What makes secondhand books so irresistible? Kate and Laura celebrate the joy of used bookshops, their favourite places to shop, literary finds and the thrill of unexpected discoveries. There’s also an interview with W. B. Gooderham, author of Dedicated To, a book that explores the touching, funny and sometimes heartbreaking messages that can be found in the handwritten dedications tucked inside secondhand books. Whether you’re a devoted secondhand book hunter or simply love hearing readers talk about books, this episode is a celebration of literary serendipity, book collecting, and the enduring pleasure of finding exactly the right book when you least expect it.
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Book list and links
Bookshopaholics: The Paperhound • Episode #139
‘Owner of Vancouver’s eclectic MacLeod’s Books marks 50 years of serving bibliophiles’,John Mackie for the Vancouver Sun
The Second Shelf bookshop (now in online form)
Aphrodisiacs in your Garden by Charles Connell
The Transitive Vampire by Karen Elizabeth Gordon
The Complete Polysyllabic Spree by Nick Hornby
Things I Learned on the 6.28 by Stig Abell (now published as What to Read Next)
Griffin Bay Bookstore, San Juan island
Episode #51: Barnabees Bookshop
Skoob books
Dedicated to compiled by W.G. Gooderham
The Diary of a Nobody by George and Wheedon Grossmith
The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole and The Growing Pains of Adrian Mole by Sue Townsend
Wise Children by Angela Carter
Arabella by Georgette Heyer
House of Niccolo and Game of Kings by Dorothy Dunnett
Judd Books, Bloomsbury
Timecodes
00:00 Welcome and a pod milestone
00:48 Secondhand book-hunting
03:01 Browsing vs. buying
07:58 Secondhand treasures
11:52 Kate’s love of books about books
16:23 Dream bookshops
17:18 Our favourite places to buy secondhand
20:42 Patreon Break
21:50 Kate meets W.B. Gooderham
23:43 Skoob books and inscribed editions
27:22 How Wayne’s collecting began
28:41 Dedicated To: The forgotten friendships hidden stories and lost loves found in secondhand books
30:50 Releasing Books Back
32:09 To inscribe or not to inscribe
33:07 Diary Of A Nobody by George and Wheedon Grossmith
37:32 Adrian Mole Editions
38:39 Wise Children
39:51 Pnin – a collection that took Wayne years to assemble
41:28 Bookshelves and Umberto Eco’s library
44:04 Laura shares some of her favourite used-book haunts
47:54 Why secondhand books matter
49:08 Episode wrap
