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Omigod. As I'm writing a blog post about books and Australia, I learn (from
The Age online) that Book Affair, the huge used bookstore on the
block where I
lived in Melbourne (Lygon and Elgin), is burning!! It's in the two little white houses next to Percy's, the hotel (pub) on the corner. (Victoria's in the middle of a record heatwave - my sister reports temps of 44 C (110+ F), and that they've filled the house with containers of water in the event of a bush fire.) All those books... I bought a lot there - mostly Australian novels. Wish I'd bought more!