In my constant fossicking through the rows and rows of $2-books at the op-shops I have discovered books with some of the most unlikely bookmarks inside which, short of a used condom, range from airline boarding passes and railway tickets to scribbled notes and, on one occasion, a much-read dog-eared raunchy love letter.
Imagine therefore my surprise when I found this beautifully written hardcover book about Captain James Cook in absolute pristine conditions with its original sales docket of $49.99 still stuck as a bookmark between pages 6 and 7 at about the point where the above audiobook sample ends.
According to the Captain Cook Society, "this book is not a bad one, but it is not a good one either" - see here - but I disagree. I'm finding it a very easy read and am already through more than half of its 440-odd pages.
I shall read the rest of the book while sitting on the sunlit verandah overlooking the river and watching from over the top of my reading-glasses all the other would-be Captain Cooks pass by in their boats.
