bookfest!

Today is the final day of the Lifeline Bookfest, so if you're in Brisbane and you like books, better scurry along to the Convention Centre and check it out! I popped by the 'fest yesterday and to my great delight discovered, besides the books and other paraphernalia, an impressive number of pre-loved soft toys up for grabs! Ahhh! Yes, that's right, I went to the Bookfest and bought a big... stuffed... DUCK! :-) How could I resist such a beautiful creature, abandoned by his previous owner? I simply had to give him a new home. Here he is pictured with his new buddy, li'l Quacker.

Too cute! Anyway, I did also pick up just a couple of books. Alas, these sort of events always seem to be light-on in the fantasy department. I don't know why that is, although I suspect it may be because fantasy enthusiasts tend to hoard their books (I know I do) and don't part with 'em for anything! So I purchased a classic, Dickens' "A Christmas Carol" (also includes "The Chimes"), and a novel that caught my eye, "Basilica" by William D. Montalbano. The blurb reads:

In the black of a Roman night, a lone priest is pushed to his death from the dome gallery of St Peter's basilica. It's a murder that challenges the spiritual and physical resources of two men shaped and scarred by a stormy past. One of them is the charismatic new Pope himself, an unconventional Latin-American with many hidden enemies. The other, Brother Paul, is a former Miami homicide cop brought to the Vatican as unofficial papal investigator. Now, as threats against each of them multiply, ghosts from their common past stalk the holy city's ancient streets and circle ever closer...

Sounds intriguing, no? Meanwhile, two books for a buck and an eight dollar duck - can't complain about that!

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