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Blarney Books & Art

@joblarney.bsky.social
1.9K followers 807 following 618 posts

Hi - I’m Jo. I opened this bookshop in the tiny tourist town Port Fairy (Australia) over 20 years ago (2004). We also facilitate the annual PF Literary Weekend. ‘Notes from a Smalltown Bookshop’ over on Substack.

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Blarney Books & Art @joblarney.bsky.social · 17/04/2026
"He leads you to the water and you drink." Nice review by Jack Callil of Griefdogg by @micwink.bsky.social.
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Blarney Books & Art @joblarney.bsky.social · 07/04/2026
For those in or around Canberra - this event ought to be on your itinerary!
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Blarney Books & Art @joblarney.bsky.social · 05/04/2026
Last night in the bookshop, we hosted Kylie Greer (left), Charlie Owen (middle) and Brooke Taylor of the Poison Spitting Gin Queens (right) in a brilliant full-house event. Charlie told stories from his long career, and played new and old music with his many different guitars. Live music, hey.
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Blarney Books & Art @joblarney.bsky.social · 22/03/2026
Griefdogg is being unleashed to the world this week … and we’re a dog-friendly bookshop, it’s true. 💙
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Blarney Books & Art @joblarney.bsky.social · 10/01/2026
Right now, three crime writers on the Blarney stage: Robert M Smith, Tanya Scott and Margaret Hickey! And a full house to hear them! #bookshop #portfairy #ozlit
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Blarney Books & Art @joblarney.bsky.social · 24/07/2025
The first book out the bookshop door today was Talking Sideways: Stories and Conversations from Finniss Springs by Reg Dodd and Malcolm McKinnon. #bookthreads
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Blarney Books & Art @joblarney.bsky.social · 16/07/2025
The first book to leave our little bookshop on this mild winter’s day is … The Pearl Prize 2025: An Anthology of Queer Writing from Across Australia 🌈
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Blarney Books & Art @joblarney.bsky.social · 15/07/2025
The first book out the bookshop door on this sunny - yes, sunny - morning was a signed copy of … A Clear Flowing Yarra by Harry Saddler. #bookshop
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Blarney Books & Art @joblarney.bsky.social · 13/06/2025
Sparkly and extra crispy morning by the sea today! We’ve got a busy U3A day in the bookshop today…
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Blarney Books & Art @joblarney.bsky.social · 26/05/2025
What goes on in a bookshop in a coastal tourist town at the bottom of mainland Australia? I’ve had a bookseller’s diary going on substack for a little while now … and here’s the latest instalment. open.substack.com/pub/joblarne...
open.substack.com
Sunday Notes from the Bookshop
With one exceptionally bad decision ...
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Blarney Books & Art @joblarney.bsky.social · 19/05/2025
Icy May morning... 🥶
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Blarney Books & Art @joblarney.bsky.social · 17/04/2025
Easter holidays are just about upon us - but today the bookshop is so quiet … we’re open all weekend! #portfairy
A wonderful colourful bookshop interior, with not one browsing person.
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Blarney Books & Art @joblarney.bsky.social · 12/04/2025
Doing the catwalk! The neighbour’s cat, Martini, enjoying a stretch in the sunshine.
A striped cat with a red leash walks proudly along the brick wall outside our bookshop.
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Blarney Books & Art @joblarney.bsky.social · 07/04/2025
High tide at dusk, with dog and footprints. Port Fairy.
A sepia-toned photograph of a beach at high tide. The light glimmers on the water. There’s a black row of trees and hedges between water and sky. A dog walks away from the camera, its shadow long. Near the water are footprints from the day’s many walkers.
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Blarney Books & Art @joblarney.bsky.social · 29/03/2025
Attempting lift-off over at Substack with my Notes from a Smalltown Bookseller. Are we all too inundated? It’s not AI, if that helps …
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Blarney Books & Art @joblarney.bsky.social · 24/03/2025
Two kelpies in the windows of Blarney in support of indie campaigner for the Wannon electorate, Alex Dyson. Meanwhile, Dan and the libs are spending a fortune on trying to discredit Alex with not one but two separate pieces of junk mail today. #diaryofasmalltownbookseller
Exterior photo of our bookshop under a very blue sky, featuring two orange kelpie silhouettes in the front two windows, between our two garden bookstacks. Two pieces of junk mail with nothing that means anything on them.
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Blarney Books & Art @joblarney.bsky.social · 23/03/2025
Good morning! It’s Sunday, there’s been a little light rain this morning, low 20s expected. First visitor in holds up a copy of Stone Town by Marg Hickey and tells me it’s a good read. I agree with him. He sits and goes through the free jigsaw library, and then leaves. #diaryofasmalltownbookseller
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Blarney Books & Art @joblarney.bsky.social · 21/03/2025
Tracy Chapman's Fast Car starts playing on the Blarney playlist and my mind now, instead of going back to the 80s, goes to Susan Hampton's (now award-winning) memoir, Anything Can Happen. #diaryofasmalltownbookseller
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Blarney Books & Art @joblarney.bsky.social · 21/03/2025
Local ceramic artist Heather Davitt dropped in some of her gorgeous handmade bird-themed (and one blue tongue lizard) ocarina whistles for us to display and sell. #diaryofasmalltownbookandartseller
Two barking owls, one gang gang, a gallah and a blue-tongue lizard, all handmade ceramics, are displayed on little wooden plinths. They are also all working ocarina whistles.
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Blarney Books & Art @joblarney.bsky.social · 21/03/2025
Visitors from "an hour south of London" picked up local author Ganga Powell's The Wallaby in the Garden as well as Giinagay Gaagal, Hello Ocean by Melissa Greenwood. They've just been to Hall's Gap in the Grampians and they're on to the Great Ocean Road next. #diaryofasmalltownbookseller
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Rebecca Crootof @crootof.bsky.social · 21/03/2025
May need to start including this as boilerplate in the star footnote.
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Blarney Books & Art @joblarney.bsky.social · 21/03/2025
Happy caravanning visitors who are in town for a week picked up two preloved science fiction titles, and Tim Winton's Cloudstreet. And a lovely local picked up Clear by Carys Davies. #diaryofasmalltownbookseller
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Blarney Books & Art @joblarney.bsky.social · 21/03/2025
Lovely local popped in with a friend and picked up On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong and Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir. #diaryofasmalltownbookseller
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Blarney Books & Art @joblarney.bsky.social · 21/03/2025
A Melbourne Probus group came through - one of the group asked for our westerns (we're out and have been for years). Another picked up the children's book, Clever Crow by Chris Butterworth and illustrated by Olivia Lomenech Gill. #diaryofasmalltownbookseller
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Blarney Books & Art @joblarney.bsky.social · 21/03/2025
A lovely local who works in a support role for young ND people popped in with a young charge to spend some time out and about, in an effort to experience different environments. They hung out on the couches for a bit, and wandered through the books. #diaryofasmalltownbookseller
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Blarney Books & Art @joblarney.bsky.social · 21/03/2025
Visitors from Cohuna picked up Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaghy. They likened our bookstore to Stonemans bookshop in Castlemaine, and I'll take that as a compliment. #diaryofasmalltownbookseller
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Blarney Books & Art @joblarney.bsky.social · 21/03/2025
Visitors from nearby Portland who have previously bought their grandchild Shivaun Plozza's Summer of Shipwrecks, today picked up Impossible Creatures by Katherine Rundell. #diaryofasmalltownbookseller
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Blarney Books & Art @joblarney.bsky.social · 21/03/2025
People who yesterday bought Matt Ottley's Tree of Ecstasy and Unbearable Sadness returned to see if we had anything else by him. They were blown away with the illlustrations. I sent them to Customs House Gallery, who have exhibited Ottley's artworks. #diaryofasmalltownbookseller
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Blarney Books & Art @joblarney.bsky.social · 21/03/2025
Good morning! It’s a greyish day with a top of around 20, and a tiny drip of rain. First person in is local and here for Why Weren’t We Told by Henry Reynolds. This book is a touchstone for the First Australians U3A discussion group. #diaryofasmalltownbookseller
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Blarney Books & Art @joblarney.bsky.social · 19/03/2025
Congratulations, Fiona McFarlane! This is one of my favourites! 🥂🌟
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Jane Caro @janecaro.bsky.social · 17/03/2025
Very excited to be launching my new book soon. Starting with this lovely festival. I’d love to see you there. We can vent our grief and outrage.
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Blarney Books & Art @joblarney.bsky.social · 17/03/2025
A visiting artist from new york who is now happily living in Melbourne, picked up a small pile of large pre-loved art books. #diaryofasmalltownbookseller
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Blarney Books & Art @joblarney.bsky.social · 17/03/2025
Visitors who are staying in Portland for a few days picked up a copy of a preloved Jenny Wurtz novel. #diaryofasmalltownbookseller
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Blarney Books & Art @joblarney.bsky.social · 17/03/2025
Ballarat author Robert Smith just dropped in with his latest crime fiction - set in Port Fairy - called Shark Bait! 🦈 #diaryofasmalltownbookseller
Author Robert Smith holding his latest book, Shark Bait, in our bookshop, surrounded by books and near our leaning bookstack installation.
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Blarney Books & Art @joblarney.bsky.social · 17/03/2025
Good Monday to you! It's a pretty day in town today, after yesterday's chilly one, and we've had a few couples just wandering in and out. Our first actual customer is from Sydney, they've just enjoyed the Adelaide Writers Week, and picked up Twist by Colum McCann. #diaryofasmalltownbookseller
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Blarney Books & Art @joblarney.bsky.social · 14/03/2025
A local parent came with clues for a scavenger hunt for their teenager's birthday party ... which is, I have to say, one of the cutest things ever! #diaryofabirthdaybookseller
A birthday clue card, covered in balloons and stars. Party-goers made short work of this scavenger hunt, and found them quickly (without too much of a nudge from the bookseller).
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Blarney Books & Art @joblarney.bsky.social · 14/03/2025
A lovely local who had read about it in an emailed newsletter, picked up a copy of The Buried Life by Andrea Goldsmith. #diaryofasmalltownbookseller
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Blarney Books & Art @joblarney.bsky.social · 14/03/2025
Another visitor looking for gifts selected two copies for family members of Australian Geographic Australia's Birdwatching Megaspots: The 55 Best Birdwatching Sites in Australia by Peter Rowland and Chris Farrell. #diaryofabirdlovingbookseller
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Blarney Books & Art @joblarney.bsky.social · 14/03/2025
Local visitors looking for gifts picked up Cherrywood by Jock Serong and Orbital by Samantha Harvey. #diaryofasmalltownbookseller
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Blarney Books & Art @joblarney.bsky.social · 14/03/2025
A few people from the First Australians class this morning picked up Why Weren't We Told by Henry Reynolds, as well as Telling Tennant's Story: The Strange Career of the Great Australian Silence by Dean Ashenden. #diaryofasmalltownbookseller
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Dr Dee Michell #cep @drdeemichell.bsky.social · 14/03/2025
This week I had the pleasure of reading Niall William's Time of the Child - about an abandoned baby - and Lainie Anderson's The Death of Dora Black - about a former welfare worker now woman police officer solving a murder. Both were excellent. drdee-drdeethinkingoutloud.blogspot.com/2025/03/trea...
drdee-drdeethinkingoutloud.blogspot.com
Treats from Adelaide Writers Week
I was scrambling around the top tier of our back garden pruning – or attempting to – our always rampant Honeysuckle when I first heard Irish...
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Blarney Books & Art @joblarney.bsky.social · 14/03/2025
Two U3A classes in our bookshop - First Australians with the informed & passionate Ted Donelan; and Historical Fiction with equally informed & passionate Kate Donelan. Lots of interest in both classes and the first book for the year is Emily Maguire’s Rapture! #diaryofalocalbookseller
Lovely U3A class seated and listening to teacher Kate Donelan, in our bookshop space. Surrounded by colour, books and fairy lights. On the projection screen is an image of Emily Maguire’s book, Rapture, which they’re here to discuss.U3A class discussing First Australians in our bookshop, led by Ted Donelan.
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Blarney Books & Art @joblarney.bsky.social · 13/03/2025
Lovely local in with their visiting family picked up The Season by Helen Garner. Guy in a bicycle helmet checked out the upcoming events board and left. Another guy in a bicycle helmet sits and reads. #diaryofasmalltownbookselller
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Blarney Books & Art @joblarney.bsky.social · 13/03/2025
The first of our Thursday visitors are not delivering chooks but are holidaying from Mildura and picked up three pre-loved thriller novels, including a Grisham. They purposely arrived in time to watch the Folkie tents being taken down. #diaryofasmalltownbookseller
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Blarney Books & Art @joblarney.bsky.social · 12/03/2025
Just met someone in the driveway as I was taking the dogs out who said she’d ordered a couple of live chooks and they said they’ll deliver them to Blarney books - she thinks now that she’s been scammed. 🤨🤯 #diaryofachookseller
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Blarney Books & Art @joblarney.bsky.social · 12/03/2025
Lovely visitors from Bathurst picked up a copy of Bookshop Dogs by Ruth Shaw. He was lamenting the state of pub beer these days - "there's just too many boutique beers and I can tell you now, if it's got fruit in it, it's not beer". #diaryofasmalltownbookseller
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Blarney Books & Art @joblarney.bsky.social · 12/03/2025
A gorgeous visitor from Ohio wanted a copy of Worldwalk by Steven Newman. We didn't happen to have it, but together we found it online and she's ordered it to be sent to her friend in Australia. #diaryofahandybookseller
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Blarney Books & Art @joblarney.bsky.social · 12/03/2025
Had a chat this morning with a driver of a certain electric car and they are just about to put stickers on it saying they bought it well before the shares started tanking, when they thought they were doing the right thing, and not the Right thing.
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Blarney Books & Art @joblarney.bsky.social · 12/03/2025
Good morning, Bluesky people. ☀️I put the A-frame up on the corner where this little beauty is parked and has been there over Folkie. Cute classic van, as yet unsold. First person into the bookshop asks for the Burn Book by Kara Swisher (out in May). #diaryofasmalltownbookseller
A classic white caravan is parked in an empty lot, canvas top popped. It’s a white 1980 vintage Skyline and is cute as a button. Its price is 9.5K but is open to negotiation.
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