Mail And Guardian, Library Book Sale and Blubird November 22 2016

It has been a long time.

Three blogs have been started.

Three blogs have been discarded.

The reason?

We have been so very busy.

As we in Gauteng made aware this week it never rains but it pours.

And so I have decided to send out a potted version of all three blogs.

My first blog was written after the Mail and Guardian Literary Festival.

It was an event like none other.

Erudite academics authors and poets were swanning around signing books and participating in panels that were too interesting to ignore.

Darryl Accone did a marvellous job of pulling all these people together for an event of note.

The venue was inspiring.

The Sci Bono is host to many functions (I popped into the launch of the Barbie movie party and had to wrench myself away from all the glitter and sparkly treats on the tables)

Truthfully though what the catering at the M & G event lacked in pink sparkles it more than made up for in variety and general yumminess.

I think I was constantly chewing.

In between everything else.

The Bookdealers were there in all our glory.

Selling books by the various speakers and even better than that talking to them and perhaps swooning a little.

Weeks later as I write I feel again the pride, excitement and the awakening of my long dormant brain that epitomized the weekend.

And then the next week happened...

In true Bookdealers fashion rest is not a part of our vocabulary.

We left our Bedfordview branch at the end of July and in September we were in our new shop in the Blubird centre.

It has been a fun move.

We were a little apprehensive about moving to the North after our long sojourn in the East.

But we are so delighted that so many of you have decided to come and visit us: Stacey Daniel Amanda and I are there in all our glory.

It feels like home.

And as you know we do like to work and play together I must tell you the best coffee in town is just outside our door.

Moving into a bookshop is not for the faint-hearted.

Shelves were installed and then began the arduous task of unpacking the books.

No sooner was that done than we had a leak in the roof.

Books were packed up again and moved.

Leak was fixed.

And books were replaced.

The book trade is always interesting.

In between there were visitors from overseas and the Jewish High Holidays.

Our lives are never boring.

No sooner had the dust settled (literally) it was time for the Library Annual Book Sale.

Our way of giving back to our wonderful city and highlighting the amazing work the Friends of the Johannesburg Library and their team of librarians is to provide them with credit card facilities for the two days.

The sale was on the last weekend in October in the car park (read tin car ports) of the headquarters of the library.

It was during the heatwave that gripped Johannesburg and the heat under the tin roofs were hot enough to make a cat dance.

But Johannesburg book lovers turned out in their droves.

The library recorded the highest figures ever.

And when the books are sold for the princely sum of ten rands, well much business was done...

And so here I sit trying to finish this blog in time for our grand opening of our Blubird shop.

Never a dull moment...