Bookseller Profile

The unique aspect of Abebooks is our network of independent booksellers who work with us to provide the most diverse selection of rare, used and out-of-print books on the Internet. Take a moment and meet our member booksellers from around the globe. It is these booksellers, with their experience, commitment and love of the used and out-of-print book business who help all our buyers find that treasure they've been looking for.

Coney-Collectibles

How did you get started in bookselling?
A school teacher walked into my bric-a-brac shop and asked me if I could sell his collection of books because he was moving and couldn't take them with him. I said yes and have been selling books ever since. That was 18 years ago, and I've moved countries since then, but I'm still surrounded by books and still selling them.

Bookselling is not the easiest way to make a living. What keeps you doing it?
Since retiring to England, where I was born, I haven't had a shop, only a few store-rooms. I sell books only on the internet and at book fairs. I love books, and I love computers. Selling books on the internet through Abebooks and specialist sites lets me have the best of both worlds. Selling at books fairs gives me the personal interaction with fellow book lovers.

What is your specialty? How did you choose it?
All my books seem to be my speciality in turns, depending on what I have most of at the time. My favourite topics are Africa, because I lived there for a long time, and the military because I am fascinated by military machines and aircraft.

Do you collect anything besides books?
Not much space left to collect other things, though I try! I do like Bosson chalk ware and buy that when I find a piece I like at the right price. And I love old (pre-1950) typewriters.

Do you have a shop pet?
Do daily visiting grand-children count?

What is the most unusual book you ever bought?
A small book with hand coloured pages and very ornately carved papier-mache covers.

Do you have any legendary stories you tell about incidents in your store or as a bookseller?
The incident I will never forget is when an elderly lady came into the shop I had then and asked me to find a special book that she had had as a child and lost when she got married. It took me 5 years to find the book, and I will never forget the joy on that lady's face and in her voice when I presented her with the long-lost book.


What are your favorite books, or your recommendations?
I like African and Japanese novels.

Any other comments?
My Louisa M. Alcott books have been read over and over again, and still are. I enjoy poetry by Kipling, Edward Lear and anything by James Thurber. I enjoy Perelman stories, and essays by Alan Coren. I rarely read full length books - I'm too impatient to get to the next in my have-to-read pile.

- Mrs Sheila Eames, Coney-Collectibles

The views of the author, expressed above, are not necessarily those of the Advanced Book Exchange