Books, Bookshops and Bookshelves
Last Monday we needed to travel to Adelaide on business. This is usually an excuse to visit one or two bookshops. While my wife was doing some shopping in a large department store I spent an enjoyable hour browsing in the large Borders Bookshop in the heart of the CBD. Inevitably I found a few titles I would have liked to read but resisted buying any. I have a large enough heap – make that heaps – of books waiting to be read as it is. I won’t even start on about the numerous magazines waiting for my attention. I also felt rather virtuous for resisting the call to buy more books.
On our way back to the car park we needed to walk right past one of the Angus and Robertson* bookshops. “Let’s just have a quick look at the bargain tables out the front,” I said innocently. Three books and $20 lighter in my wallet and we were on our way. Resistance is futile. Actually, any three books for $20 is good value. My wife bought two interesting novels and I bought a book about writing novels written by Elizabeth George, author of the Inspector Lynley crime novels. We are currently enjoying the television series based on the novels.
Later in the day we visited a large international furniture store. I hesitate to use the name here. Let’s just say the store has Scandinavian origins. We ended up buying five new bookshelves to accommodate all those piles of books and magazines making a mess everywhere. So this week I have been busy putting these bookshelves together. Next comes the reorganisation of the office, including moving it from one room to another. I would have enjoyed making the shelves myself as I’ve done on several other occasions over the years as our library has grown. Still, I doubt if I’d been able to buy the timber any cheaper than what we paid for these.
I can’t wait to get really organised.
*A large Australian based chain of bookshops.
Related article:
The hazards of loving books. 😉 I’m trying to figure out where to put our books. Every available space for shelves has been filled. Yet, the library continues to grow.
We are so addicted to books we even considered adding an extra room to be a library a few years ago. Squeezing in a few extra bookshelves seems a cheaper alternative. It still will not cater for the numerous boxes of books in the shed though. [sigh]
They used to say find a good place to sell popcorn, then build a theatre around it. A book lover builds a library, then adds bedrooms for easy access.
Our local public library has benefited quite a bit over the years from our book buying.
I thought I’d start up in opposition to ebay. That might be a way of getting rid of all those unwanted books and magazines.
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