshall

Anthony Marshall does in his book titled Trafficking in Old Books a very good read for budding bibliophiles.

The conversation went in many directions, from the recent death of Bobby Hunn a mate of Russ an old local from Morisset. To how all the businesses are going around the Bonnells Bay shopping center, it seems they’re all for sale milk bar, fish & chip shop, takeaway store, I don’t know who would want to buy any of these shops with rents being what they are and government charges why bother being in business.

Then it got onto a discussion about the documentary Steve Mac told me about called “Is Paul McCartney Dead.” A DVD just released about the death off Paul McCartney and the alleged cover up in 1966. This is your typical conspiracy theory story. But boy did it get everyone talking, for me the Beatles died when they split-up so I don’t care one way or another. What do you think?

But I needed to get home and check my emails and cook tea, well watch Anne is more like it, so it was see you cobbers.

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