Hunting for Books: Fit the First

"For the Snark's a peculiar creature, that won't
Be caught in a commonplace way.
Do all that you know, and try all that you don't:
Not a chance must be wasted to-day!"

Lewis Caroll, The Hunting of the Snark

I started my hunt for replacement books on a rainy December 31st in downtown Victoria with a visit to Russell Books, a large new and used bookstore which had just recently moved to a new location on Fort Street.  I'd made a reasonable start on my book cataloguing project and part of the result was a list of almost a hundred timeworn books that I wanted to update with less damaged copies, some of which I hoped to find at Russell.

In my mind, I imagined toting an armful or two of books to the checkout, and had already mentally budgeted for a first installment of purchases, but to my mild surprise, I was only able to find two books out of my list of 95.  Feeling a bit disappointed, I didn't even buy those two texts, thinking that I would rather buy in bulk than take a piecemeal approach to the hunt.

My next stop was Bastion Books, a used book shop which specializes more in rare books, and has a substantially smaller science fiction and fantasy collection as a result.  In spite of which, I was able to find three or four of the books on my list, but their condition was only marginally better than the ones I was replacing.

However, although I hadn't made a start on listing my Ace Doubles yet, I selected one that I was certain was in better shape than the copy on my shelves, and spotted two that I was confident I didn't already own.  I also picked up a book by Lloyd Biggle Jr. - because why would you not want to buy a book by someone named Biggle?

The young woman on the checkout desk smiled when she saw my selections, and as she began to log their titles*, mentioned that she’d just watched a movie the night before in which the credits had been done with classic SF covers as backgrounds.

Realizing that my carry bag was not waterproof, I cautiously asked if she might have a plastic bag - a bit of a hot button question in Victoria, which banned single use plastic bags in 2018.  To my relief, she was able to dig out a small contraband bag that perfectly matched my purchases, and taped it closed as well - full points to Bastion for customer service.

In conversation while she was doing this, I mentioned my mostly unsuccessful quest and commented that I wasn’t looking for anything particularly esoteric, at least by my standards, and was surprised that I didn't see more matches for my well-worn existing copies.

She made a bit of a moue with her mouth and shrugged, then delivered the epitaph of the science fiction paperback.

"They really weren’t terribly well made in the first place.”

She suggested that I pay a visit to the Cavity Curiousity Shop, which she said had an excellent selection of science fiction, in spite of the fact that they don’t list themselves as a book store, which kept most casual shoppers from going there.

After a brief look at Google Maps™, I hopefully hiked the kilometer and a half to Cavity's location, only to discover that they were closed for the holiday season - although they certainly had an intriguing window display.  Thwarted on all fronts and wet to the knee, I trudged back to our borrowed apartment to seek solace in hot tea, a sausage roll, and dry jeans.

On paper, my day looked like a failure, but I have to say that in practise, I rather enjoyed it.  It gave direction to my shopping, took me to a couple of new locations, and made me really look at the books on display.  Apparently you can have a good day of fishing even if you don't get anything on the hook.

- Sid

* This is a thing that old school book shops traditionally do to record their sales.