I specialise in twentieth century first editions, in various subjects. In my stock list you will find books on country living and countryside pursuits, sports, biographies, travel, and the best of modern literature from around the world. Well over half of them are first editions. When I’m out and about buying I keep my eyes peeled for interesting and unusual books, particularly those that are a little harder to find or maybe have been out of print for a while. I aim to do the hunting (though not the shooting and fishing, it’s so bad for the dust jackets!) so that you don’t have to.

My stock tends to reflect my own taste and interests, that way I can be sure I’m providing the best titles in the subject, the best writers, the definitive works. And I enjoy buying them. Many of the books in my "travel and world" section reflect my own fondness for Asian travel, and you will find several titles about, or set in, Malaysia and Singapore. My hobbies & crafts sections will generally hold a great selection of books on cooking, brewing, potting and other practical crafts and pastimes. Modern & World Literature contains some of the finest fiction available today with prize-winning authors and a range of subjects and settings.

With a background of growing up in a small market town I have a deep respect for the country way of life, and my country living sections, both fact and fiction, reflect that. I like real food, real ale and real people. And I sell real books. I rarely deal in book club editions, unless the title is so hard to find that club copies have become collectible, and I always make it clear in the description if a club edition is being sold.

My books are all treated with care, and are professionally packed so that they reach you in the great condition they left me. I ship internationally and all packages are fully insured.

I aim to make buying from Books, by Kimbo! a smooth, enjoyable experience, with top-quality products and exceptional customer service. My many repeat customers seem to think I’m hitting the mark! Why not join them, you’ll be very welcome.

Happy reading, Kimbo

Before selling books I worked for over twenty-years in the IT industry. Starting out as trainee programmer writing COBOL programs on a computer that filled a room, umpty-ump years later my final IT job was as Corporate Web Manager for a logistics company in the oil and gas industry.

All those years working in IT taught me several valuable techy lessons. Some of which are: keep it simple, content is King, and don't break anything! With those (and a few other) rules in mind, I produce clean, simple web sites and widgets that concentrate on getting the essential information out, while being as simple to use as possible. No gimmicks, no flourishes, just neat workable solutions.

After 20-odd (very odd sometimes!) years I've also learnt how important it is to give clear, concise instructions and not fluster the client with jargon, or dump reams of irrelevant nonsense in their laps just to prove how clever I am. Good instructions are written in language that the audience understands, with plenty of visual cues, and should make the whole process look easy. I always remember I'm trying to inform, not impress.

Since I've always had an interest in design, producing good-looking sites is important and fun for me. And I never lose site of the essential detail: it's the client's site not mine - give advice, make suggestions, but listen to what's wanted. You want dancing leprechauns, I'll listen to why, tell you what I think, and if you still think they're neat I'll see what I can do, though leprechauns are notoriously difficult to trap. :o)

The Widgets that I produce all come out of real situations where people have asked for help, and I've been able to give it. There are no gimmicks here, they're real solutions to problems that happen every day. A helping hand to guide you over a techy rough patch, or help you out of a techy hole that's opened beneath your feet.

Need a particular Widget you can't find - contact me and I'll do my best to help.

For the rest of the stuff about me, well let's see... I'm female, middle-aged (not coy, just don't want to have to keep updating!) and living in Cornwall after a certain amount of wandering about. I was born and brought up on the Home Counties (Herts, Beds and Bucks), and have lived and worked the length of Britain from Cornwall, to Aberdeenshire. I've had a number of hobbies over the years, and done a bit of travelling, which means I'm lucky enough to have been scuba-diving on the Great Barrier Reef, have flown helicopters, spent time in the Formula One pit lane, sailed from Tonga to Thailand and watched whales in Rotarua. It's a tough old life.