Kaaron Warren writes fabulously disturbing and, well, generally fabulous short stories, some of which have been collected in the recent The Grinding House through CSFG publishing. As Kaaron has recently moved to Suva, Fiji, I was curious as to how her book buying habits had changed, and whether she had managed to find a particular shop that spoke to her.

Bookshops are both rare and odd in Suva, so much so that it’s not possible to have a favourite. You have to find pleasure in a combination of all of them. You have to be investigative. One fabulous thing about Suva is that the shops have hidden treasures. Behind a pile of carpet you’ll find a stack of mid 50s pulp fiction. Beneath some smelly old shoes you’ll find “Atonement” or “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest”. We found a stack of Goosebumps books for my son in a locked-tight grocery store. I think we were the first Europeans ever to enter.

So you can’t go out with a list. You have to keep an open mind; you want books and you don’t care what they are.

Suva Book Shop has maybe three hundred books, not many more than that, but there are treasures if you dig. I found a Richard Brautigan I hadn’t read, and Andrew Lang’s Myth, Ritual and Religion (volume 2 only. I doubt I’ll find volume 1).

You can’t ask for a specific book and there’s no such thing as pre-ordering. BookMasters did take my name for the Guiness Book of World Records. They never called, but they took my name.

The bookshop as a lucky dip is a great concept. It forces you to step out of the confines of your standard reading preferences and to try something you otherwise might not have. I love secondhand books for this reason. As they’re so much less expensive, you’re far more likely to take a risk on something new and unknown.

Charles Tan has been doing a fascinating series of posts on bookshops in the Philippines over at his blog. Post 1. Post 2. Post 3. You should go read those whilst I’m off writing a new novel. Yes, a new novel! Something that isn’t Downtown.  Frabjous day, calloo, callay, and all that.

Previous Favourite Bookshop posts: Margo Lanagan; Lucy Sussex; Marshall Payne; Michael Pryor