Joy of the 20c book

One of the benefits of living in the Halfwit Sundays is the Op Shop. Where else in the world can you get a book for 20c?

I regularly find myself in there, trawling the shelves to see what the tide has brought in. It's a fascinating mixture, given the ecletic population mix of the island itself.

The island is an amalgam of artists, greenies, musicians, retirees and young families with a desire to raise their children in a natural environment. I've never lived anywhere with so many painters, sculptors, writers or craftsmen. Every second person is fulfulling a desire to write their life story or paint that sunset. The others are caring for the bush, counting the birdlife and saving the turtles and dugongs in the Bay from extinction.

But I digress ... I was talking about the 20c book.

My last $1 worth of pulp fiction found me -

A Patrick White novel "Eye of the Storm", one of his best. I'd read it before but it was worth a second read after a lapse of ten years or so.

"The Secret Life of Plants" "astounding discoveries about the physical, emotional and spiritual relations between plants and man" (like, yer!!!) OK, it's kinda creepy to be chatting to your plants. Makes you think of Prince Charles and God knows that's not a good idea. "Well, hello, pelargonium. How are you today? Bit hungover? Cat peed on you again?"

"Moreton Bay People" a collection of reminiscences from bay personalities spanning the twentieth century.This sounded a lot better than it turned out to be. Earlier history might have been better but this seemed to be a bunch of old grannies talking about when they were young.

An old edition of Lonely Planet Thailand (with page 23 missing). Always good in an emergency, I love to read about places I plan to visit. Yes, I've been to Thailand but only Bangkok (en route to London) and Phi Phi Island (for scuba diving)

A very strange but addictive first novel by Marisha Pessl entitled "Special Topics in Calamity Physics". Took me quite a while to get the hang of it but then I couldn't put it down. Won't try to describe it: to say it's a murder mystery lowers it to the banal. I loved it!!

What a magnificent hoard.

And if I don't like one, so what? I can donate it back to the best little second hand book store in Queensland! After all, it only cost me 20c!