Atom Feed (xml)
WHAT guilty little addictions do you have? I’m not talking about the big addictions – drugs, sex, rock and roll, 12 pints of Buckfast before breakfast – but the little ones.
Mine is books. I read a review and the next thing I know I’m on the Amazon website and ordering it. My better half shakes his head in bemusement and makes comments like: “Just what we need in this house, another book.”
I have developed the expertise of an alcoholic but instead of a bottle of vodka in the bread bin, it’s A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian. I have The Blind Assassin in my wardrobe, Anna Karenina under my pillow and A Suitable Boy under my bed.
It’s a family thing. We’re forever lugging about carrier bags full of “gear” and whispering things out the sides of our mouths like, “This Bill Bryson came in last night. Grade A. Interested?”
“Yeah, I’ll swap you two Minette Walters, a Ruth Rendell and a P.D. James for the Bryson, an old John Fowles and a Margaret Atwood.”
“Deal.”
I have a house full of books. They have spread from the bookcases, crept under beds, into cupboards, into cardboard boxes in the garden shed and up a ladder into the loft. I daren’t count them and I daren’t tot up how much they have cost me over the years.
I have now resolved to stop buying books – or, at least, stop buying books at their full price.
Here at the North Devon Journal we have our own ‘library’ of books. Various members of staff have donated books and we pay a small fee to borrow one. All the money collected will go to the Guardsman Chris King Memorial Appeal (which supports Help for Heroes and North Devon Army Cadets).
Here are a few more tips to cut down the bills.
1. The obvious answer is to join the library. If you live in the country, check out the mobile library which visits most villages. Don’t incur fines, though; that is defeating the object of cheap reading. These days it’s easy to renew via the internet so there’s no excuse. If you want to read a particular book, you can order it or you can reserve it if it’s being read by someone else.
2. I’ve spent many a happy hour browsing secondhand book shops. But you can also buy used books from charity shops and community events like bring-and-buy and car boot sales.
3. Many book shops and supermarkets have great offers, like three books for £5 or boxed sets.
4. Swap books with friends and family or via the internet. Put the words ‘book swap websites’ into Google and several sites will be mentioned. For example at Green Metropolis you can buy a book for £3.75 but you can get £3 for each one you sell. Amazon Marketplace or eBay are great sites for selling your books.
5. Don’t rush out to buy an expensive hardback book – it will soon be much cheaper in paperback.
1. The obvious answer is to join the library. If you live in the country, check out the mobile library which visits most villages. Don’t incur fines, though; that is defeating the object of cheap reading. These days it’s easy to renew via the internet so there’s no excuse. If you want to read a particular book, you can order it or you can reserve it if it’s being read by someone else.
2. I’ve spent many a happy hour browsing secondhand book shops. But you can also buy used books from charity shops and community events like bring-and-buy and car boot sales.
3. Many book shops and supermarkets have great offers, like three books for £5 or boxed sets.
4. Swap books with friends and family or via the internet. Put the words ‘book swap websites’ into Google and several sites will be mentioned. For example at Green Metropolis you can buy a book for £3.75 but you can get £3 for each one you sell. Amazon Marketplace or eBay are great sites for selling your books.
5. Don’t rush out to buy an expensive hardback book – it will soon be much cheaper in paperback.
Yes, it's time to turn over a new leaf.
