A few weeks ago I made a pact with my wife. "Diana" I said, "will you make a deal with me? We have so many books that I would like to agree that until we have read all of them, each for their own books, we will not buy another book." And the surprising thing is, she agreed. I say surprising because, while I latch onto authors and buy all they have written, my wife will do that and pick up a random book after reading the jacket and deciding that, "It is only $4 so what the hey."
I love this about her but in the last year or so, her book buying habits have started to overwhelm our already bursting shelves. And she has a tendency to go for thicker novels which doesn't help things much.
The only problem with this agreement involves my book club. Once a month I have to have the book that we are reading, and as of late I have had luck picking books I already own but haven't read. Well, this month I wasn't so lucky and I need a copy of Richard North Patterson's Exile and Diana refused to let me buy it. Thus, I went somewhere I haven't been since I was a child...The Public Library.
Something snobby in me says, "Trinity, you don't need the library. You will just want to keep the book so just buy it." Well, I am now without that option and so I went to the public library today and opened an account to get my book and I must say, the Lewisville Library is nice. It was quite, had a wonderfully large area for children, and carried a decent supply of books. It isn't too large or overpowering and I was able to find Exile without any help which is more than I can say for some libraries I have been in.
And there were people there...at 11 a.m. on a Monday morning. I assumed it would just be me. So maybe I will give this library thing another try after I return the book I have. I mean, there is no way I will have all of my books read by next month and there is sure to be another book club meeting so I just may have to.
That is all,
Newt
Monday, March 29, 2010
Hidden Gem
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8 Ripples in the pond:
I have such fond childhood memories of the library - my dad would shuttle my sis and I back and forth with massive piles o' books. And that smell! That musty, dusty book smell. I know I'm a nerd because I love that smell.
Question: Were the people there at the library homeless? Here in Lubbock, it is the hangout of all of our homeless population, especially in the winter and summer when the weather is unbearable to be out in for extended periods of time. They even have signs on the bathroom doors telling patrons that no showering is allowed in there.
I looove the library, it saves me tons of money. Except when a dog eats my book and I have to pay for it.
Also, how can you buy a book and not read it??? Why are you buying it for if not to read it?
S & C, have you seen that TLC show "Hoarders". Trin's book buying is like that - he can't stop himself from buying them. He has plans to read them all, but he will never be able to because he buys them quicker than he reads them. This post makes it seem like Diana is the problem, but she is comparable to the pot smoker to Trin's coke addict.
You never know how much you can miss a library until they ban you from it. I once was banned but luckily my friend bought my way back into the inner circle as a bday present. So I am back! And borrowing with wild abandon.
However I still buy books. It's like a sickness. I can't stop.
S&C, Thomas is kind of right. I have curbed my buying as of late and have only bought about 5 novels in the last 6 months but up until that point I was obsessive. I really latch onto authors and at the moment I have almost all of the books my favorite authors have written so I don't have much to purchase. Diana really has been worse about this lately and the pact is really a way to get us both over buying books when we have no time to read them.
It's good to have support to get you through this!
So library books are like methadone to you huh?
; )
Huge Liberry fan here. I don't like to buy books unless they're reference books, field guides, that sort of thing. Plus it's a walk of several miles and that earns me an extra beer.
Recently I've bought some new books though, since I'm a writer and would like (someday) someone to buy mine. I'm as reluctant as you were to go to the library.
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