It was raining, I remember that.
It was in Edinburgh, in 1976, and I was standing beside Greyfriars Bobby getting soaked by persistent drizzle.
I was waiting to cross the road to the small Christian book shop on Forrest Road.
It was one of my early solo book shop crawl expeditions to Edinburgh, and I knew what I was after.
I had been to James Thin's but they didn't have the blessed book.
Maybe the recently opened Christian Book Shop on Forrest Road would have it, they said.
Walked past the National Museum of Scotland heading for Forrest Road.
Inside the shop I spoke to the proprietor and asked for the newly published book.
Ah well, he wisnae sure about the book, whether it was "sound" or not.
Read it with discretion he warned!
"Aye right", I said, inwardly.
I bought it, and over the next week read it from cover to cover.
Forty odd years later I still have that book, and recall the pleasure of its weight in my brief case.
It was Leslie Allen's commentary on several minor prophets, amongst them Jonah.
To this day Allen's volume remains on my shelves as a favoured option on those prophets.
In these days of easy access online to your door delivery somethings has been lost; the chase, the handling and perusing and the smell and the heft of a book you know you're going to buy - and the bookseller, someone who has opinions on what you buy, and is not backward about coming forward with them!
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