The Book Connection is located in the regional hub of Dubbo and is a good five hour drive south-west of where I live. Over the years I have meandered into the store during the Dubbo Ram Show & Sale, with the last two years seeing us join forces at various book events. Owner Dave Pankhurst is more at home on the non-fiction shelf and recently wrote on the subject of philosophy for the online magazine The Dubbo Weekender, while his in-store fiction guru Rae has three fiction picks for winter reading. Rae joins us first.
Pillars of the Earth – Ken Follett (Dave’s pick) – one of his all time favourite books – which means a lot because he always says “he doesn’t read fiction”.The Hare with Amber Eyes – Edmund De Waal – Won the Costa Biography Award – a great read that mixes history, culture and biography in one interesting book. 
Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand – Helen Simonsen – I show my age picking this one as the main character reminds me of my Grandfather and the way we are nostalgic for things we remember – a nice story about how “Love conquers all” and how even the most pragmatic of souls can be romantic heroes. 
Rae: I think I could say that the bonus to living in Regional Australia is the people we meet – how different and varied our customers are and how pleasant it is to meet so many people from such a wide spectrum – including lots of tourists and people passing through. And we all know how much Dave likes a chat!
Dave Pankhurst:
“It is now over 27 years since we became booksellers in Dubbo. When considering this venture, one piece of advice received was that it was a high risk proposition Dubbo was best known for its beer drinking and football playing. By the early 1990s, it became clear that the community had a thirst for reading fiction, literature and classics. And when we catalogued a collection of philosophy titles the response was amazing and that section of the bookstore has continued to be in demand. Imagine a bunch of beer drinking footballers reading thoughts from Homer to Ralston Saul.”
Should you be interested in philosophy ( n. Seeking after wisdom or knowledge esp that which deals with ultimate principles of things and ideas and human perception and knowledge of them, physical phenomena, and ethics, advanced learning in general. (Oxford dictionary); Dave suggests: ” The Story of Philosophy by Bryan Magee is an ideal reference beginning with the Greeks and their world, Christianity and philosophy including Saint Augustine and medieval thought, and discusses the thoughts of Copernicus to Machiavelli, Descartes, Voltaire, German and American writers, to recent works. In their typical, well presented format is the Eyewitness Companion Philosophy by Stephen Law. It presents the history, ideas, theories, a whos who and also explains how to exercise your mind to construct and communicate philosophical arguments.”
Enjoy your browsing, Dave Pankhurst. The Book Connection (02) 6882 3311. 178 Macquarie St, Dubbo. NSW
Extracts reprinted with the kind permission of The Dubbo Weekender- http://www.panscott.com.au/weekender.html
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