Saturday 23 January 2016

Don't Burn the Book!

One thing about finishing school is that you forget that other people have to go to school. Call me selfish (probably) but after 13 years it's just so good to let it all go! I suppose book lists need to be filled and read, ready for the year ahead (listen to my rhyming). I could never understand people who resold their novels that they used for Literature or English though. It seems like such a waste! After all the time spent meeting t and getting to know the book, to say goodbye seems too sad. I love finding my parents' old books from their school days and seeing their name written in pencil in the yellowing pages and odd scribble in the margins. It makes me think of them when they were in school and that's both an interesting an weird thought. But it's something so strange to think that you're holding the same book that they were when they were our age. Almost transcendental but maybe that's too far? And the people who burn them after! Desecration!


Saturday 16 January 2016

The Struggle of the People

At last I have come across the struggle of the people (I joke) and that is, how do people come into the shop everyday and decide what to buy?! We literally have hundreds of books in stock! And I'm not tooting our own horn here - although sometimes it's a bit of a struggle to find space to stash them.

The dilemma is this: there are so many books to buy on my list but when I actually have the money/voucher to buy it, the decision seems to stammer a little bit. Suddenly all that rational flies out to who knows where when you have the cold hard cash (okay, paper) in your hand. THen you're torn - do I want this book because it's just SO PRETTY or do I want this one which I'll actually read? Personally, I don't really buy fiction books anymore because collecting hardbacks is a pretty valid and fulfilling past time. To tell you the truth I'm a little concerned that my shelf won't be able to hold up the weight of my books anymore and my future kids better appreciate good books when they see them too.

So anyway, here I stand, scouring the shelves, looking online for titles that I've never heard of before but are EXACTLY what I want (before I even know). So I applaud you, bookshop goers for you have a difficult task at hand choosing your books. I mean after all, it's not like this is the only book you're ever going to buy, right?