Constant Reader discussion

I'm about to go to the library to return six books -- two of which I've never cracked open and four of which I'm partway through. As a serial multi-book reader, I seem to chronically go through these cycles of starting too many books and then needing to scale back. Giving up on books I was actually enjoying and deciding to concentrate on my remaining clump (down to two, which seems to be my minimum) always carries with it mixed feelings: In some measure, guilt for not having had the time or commitment or whatever it takes to finish what I've begun, but more strongly, a sense of relief and sanity and a feeling I've regained some control over my life. Amazing all those emotions would come from a simple library trip, but there you have it. I'm wondering whether others can relate to this -- do we need a support group? A tell-all memoir, complete with dumpster diving anecdotes? Or just solidarity? Looking forward to hearing from you.

I can so relate to this - as too often, my requested books arrive in bulk and I have to make a "sophie's choice" deciding what to read and what goes back.

I try to at least read a few pages before returning to make sure that I even want to put them on my list again - this has been a good way to eliminate some books.

And I do find that when I eventually get the ones I have returned unread or partially read before I do enjoy them.

In the end, I am willing to live with these choices because I feel better about not spending so much money on buying new books - plus the bookshelves around the house are more than full!!

Why does it seem to be an immutable law that requested books always arrive in clumps. You go through a reading desert, only to be hit in the face with 6 books at once.

I have no qualms about quitting a book I don't find rewarding. Three such are going back to the library this afternoon. Life is too short.

My library lets me renew books 5 times, barring anyone else requesting them. So sometimes it takes me 5 months to get to a book (visits to the library to return books or pick up reserves always leads to me walking out with more than I ever intended on checking out), but darnit, if I check them out, I read them.

It's been really, really bad lately. I had about 16 books checked out at once, I finally read 6 and had one come in on reserve, so I figured I would trade the 6 for the 1...and ended up walking out with 6 more.

Since I've started checking most of my books out of the library instead of buying them, I've transferred my over buying habit to over checking out. So yes, Mark, I know exactly what you are talking about. I console myself by saying that I am helping with their statistics--just look how much this community is using the library! My library lets me renew books multiple times too. So far, I've only done 3 renewals, but I will be testing that limit soon.

Glad to see I'm in such good company. And today, after my message, what did I do but pick up two more while I was there. Hah! Nevertheless, I plan to approach these more serially than I've been doing. It seems my multiple starts on books have corresponded with trying to set up and establish five new coverage areas on my newspaper job, so I think it's all of a piece. And yes, I will try to remember that I can reacquire a returned book without guilt and start again, thanks.

Mark, great question....


I've gone through phases of ordering lots of books from libraries, or buying a pile of them from a book store. I seem to have the obsession managed to once a year. Most of the time I a have a pretty good understanding of what attracts me to a book. Either I am reading it because I love the author, want to try a new author and I have come to know that after my initial attraction...if a book doesn't entice me after the first 50 pages...chances are it won't.

I also read for research..so those books I usually finish too. And when it comes to a book for a book club choice...if I am going to be involved in the book discussion...I read the book. If I like it or not, I read the book in order to join the discussion. Why pipe in and say "I hated it". "stopped reading it". I find that kind of counter-productive and a buzzkill in book discussions heh heh.

I usually finish a book if i enjoy it it or am curious for the first 50 pages...once there then I'll usually be in for the long haul. But that is combined with a keen interest in the book in the first place.

I return library books not read too. Much more so years ago though...because I am pretty good at getting recommendations and reading to see if a book is something I am interested in. I'm kind of fussy so have a weird itinerary of what I look for in a novel.

Sometimes, because I read a lot of classics I get carried away and pick up a bunch of classics from the library, or a second hand store...but for the most part....I've curbed that down.


AT the moment I ordered up half a dozen bbooks from amazon..so I'll be focused on reading them and likely won't pick up any more books until I'm done them. I think another reason why II am so hard core about not loading up on too many books is the small living space. A pile of books is just a huge spac investment these days...if not being read ya know?

Cheers
Candy

Candy, please, please tell me how to control the obsession!

Mark, honestly, I feel as though I need a whole program and support group and probably some form of punishment as well...I'm seemingly hopelessly addicted to book buying. Now mind, I don't buy books at random. Just the ones that I probably want to read...soon...or later. The title of this topic fits me perfectly.

Space isn't an issue, although shelving could conceivably become a problem.

I do use the library from time to time, and I wish I could move over to predominantly library over-use rather than book over-buying. Returning a book unread, or partially read, bothers me not at all, because as age advances (a tad too rapidly for my taste), I realize that I have a finite amount of time versus an infinite number of books. But like you, Mark, I always come home with more than I planned on.

Sob.

I would like to see a scientific study done on why reserved library books always arrive in clumps. I suspect we could learn something very important about the nature of the universe if we could better understand that immutable law ;-)

It might have something to do with the fact that people check them out in clumps and take them back in clumps, so they become available in clumps.

Candy, I have to disagree with you on a previous post. You asked "Why pipe in and say "I hated it". "stopped reading it". I find that kind of counter-productive and a buzzkill in book discussions." Often I find such concise comments honest and not a buzzkill at all. Usually I ask such a person what about the book bothered them, and a dialog often starts with that.

It might have something to do with the fact that people check them out in clumps and take them back in clumps, so they become available in clumps.

Aha. Like freeway traffic.

I am also a multi-book reader. Of course Good Reads has only made that worse, since I've been trying to keep up with book discussions in a couple of different groups, plus read other things that aren't in any of my groups.

I think I've got about 8 books currently in some state of part-way through. That is way I started buying books years ago, and haven't borrowed them from the library much since. I don't often read a book start to finish in the standard 2 week reading window. And even with online renewals, etc. I like have the books at my command to browse, lend, keep, sell or burn as appropriate. (Just kidding about the burning part, though with some it's tempting... usually I just throw them when frustrated.)

Gail heh heh I don't know what to say. I just am still obsessed...love books love reading. But I do have an inner (crazy!?) dialogue with myself. I am quite particular with what novels I like to read...and having a book club helps. I often know through hearing various folks here...if I will like a book or not. I have a few people whose tastes are similar to mine or whose opinions I highly am inspired by or enjoy ...even if I don't always agree with them...and boy if they like a book. I will pursue it. I also have "qualifications" to plot or character descriptions...I know I am so anal retentive or something...


My schtick? My list of things that attract me to a novel?


:)

Adventure, interspecies relationships, outdoors, love, good and evil, experimental, action, consilience, life and death.

It's surprising how having accepted my own preferences (limitations?) has really helped me not buy books obsessively any more! And...I find there aren't that many contemporary novels that have my "list of qualifcations"...I read a lot of non-fiction because of that and a lot of classics.

Heh heh I have read a lot of books in my life. I'm not Harold Bloom...but I am not far off heh heh. I've read a lot of classics. I was single all my life, with limited responsibilities except as a single parent single income...so I was home a lot and read a lot heh heh...and I figure that got me used to knowing what kind of books I like.

I also worked in a book store for a year in 2000. I became able to ask a customer to give me half a dozen books they LOVED and help them find something to read.

And I find that my inside voice of guilt makes me feel bad if I have a tbr pile sitting there like homework! Basically, I try not to buy many books at once and close together. Wait till I read a tbr pile. I also try to keep this said tbr pile down to 6 books at most.

Like I say, I'm a repulsive A-Type anal retentive messy pajama chaffing housekeeper

Sherry, I guess I took my grade seven teacher way too seriously. And profs. We were never allowed to say in a paper or discussion in school "I hated it" "I stopped reading it" as a premise to put forth an argument. It was considered "poor form".

So...I guess those parts of school stuck with me...we were taught that's not how to read or express one's ideas or feelings about art and literature.

Of course you're right, a web board is a free democracy of style and voice. Of course we can say whatever we like about a book or reading or how to read.


But you provide a case to support my question! You say if someone says "I hated it"...you then ask them. "what about the book bothered them so much?" I admire your diplomacy and tact. Me, I stay quietly tactfull at the moment and ....I think what a buzzkill heh heh. And I also mentally give that participnant a "D. heh heh.

Of course we are free to decide to "discuss" a book with an I hated it as our contribution...but it's difficult for me to give much attention to such an unimaginative contributor. And...I feel just as democratic and free to type here my dismissal of their contribution as a buzzkill as they have to voice their own style of limited contribution.

I agree with you it is "honest" of them to simply say "I hate it"...but it's so grade seven and boring too.


:)

i think since I started this goodreads site, my habits have gotten worse. I have 26 books checked out, 6 of which I am dying to read, 3 more are waiting to be picked up (and they're good too!) so I'm trying to avoid the library right now. I always feel like a kid in a candystore there :( so much choices and they're free!!!

But I try to read them all- I feel guilty if I don't (unless it's really horrendous)because I always think of the trouble they went through from when i hit the request button to when it arrives on the shelves, and then I think the book might be a little upset at having been summoned and not read ( they do have feelings don't they?)

You're my kind of person, Kim--worrying about how the book feels!

I actually think Constant Reader has helped make me more disciplined about my lofty reading goals. I have 8 library books out at the moment and Happyreader in another post reminded me how long the Classics Corner selection for 12/1 is. I am determined to return my current crop of books and focus instead on the CR selections for 11/15 and 12/1 - the discussions are so good, it makes the focus worthwhile.

Another tip - have someone else return your books to the library so you are not tempted to collect more while you are there!

Well, I am a strictly one-book-at-a-time person. If I'm running busy with exams or something, the reading stops temporarily but I never switch to another book unless I'm compelled to do so.

Thanks Sherry :) books are friends aren't they :D

Atishay- sometimes reading a couple books at the same time could be good- they could hit off each other and provide insights you might have never picked up. It's like having a conversation with a couple people.

Hmm.. that's a nice thought Kim. Thanks! I'll try that. But it can only be done with classics or non-fiction, right? If I start reading two modern fiction thrillers at the same time, it would be terribly confusing to remember characters and things.

I'm a little like Atishay...I do sometimes try to read a couple books at once...but I find a book I really enjoy takes up my attention. I tend to read in one or two massive sittings. Like 5 -7 hour stretches.

I did used to have all kinds of tbr piles...back in my 20's I was very obsessed and would almost approach books like food...stocking up on them. And then feeling like I was always behind.

I think also, back then, I was ina space where there was some kind of conceit...for me. I had this feeling that having a pile of books to read gave my life some direction or I was "very busy" with all kinds of books to read. I know, I was a very immature person heh heh...but for me...there was something there that wasn't "pure". Something about this pile of books meant something to my self esteem...which I can't explain...but I don't have it now.

I still read for research...and then mostly read to feel closer to other people and share what we took from the book. My reading is related to sharing a lot online with folks like you. I like being able to have a couple books I care to read...and being able to switch gears and read a book recommended. (it hurt me to do that with a huge tbr pile in the past...I would but then I'd have to spend a whole week in the summer..."cramming" ha ha!)

It's my inner guilt of not liking an "unfinished project" that keeps me from making these purchases now. It's so easy to get to a book store or library...at least in my situation...that I try to keep the next books to a minimum.

I can understand in rural areas (with no amazon or credit card or easy postal service?) if one stops in the city and gets great deals etc to have a massive pile of unread/ tbr books though.

I don't know if I'd call it conceit, but it is somehow satisfying to see stacks of books that you know you'll get years of enjoyment out of eventually. Sort of like money in the bank. Whoops, bad example nowadays.

I used to use the library when younger, but found it difficult to return a book I'd enjoyed so much, somehow purchasing the book at a later date just didn't cut it. I want to own the original enjoyed book, I like to mark [in pencil!:] the interesting items, expressions and connections as I go, not have to go back and find them. Most of which I'd miss finding, or lose the shape of the original thought.

I do read several books at the time for the most part, one as a break from the other in style and character. I also don't mind quitting a book if I find I just can't stand it. Of course it depends on why I can't stand it, sometimes I'll slog on through anyhow, especially if it is for a discussion. I want to be able to analyze why I don't like it and that isn't possible if I don't finish it. Then again there are books that sort of grow on me, more enjoyable in retrospect than at the time of reading.

Steinbeck for example makes me grit my teeth down to a nub and I have only finished one of his, and started and discarded 3 or 4 others. Now I know just to stay away from his books.

I think it's Goodread's fault that I'm hoarding so many library books. Before, it never mattered to me how long it took me to get through a book, and it never mattered how many I read in a year. Now that I see numbers - total read, total in the to-read shelf, total for my yearly shelves - it's become almost like a competition. Who am I competing with? I have no clue, but it's not a coincidence that some of my other, non-reading hobbies have fallen by the wayside in the last two years while I've been using GR.

I think it all depends on how we like to do things. Some of us are 'serial' people, some are ''parallel' . 'Serial people' like to complete one thing and then move on to the other while 'parallel people' may start multiple things and go on with them. I, for one, am a serial person because if I haven't completed one thing, before starting the next one, there will be a thought nagging at the back of my head reminding me that I haven't completed that previous task. The same goes with reading novels, I suppose. :)

You're correct Brooke. It kind of keeps you on the run. But who's complaining? :)

I like your idea of a 'serial' person Atishay. With regard to sitting down and reading novels I'm definitely one of those whereas I can be going back and forth with non-fiction books easily. I have this desire to get into the story, style and meaning of a book that I can't do through reading more than one novel or play at a time. Never really thought about it before.

The one thing I've only done once and vowed never to do again with Good-reads is to put books on a to-read shelf - I can't bear the concept - to me it's like saying, one day maybe I'll get around to reading this. I have a feeling I'd never bother to look at it (my online shelf). The physical stacks around the house at least bring me back by their presence.

You're quite right Ricki, thats a mistake i made with GR to-read list. But the good thing is they are a store for me where i can read any book in future and be assured that it will be good. Anytime i go to a book store, i won't have much problem in deciding what to buy. The bad thing is, I miss the spontaneity I used to experience when i went to buy a book.

What do you mean?! The 'to-read' shelf is one of the best inventions in this joint! :) I can't tell you much enjoyment i get looking through people's lists and seeing things i want to read!- and you still have the choice to pick up any book in a bookstore- it's just another avenue.

As to serial and parallel reading, I think I'm both. If a book grabs me i also do a 5-7 stretch, but it's also nice sometimes to 'layer' books. Like I was reading 'The Bone Woman' -about investigating the remains of genocidal victims, along with histories of those countries mentioned in the book. It sort of expanded the information to a fuller experience.

As for library books- i love seeing little notes people leave on the side ( not too much though because it distracts from my own assesment) but if I liked a story well enough, I'll just buy the book and read it again.
Or, if you're a book-buyer, just donate to the library the ones you don't like. win-win!

Atishay, the to-read list definitely hasn't stopped my spontaneity - 75% of the books I grab at the library or bookstore when "just browsing" aren't on my to-read list yet. Which means the list never shrinks, but oh well. :)

I love "collecting" books to put on on my to-read list. I did it even before finding GR, I had a running list in my Palm that I lost and still mourn to this day. Even if I never get around to reading any of them, I really love looking through well written book review blogs and discovering new authors and books to put on the list.

My library's pickings are generally pretty slim at my local branch, so browsing isn't very rewarding. So I use my To - Read list to request books on interlibrary loan.

Kim, that's really great that you read 'The Bone Collector' and could supplement it with other books. But,for instance, try to imagine reading a Robert Ludlum novel and a Jeffery Archer at once. I, for one, will get confused with characters and plot. Of course, it depends on the book. In your case, it worked well. Even when I was reading "a Royal Duty", I was reading Morton's "Diana" side-by-side. It really improved my reading experience. :)
As for the 'to-read' shelf, certainly its a box of fun and even I enjoy to browse through other people's lists. More often than not, I get an excellent book that I add to my 'to-read'. But again, I personally felt my buying spontaneity suffer a bit this time when I went to a book store. Still, no complaints. :)

Brooke, that's good! I'm a newbie to GR, and it was the first time i went to a bookstore after I had become a member. i felt I overlooked some good books just because I hadnt' heard of them on GR.
So, maybe I'll feel more spontaneous the next time, once I get used to seeing my 'to-read' list grow.

hmmm.... Atishay, maybe I don't have that problem with the spontaneity because I can't remember most of the books on my to-read list :) sometimes a bad memory is a good thing! Do you make a list when you go in? ( that's the only way I'd remember!)

And true, if you read two mystery books at once it could become confusing... guess you have to pick the books right- check out their blurbs and see if it will work. guess non-fiction would probably work better.

but again, some books need to be read solitary, others you can mix.

Brooke: you get to renew 5 times?? I think I found what's perpetuating the 'borrowitis' :)

Kim, I don't doubt it. Years ago, the limit was 2. If I could only check out what I thought I could actually read in 2 months, it'd probably be a little bit more restrained!

Kim, no I don't make a list but if I've added a name to my to-read list, while browsing through in the shop, its easy for me to remember the books I've been wanting to read.

Ah Andy- I've had the 'check out remorse' too! especially happens when books take too long to come in and i've moved into something else.

Atishay, what if you have 100 books in your 'to-read' list? :P

When I do come across a book from my to-read list at the library, it's almost like seeing a friend I didn't expect to run into. I always happily think, "Hey, I know you! And you're coming home with me!"

That's a scary idea Kim (and one I'm trying to avoid desperately) because I keep adding books to that list regularly. But it would be lovely to have so many books on reading list if i view it from another angle; when I grow old and retire from my job, I'll have no problem in passing my time. I'm thinking ahead. :)

Exactly Brooke! I am like you. It makes it easy for me to pick up a book if I know about it beforehand or even if I've heard its name somewhere.

This is a great thread! It's so interesting to see different people's takes on the tbr list and reading more than one book at a time.

I love browsing other readers' list; I often recognize old friends read years ago or I see new (to me) books that look like they could quickly become old friends.

Yeah, Candy and Pontalba, maybe a bit of conceit is involved in having the huge actual pile of tbr's. However, sometimes that pile can also induce a bit of anxiety: I mean, I'm not as young as I used to be and my time is, after all, finite. Never mind. Nothing like a good book to make you forget that sort of thing.

I tend to read more than one book at a time, but unless it's a sort of personal research project I mix them up pretty well. For instance, I more than likely wouldn't read a Wharton and a James at the same time: too dense and too similar. But I would read maybe three or four books on the Mitford sisters or World War I or those wealthy American women who married British titles, because that would be in the nature of research.

And Atishay, you are so right...the tbr list is a marvelous way to help one while away a few hours or days.

Atishay- not to be too morbid but when you said grow old and retire... I'm thinking I'd probably be reading a sweet book when the Grim Reaper comes and I'd be like- not yet! at least let me finish the book!!!

Brooke- I like that- like seeing an old friend :) I actually start smiling at the book when that happens ( is that weird? :)

Gail- it's true, I think history mixes better with other things than say two fictions.

I always have an audiobook going at the same time as a regular book. And now I'm putting a Kindle book in the mix. And I also read chapter books to my grand-daughter, but I don't count those really. I never read more than one mystery at a time.

This is a fun thread...and it is really helping me get to know ideas to the names here at Goodreads...by how we read individually....fascinating stuff!

I totally have to articulate what I meant by "conceit".

Pontabella said "I don't know if I'd call it conceit, but it is somehow satisfying to see stacks of books that you know you'll get years of enjoyment out of eventually. Sort of like money in the bank.

I totally get this, Pontabella, and it is sort of what I mean. First...I want to qualify that I mean for ME...to have a huge pile of books to be read is a former kind of conceit...it's not a good or bad thing it has a precedent. I don't mean to say because I have certain feelings I think others should have the same...

I touched on this over in the "Michael Cricton" thread because Kim said her favourite genre is scinece fiction. Lots of Constant Readrs know this personal story of mine, but since I haven't told this story here at Goodreads format...it suits this discussion and really relates to my "relationship with books and reading"..

Ohdear see how insane I am? Nuttier than a fruitcake a "relationship" with books? Well heh heh...it relates to my own personal history of reading. As I said over on Michael Crichton thread...I grew up with learning disabilities. I am a very slow learner...and couldn't read until I was quite old. I had to go to a progrma called "remidial reading" in elelmentary school which is apolite way of saying...well lets just say kids called us "retards" when we would leave regular class for the remeidia class on reading. I have really strong dyslexia which acts up when I am very tired or nervous even worse than regular days. I failed math so many times it's well...it's just funny. It's not all negative I met some cute boys in grade 11 summer school doing my grade of math over that year!

So...I always say...if it weren't for cience fiction and comic books I probably never would have forced myself to read...well that, and the disre to not be in remedial reading (I was kind of like Napolian Dynamite...a nerd until I was like 15). I also credit the racy or sexy covers of soem books on my parents rbook shelves to help me read ha ha! I would look to see if they had a sexy woman...and then sneak them into my room...

So...in late high school I kind of got into reading and really reading books that were trendy with other kids...Bury My Heart In Wounded Knee , The Adromeda Strain oh there were all kinds of major action plot like gangster books...but science fiction was a major love.

Anyways, I think for me, the conquering of reading became somethign of a " personal best" for me...I really began getting more and more confident and reading everythign I could...and I alos had massive tbr piles.

I thnk too being from a working class family that read, from small tons going to a big city to university (where I continued being an absolute terible student except in art ha ha) I had this drive tor ead lot, I loved it...I loved anythign "edgy" like science fiction...or Paul Auster, Alain Robbe-Grille, erotica, William Burroughs...I just went nuts...I also think, as she self analyses...that being broke and poor...made a tbr pile symbolic of riches...does that make sense? When later in life...for me being "rich" mans being a good heart, kind compassionate...not what we accomplish intellectually or not?

And a driving force was that tbr pile. I was very ina way...part of how I defined myself was "intelectual" or "artsy" or "well read' "reader"..

and I don't think there was anything "wrong" with that...and I was young and eveloping my tasts and loving reading. But I think...in a way...I had a kind of conceit about it...lie look how smart I am...look how much I read.

Look, I know, I sound like a jerk ha ha...but I was always getting friends to read and always pushing myself to read as much as I could. As a young adult I was also a single parent...so I was home alone a lot reading was a fixation.

I think it is this persoanl histpry with reading that , for ME PERSONALLY...I had to kid of find a peace with how many books I had in the house how many to read etc.

I live ina small apartment...I used to have hundreds of books. spent a fortune over the years building shelvses, or hiring movers...it became a kind of moneky on my back. Now, we have a small apartment, my guy reads a lot too...and we make a lot of art and stuff...we both have a tendancy to collect things...stuff ephemera...

I joked to Sara here a couple weeks ago...that sometimes I feel like my job is to sort out the hoarding or the stuff in this apartment. We just tok ANOTHR storage area for stuff to make room for books in the basemnt.

So...I am a bit neurotic...mad as a hatter...I know heh heh...but I have a kind of rule now...no huge tbr pile.

I certainly hope I didn't sound like I think everyone should have a small tbr pile.

:)

Just for me, it feels like a guilt or pressure thing and it's also a relief to not have my onw private tryanny of "you haven't read these, you stink!" going on inside my head...on top of paying bills or whatever ya know?

I wonder...if I ever won the lottery...would I get a place with a huge library? I don't know...

Oh I also had a huge chuckle from Ashitay and Gail...it's like a big tbr pile is like that old joke about getting older "don't buy green bananas anymore"

Although my joy in buying and reading books goes back to early childhood, my need to have a good selection of books around is largely because of my illness. I couldn't read at all for a long time, for me the equivalent of being stranded on a desert island. When I was able to read again (Hooray! Yippie! Wahoo!), I was never sure exactly what level of reading would be possible for me on any given day, and I certainly wasn't sure that I would be able to make it to a library, so I tried to keep a good variety around - mysteries, literary fiction, history, poetry, whatever I found interesting. The joy of selecting an interesting book from my "to read" pile is still thrilling to me. But then, even before I became ill, my definition of being wealthy was always being able to buy any book you wanted - in HARDBACK!

OH yes, Wilhelmina, your situation sounds very much like your mobility would demand having a selection...a home store even, of books.

As a single parent, (and single income) I think that played into a large part of wanting a hefty pile of tbr too.

I think buying hardover is one of lifes craziest most exciting things. I could never afford hardcover...although sometimes, I would be so excitied about an upcoming release...I would budget something, or cut back somewhere....or when income tax returns came...I would always splurge with a hardcover.

One thing about getting a book in the U.S is that books in Canada...especially new releases hardcover are VERY expensive. We tax books (I am against this...but a right wing government did this in the late 80's and no one has amended that)...and we also have a import cost on books.

So a 25.00 book in U.S. was at least 36.00 dollars in Canada...but more often $50.00!!!!!

When I sop in the States for a book, I ge ths incredible adrenaline...because I can buy a new release! My hardcover copy of Edgar Sawtelle just gives me such a high looking at it on my bedside table...it's like LUXURY!

While I have a humongous TBR pile, I hardly ever pay full price. 80% of the time it is second hand, either from Amazon Marketplace or Powell's or if it's possible for me to go out, the local second hand bookstore, which carries a couple of bookcases of HBs for $ 1.75 each. Oh, Heaven!

I love the challenge of finding the best copy at the best price.

:) Kim, I don't want to think THAT ahead !

I, for one, didn't know your story Candy. It sounds kinda heroic :), inspirational to non-readers. And yeah, you misspelled my name :).
About the Library, yeah, its my dream to own a huge library one day. You know the kinda personal ones with rich wood furniture and a huge reading table.

Atishay...sorry about your name. I am terrible speller on a good day, and I seem to have a talent for murdering any word. I have a funny accent and mispronounce words all the time in real life. I don't know if my story is heroic...sheesh. Thats too extreem a word! I'm Canadian, we don't really go for heroic..we are as a national identity self depricating to a fetish. I have a friend...Scott from art school...who has teased me for over twenty years about how I can murder a word and say it completely bizarre pronounciation. He calls me an "idiot savant" because I am a real typical blonde in that I say things or do ditsy things...and then all of a sudden I've read or quoted some fancy pants book. I think my reading history is a sign of my willfulness or stubbornness and fear of being teased ha ha. Also...nothng like a sexy book cover to motivate ones reading as a teen ager!

:)

(I make a lot of mistakes these days...partly because I got a manicure and my nails are very long so I am adjusting to the long nails..black nail polish looks pretty though and ready to Party!)

I have some fantasies of a home library too...but mine is more high tech and contemporary...with a metal sliding ladder across a wall of white book shelves.

I also admit...I put my books on shelves with certain coloured covers next to others. Like I have a section of books with black and white design. Then reds with other reds, next to yellows. Height and size comes into consideration. It's back to that "idiot savant" thing...I hav some obsessions...I admit!

Pontalba, I buy second hand books most of the time. Actually, I buy almost 99 percent of everything second hand...furniture, books, clothes, fabric...everything except knickers and food!

I love second hand book stores...I love the smell, the book covers all of it. I love comfy chairs in second hand book stores. And I LOVE a bargain sale on books! I guess we all do it is so exciting!