THE WHIRLIGIG BOOK SHOP
Bill & Betty Camp
135 Water  Street, Shelburne, NS B0T 1W0
902.875.1117
the.whirligig@ns.sympatico.ca

We are also the official ticket agent for the Osprey Arts Centre.

Click HERE for info about some of our favourite books

Click HERE  to see a selection of popular local interest books

About The Whirligig...                                                                          

In 1995 Betty and Bill bantered about the idea of opening a small business when Bill planned early retirement in 1999.  Betty asked, “Bill, what would you like to do?”  He wanted to “operate a used book store,”  and the idea for The Whirligig was born!  
     The location they have come to love – as have their many loyal customers - for their book shop opened the 1^st of June in 1996.  For the next 10 months, Betty operated the business, with Bill joining after work each day. 
     This routine continued until the spring of 1997, when Bill suffered a severe heart attack and was hospitalized for several weeks, then retired two years earlier than he had planned. 
     With the support of hardworking staff and friends, Betty was able to hold their idea together. Bill’s health improved with an implanted defibrillator/pacemaker and after slow recovery, he was able to carry on to enjoy his business fully.  On reflection, indeed, his medical teams attribute much of his healthy state to the social interaction that comes with the ownership of this marvelous little business in this lovely little town. 
     The used book’s inventory has now been overtaken by new books, while Betty and Bill have seen many other interesting products come and go.
     The shop is also a main social centre in Shelburne, operating as ticket box office for The Osprey Arts Theatre and many other artistic events around this community - bringing buzz and excitement to their daily activities.
     The Whirligig, as it is commonly known, is in the center of the Historic District of Shelburne. A good gathering place, much conversation, discussion and debate take place.  Many acquaintances have been made and renewed, particularly with summer residents and from visitors, either by automobile or by boat.
     The hundreds of entries in the “Guest Book” over the years are proof that this little shop is a place that matters in people’s lives. Come and visit!

As they neared retirement, Greg Brown and his wife Anne gave up their life in the U.S. to settle on a windswept Nova Scotia island inhabited by wild sheep and deer, where harbour seals sing in the fog and an old lighthouse still keeps watch over the North Atlantic. Island Year: Finding Nova Scotia tells the story of the surprises, challenges and discoveries of their first year alone on an island as they restored an old fisherman’s house, explored the island, and began to learn how to live a Nova Scotia way of life. This is a story for anyone who dreams of exchanging a fast-paced, high-tech life for something slower and just maybe more meaningful. This is a story about the night sky and the dawn chorus, lobsters and wild raspberries, a famous pirate, the kindness of others, and getting in touch with yourself again. Funny and inspiring, this book redefines what a rich life can mean. (from publisher's website) 

$19.95 TRADE PAPERBACK 

Loyalists and Layabouts
Stephen Kimber 

"This extraordinary and yet little-told episode from our nation's past is brought to  exciting life by award-winning journalist Stephen Kimber. Combining painstaking research and a novelistic flair for narrative, he charts Shelburne's "rapid rise and faster fall" through the intertwined experiences of an eclectic collection of it's earlier settlers, from aristocrats to freed slaves, colonial officials to local entrepreneurs." (from book jacket) 

$22.95 TRADE PAPERBACK