Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ

Thanks to Rusalka for this plagiarized intro from her YLTO group thread of the same nature.

Have random thoughts you don't know where to put? Have some news? Want a rant to someone outside your house/workplace? Found something cool you want to share? This is the place for all those things, and just a chat or a check in when you wish.

The bug that adds followers on lists even if you've unfollowed them has come up in other groups, including friends being added even when people have declined them. One thing about GR is it does seem very inventive when it comes to new glitches.

In other news I've started to wonder about the coming paper/book shortage, so wondering if I should order book-related presents/diaries etc early. It's already causing problems in Germany and set to cause issues in the UK and the US apparently:

Alwynne wrote: "The bug that adds followers on lists even if you've unfollowed them has come up in other groups, including friends being added even when people have declined them. One thing about GR is it does see..."

Wow. That's a new bug for me (to hear about). How dreadful. I'm still disheartened daily that my feed tends to give me only limited information about comments on my reviews, activity in my groups on threads where I've signed up for notifications. I have to go fishing through friends' profiles, one at a time, to have any hope of catching up with what they are reading and saying. It's a great joy, but I suspect the result of an algorithm applied even to notifications where one sees frequent-posting users, or users that have a lot of engagement with their posts, only. My GR friends who post the least are not present in my feed or notifications at all, and, since many of them are users with fewer friends, not active in any groups, they are the most likely to disengage from the platform if they feel ignored and like they are speaking into the void. But this isn't changing, so I'll just suck it up, of course.

I'm a bit puzzled about the paper shortage story. I've been following this story since mid-year 2020 when it first arose. Then, the big concern, admittedly personal, being shared across those also concerned, was that virtually all Bibles are published in China now, and the cost of paper increasing would make them cost-prohibitive to distribute from organizations who do so. Since then, the same overall theme has come up, but I haven't seen any new, updated data or any impact. For example, just as many blank books/diaries and planners are out there as ever, at the same price as the last 36 months. One would think we'd see a spike there first.

But, yes, buy presents now is all I'm hearing anywhere, generally, because no one will be able to get a reorder shipment in-hand in the 4 - 5 week period between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Inventories will only diminish.

Yesterday, the latest hysterical, buy-now, story was about Christmas trees. For each of the last 5 years, every year, the story is that the crop is less than the year before so must-buy-early. We've hit peak 2021, though, with the article I read and linked below, though, because it closes with a grower saying, if you don't get your tree by Thanksgiving, you won't have one. I live in NC, 2nd in the nation for aggregate Christmas trees grown and in $$ attributable to the industry. We grow 20% of all Christmas trees sold. Supply chain is irrelevant. They are brought to my area on pickup trucks hauling flat beds from the mountains. I'm supposed to buy my tree 30 days before the holiday and create the world's most festive fire hazard? Harrumph.

Alwynne wrote: "The bug that adds followers on lists even if you've unfollowed them has come up in other groups, including friends being added even when people have declined them. One thing about GR is it does see..."

I re-read the article you shared and had that uncomfortable feeling that it's really about creating a sense of urgency around buying books as gifts, given the slipperiness with which the topic keeps shifting from paper costs to supply chain to what kind of fiction people want this year and don't wait until Christmas Eve. This one seems a trifle more focused, but that 50% number doesn't strike me as accurate. Maybe I just truly mistrust big round numbers like that, regardless of the point they are introduced to support.



Yes, there's a lumber shortage. To what extent that is driving up costs specifically for the publishing and wine label industry, I haven't a clue. Let's keep watching this topic and sharing, though, because the guy in your article whose response was, just buy it on Kindle made me roll my eyes achingly hard.

I've noticed the issue with feeds I was checking on a GR friend's home page because they haven't been around in a while and wondered what happened to them and they'd posted but wasn't showing on my feed, and did a check on a couple of others, same issue. Felt terrible that they might feel ignored too.

I'm a bit puzzled about the paper issue too but the UK seems increasingly subject to shortages anyway, no long-haul drivers plus Brexit makes for unnecessary difficulties.

I hadn't heard about Christmas trees, I love trees but haven't bought one in a while, just felt too bad about discarding them, so thinking about an artificial tree, ironic when they used to be a thing that my grandparents' generation loved and then were rejected in favour of authenticity. But so many American Christmas films seem to centre on bringing home a tree, think it may be even more of a tradition there? Or is it a media fantasy?

Carol wrote: ". That's a new bug for me (to hear about). How dreadful. I'm still disheartened daily that my feed tends to give me only limited information about comments on my reviews, activity in my groups on threads where I've signed up for notifications.

Carol, in the spirit of chatting about GR tech challenges, just wanted to make sure you saw the DM I sent you. If you have and just need more time to respond (or even if you don't feel like responding), no problem. But another GR pal sent me a DM last week and I never received the notification and only spotted it by accident. So I thought I'd check...

Alwynne wrote: "I've noticed the issue with feeds I was checking on a GR friend's home page because they haven't been around in a while and wondered what happened to them and they'd posted but wasn't showing on my..."

It's entirely personal, like food, what traditions are important to people. American Christmas films are as much nonsense as films about the American high school experience. Nobody has that holiday or had that high school life. :)

Because I'm in NC and we're a Frasier Fir growing state, and most folks have living spaces big enough for a 6' tree, even if they're living in a studio apartment, it's a 50-50 split I think between "real" and artificial trees. I bought an artificial tree 8 or so years ago, We used it that year and promptly donated it. I love the experience of picking a tree, bringing it home, even watering it, and the smell. Lots of folks go the other way - hate the needles and clean-up, etc. Last year, a local realtor toted a few thousand trees to the coast for use with erosion-control. A very North Carolina story from end-to-end.

Story wrote: "Carol wrote: ". That's a new bug for me (to hear about). How dreadful. I'm still disheartened daily that my feed tends to give me only limited information about comments on my reviews, activity in ..."

YES - thank you, Story. I couldn't remember my password and have been using my work laptop. This is the first time I've been on my personal laptop for a few and it's stored here, so I checked. Really appreciate the prompt.

Good to know Carol :)

In an effort to help members get to know each other and to create an even friendlier, cosier atmosphere within our group, Carol and I talked about me offering the group some general discussion questions approximately once a week. I hope they'll be of interest.

This week's theme: Childhood Reading.
Were you a young bookworm? What books did you love to read as a child? How did your childhood reading shape who you are today?

Yes, I read as a child . My favorite book was Lapland Outlaw by Arthur Catherall. It taught me that there were cultures other than the one that I grew up in. So it was a profound influence. I believe it caused me to think about other perspectives than my own.

I know now that Lapland Outlaw isn't an accurate view of the Sami. So it shouldn't be recommended to current day children, but for me it was a touchstone.

This is a lovely idea Story!

I was such a bookworm as a child, I was so quiet and shy that I didn't even speak in school until my third year. I used to hide away from other (noisy) children with my books or colouring. For me reading was, and still is, a refuge from the loud, busy, destructive world around me. In a way it is a reminder that I both am, and am not, alone.

My favourites were Enid Blyton and Roald Dahl. I have a copy of Matilda at the top of my bookshelf now with a picture of my childhood dog that regularly makes me smile (could have done with some of Matilda's powers to help me deal with the noisy children!)

Yes, I was a bookworm as a child. My parents and grandmothers read a lot and also gifted books at holidays.

My most memorable reads were:
How Fletcher Was Hatched
Charlotte's Web
And later, Wylly Folk St. John books, and the Trixie Beldon series by /author/show....
Blue Willow
Why Have the Birds Stopped Singing?
They certainly fed my animal-loving, independent, and feminist leanings. Chicken or the egg?

*raises hand* I was a childhood bookworm!

Two books that I read over and over were:
Miss Suzy
Old Black Witch!

I also read the Little Bear books, pretty much anything I could get my hands on.

I started reading science fiction and fantasy when I ran out of books in the children's library. I had a great librarian who steered me towards authors like Andre Norton and Tanith Lee.

I will age myself here. English was my second language and I was enthralled with Beatrix Potter.
As a teen and adult I did not find much time to read but occasionally would pick up a book that I couldn’t put down. Favorite was Stephen King.
Now that I am an old retiree I have to force myself to put my book down and get on with daily life.

The glitch re: linking to people on here seems ongoing, first it added 'unfollowed' profiles to followed ones, and now affecting people's friend requests, a few of my GR friends report friend requests they've declined showing as friends they've actually added. Someone I friended through mutual friends has had repeat requests from one of those - even though they're already friends with them! And some people's posts aren't showing up on all friends' feeds.

I love your prompt, Story!

I was also a childhood bookworm. I made a cozy reading corner in my room between the dresser and the wall with pillows and blankets and a lamp. I was very lucky because my dad always had books in the house. He built a wall to wall bookshelf in one of our homes and filled it with books. My favorites were shaped by a series of Great Illustrated classics series that were white with red lettering. I read and re-read Heidi, Oliver Twist, Black Beauty, and The Call of the Wild to name a few. I then moved on to pre-teen series like Babysitters Club Collection #1 and The Secret of the Unicorn Queen series, Swept Away. These are just the books I read over and over and have my own copies of now as an adult. I was huge into fantasy as a teen and must have read the Last Herald Mage series; Magic's Pawn by Mercedes Lackey a zillion times. And The Black Gryphon. I can see now that having access to anything and everything has made me a pretty broad reader as am adult. Even if I do go through genre phases, I really do enjoy books of all types

Alwynne wrote: "The glitch re: linking to people on here seems ongoing, first it added 'unfollowed' profiles to followed ones, and now affecting people's friend requests, a few of my GR friends report friend reque..."

This literally just happened to me. I checked my list since I've recently received a few requests, and sure enough I have quite a few new friends who weren't accepted

What a treat to learn that we were all such bookish children. So many of your experiences resonate with me.

Like Shomeret, I also loved how books introduced me to cultures different from my own. (An early favourite for this was Dream of the Blue Heron, which is also no longer seen as accurately depicting indigenous life, but which left a lasting mark on me anyway.)

Like Hannah, I also took refuge in books. I was a socially awkward and sickly kid (not much has changed!) and my happiest hours were spent reading or going to the library. Hannah, Matilda is the best!

Like Leann, I loved books that helped me develop my animal-loving, independent, and feminist leanings. I read (and cried at the endings of) all the animal stories with Black Beauty and Gentle Ben being two favourites. I also loved/was addicted to re-reading My Side of the Mountain and have spent approximately 10,000 hours of my life fantasizing about living in a tree with only animals for companions.

Like Ozsaur, I'd pretty much anything I could get my hands on, which included a lot of adult novels that my parents left lying around. I'm sure they would have been appalled had they noticed their nine year old was reading, for example, Valley of the Dolls.

Like Sophie, I'm enjoying reading as an adult who is newly free of work. Sophie, isn't it wonderful to have all the time we want to read! I suspect my librarian thinks I'm nuts, seeing me stagger in and out with huge piles of books every week.

Like Anita, I too read Heidi over and over and over (though strangely, I can barely remember now what happened in it. City...smog...Grandfather...fresh air...goats...am I missing anything?)

Other childhood favourites that come to mind:
Pippi Longstocking
Young Bess
The Blue Castle

Anita wrote: "Alwynne wrote: "The glitch re: linking to people on here seems ongoing, first it added 'unfollowed' profiles to followed ones, and now affecting people's friend requests, a few of my GR friends rep..."

Me too, had a request from someone I'd actually interacted with and was happy to accept, they're now showing in my list of friends the request disappeared but it's now back again. But I'm showing on their list too so I'm just ignoring the second request.

Like everyone else, I was a book worm. Books were my friends. I never felt alone if I had a book in my hand. And that's still true today.
I read Heidi, Black Beauty, C.S. Lewis' Narnia series, and Enid Blyton's Famous Five adventure books.

One of my best experiences was when I was around 10 or 11 years old. Mummy would go to Kingston (a large town about 20 minutes from where we lived) every Saturday to do some shopping. She would drop me off at the bookstore and pick me up when she was done with shopping. I would browse through bookshelves and purchase a novel to read during the week.

There was an elderly gentleman who worked at the bookstore, and one day he asked me what kind of books I like to read. We got to talking and he then steered me toward John Buchan's adventure books. With his help, I would choose a book, read it, and go back the following week to tell him what I thought of it. It was like having a private reading group. He never talked down to me and encouraged my love of reading. Each week we would pick another book for me to read and go through the same cycle. We did this for several weeks. He introduced me to adventure books in exotic places with male heroes. He steered me toward classics he thought I might enjoy. He was wonderful and patient and generous with his time and so kind to pay attention to a scrawny girl with a shock of black hair and goofy teeth.

I can't remember his name, but decades later I can still see him with his little bow tie and glasses.

What a lovely story, Tamara!

lethe wrote: "What a lovely story, Tamara!"

Thank you, Lethe.

I think one of the nicest things about growing old is remembering events/people in your life that end up having a tremendous impact on you even though, at the time, you never realized their full significance.

I think one of the hardest things about growing old is not being able to go back in time and thank those people with every fibre of your being.

I liked being read to or later on reading myself as a child.

As my first language is German, I remember that besides some picture books my siblings and I loved to listen to the stories and rhymes my mother read from a book that´s still in my possession called Erzähl Mir Was! where I mostly remember the stories about little Niki who didn´t want to go to bed. ;)
There was also a book about a girl from Greece and her donkey which had photos and not drawings, and which many children at my age read or were read to.

"Classics" I read were books by Astrid Lindgren, Mira Lobe, Otfried Preußler, Michael Ende or Erich Kästner. I also read some Enid Blyton, mostly the St. Clare´s books, here called Hanni und Nanni, also made into several films.

I also read books from the Schneider company that had mass literature from about 7 to 16 yo.s which was on the back of the books and mostly "girls" literature where women found the man of their dreams, but also had jobs.

I liked the introductions to classical works in an easier version like Greek myths, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Uncle Tom 's Cabin and others, all in German of course.

The first books I read in English were of course especially easy editions, then followed by Arthur Conan Doyle and Agatha Christie.

The only "story" I can tell is that my father was a book worm, reading non-fiction about politics, history and such, but mostly mysteries from Christie and Conan Doyle to Ellery Queen, having to relax from work. My mother also gave us books for birthdays or Christmas, and is still adamant that books belong to a "real" present. I also remember my local book shop that still exists and that I´ve been visiting since I was about 12. It belonged then to the parents of the current owner that had come from Germany to Vienna, so not only my parents and I grew up with them, but also my children. I also loved the library nearby. :)

It's Halloween, and judging from the noises outside the beginning of firework season. I'm retreating to horror movies for a while, so instead of bugs on GR, it's giant crocodiles in crawl spaces. Happy Halloween 🎃 and hope you all get lots of candy or sweets as we Brits say.

Happy Halloween! Hope you're reading scary books tonight!

Speaking of children's books Virago's reissuing Antonia Barber's 'The Amazing Mr Blunden' aka 'The Ghosts' a wonderful timeslip novel which has been out of print and hard to obtain. And Sky are releasing a film version later this year.

Some Booker Prize related short films, obvs not all about women authors but some:

?

Also interesting articles about translation:



?

Article about the Orphan Train genre which I'd never heard of:
?

Story wrote: "In an effort to help members get to know each other and to create an even friendlier, cosier atmosphere within our group, Carol and I talked about me offering the group some general discussion ques..."

I read obsessively as a child and still do! I lived close to a great library and the librarians were really supportive, recommending books, organising story sessions. I loved vintage children's books Ballet Shoes, A Little Princess, Edward Lear rhymes, The Complete Anne of Green Gables Boxed Set, Lucy M. Boston The Children of Green Knowe and Little House in the Big Woods/Little House on the Prairie/Farmer Boy/On The Banks of Plum Creek/By the Shores of Silver Lake/The Long Winter/Little Town on the Prairie/These Happy Golden Years/The First Four Years. Susan Cooper's The Dark Is Rising Sequence,

Alan Garner, Judith Kerr, and Ursula LeGuin's The Earthsea Trilogy were huge favourites and still revisit them. I also loved Joan Aiken's series starting with The Wolves of Willoughby Chase.

I had a not-to-be-repeated horsey phase and I still love reading school stories like Antonia Forest's Marlowe books starting with Autumn Term One of my all-time, most loved books is The Snowy Day And I frequently read children's books to unwind.

Story wrote: "Like Leann, I loved books that helped me develop my animal-loving, independent, and feminist leanings. I read (and cried at the endings of) all the animal stories with Black Beauty and Gentle Ben being two favourites. I also loved/was addicted to re-reading My Side of the Mountain and have spent approximately 10,000 hours of my life fantasizing about living in a tree with only animals for companions. (..."

Oh my goodness, I need to read My Side of the Mountain now. I loved the TV series Grizzly Adams because he lived in the mountains with animal friends. That show is still comforting to me.

Were you a young bookworm? What books did you love to read as a child? How did your childhood reading shape who you are today?

Story, this is a great topic.

Yes, I was a young bookworm. I grew up in a family where everyone was reading at least one book at a time; those books were lying around our living space. My dad was an antiquarian/collectible book dealer, as a hobby and an investment. I was surrounded by books. Until I was 11 (we moved), I was also permitted to walk to the library by myself, which was a rare freedom. So I walked to the library every Saturday morning.

Favorite childhood books (pre 4th grade):
all Little Golden Books;
The Golden Name Day by Jennie D. Lindquist;
Vasilisa the Beautiful: Russian Fairy Tales;
all of the Black Stallion books Walter Farley and every book of Marguerite Henry; Pinocchio (the original version, in translation) by Carlo Collodi;
Five Little Peppers and How They Grew;
Uncle Wiggly's Storybook by Howard R. Garis;
Cherry Ames, Student Nurse by Helen Wells
James and the Giant Peach;
The Forgotten Door by Alexander Key
Miss Happiness and Miss Flower and The Dolls' House by Rumer Godden;
The Ark and Rowan Farm by Margot Benary-Isbert
A Mirror for Witches by Esther Forbes;
Stuart Little by E.B. White;
Daddy-Long-Legs by Jean Webster

My sister taught me to read when I was an older 3-year old. I recall being in a reading group of 1 in first grade, working through the SRA box. ((view spoiler)[ (hide spoiler)]). In 3rd grade, my teacher called my parents because I brought a Grace Livingston Hill romance novel in for our 30 minutes of free reading. (view spoiler)[For those not familiar, GLH wrote a spectacularly popular series of Christian romance novels in the early 20th century. No one kisses until they are married and the books describe no intimacy beyond kissing. Purity during the Depression and Godliness. (hide spoiler)] I learned to hide what I was really reading and, if asked, offer people titles and authors that would make sense to them. So, in 6th grade when I was reading The Thornbirds and Rosemary's Baby, I told adults, when asked, that I was reading Nancy Drew. All of which is to say that I learned 3 things from my childhood reading: (a) there are a whole lot of orphans, poverty and struggle in the world, and children who share that background living in different countries have a lot more in common than children in different socio-economic strata living in the same country; (b) I've never been reading what everyone else is reading, and some people are uncomfortable when you name classics or books they haven't heard of, so sometimes I need to make myself read the popular thing - in order to have something to talk about with other people who self-identify as readers IRL - and GoodReads is the best thing hands-down that's ever happened to me in my life because finally I've found friends who are reading what I'm interested in reading now or next, which offers a new-found sense of belonging; and, yes, there's a theme here, (c) I'm drawn to stories about authors and characters who don't quite belong or don't fit the dominant culture wherever they reside, and how they deal with that sense of separation.

Carol your conclusions are so profound and many ring true to me also, particularly c. Although I didn't figure all that out until much later in my reading life. I don't know if it's really funny or really sad that you learned to hide what you're reading from such a young age. Both, I think. I've never made myself read what's popular in order to talk to the people in my life about books, I just learned not to talk to the people in my life about books. Isn't it sad that we feel the need to hide something that makes us who we are? And also it's why I'm glad I found this group too 😀

Alwynne wrote: "Some Booker Prize related short films, obvs not all about women authors but some:

?

Also interesting articles ..."

Thanks! These look so interesting.

Leann wrote: "Oh my goodness, I need to read My Side of the Mountain now. I loved the TV series Grizzly Adams because he lived in the mountains with animal friends. That show is still comforting to me. "

Love hearing we share a love of imaginary animal friends, Leann. I currently have a real life crow friend who sometimes accompanies me for a few blocks on my daily walks. Very pleasing to my inner child :)

Hannah wrote: "Carol your conclusions are so profound and many ring true to me also, particularly c. Although I didn't figure all that out until much later in my reading life. I don't know if it's really funny or..."

It's sad, in a way, but I think the biggest risk is that finding one's tribe online carries with it the risk that you are less present for, or put less effort into connecting with, others in real life. At least, that's the piece I try to stay aware of.

On a lighter note, I also became really comfortable from a young age with not humoring library guilt. I can bring books home and not read them. I can return them (a little) late. I can abandon it. I can bring books into my branch that I don't pick up. The sky won't fall. It's a service. It shouldn't be a source of guilt. YMMV.

Michaela wrote: "I liked being read to or later on reading myself as a child.

As my first language is German, I remember that besides some picture books my siblings and I loved to listen to the stories and rhymes..."

Michaela, I think it's incredibly cool that the bookshop you shopped at as a kid is still in business and you get to still shop there. I imagine that being a very satisfying anchor.

Hannah wrote: "Carol your conclusions are so profound and many ring true to me also, particularly c. Although I didn't figure all that out until much later in my reading life. I don't know if it's really funny or..."

Carol and Hannah, what you both said resonated with me as well. I've never quite understood why being a wide-ranging passionate reader causes discomfort in so many people but I do know that it does. Finding kindred spirits on first Shelfari and now Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ was a lifechanger for me too.

Carol wrote: "I also became really comfortable from a young age with not humoring library guilt. I can bring books home and not read them. I can return them (a little) late. I can abandon it. I can bring books into my branch that I don't pick up. The sky won't fall. It's a service. It shouldn't be a source of guilt"

Ah, book and reading-related guilt is an interesting theme to explore. I haven't fully been able to escape feelings of guilt for my heavy use of the library--the cost of transporting my dozens of holds (especially if I end up not finishing the book), for example.

I also still feel discomfort about buying books, especially new. Though my family were all readers we were never allowed to buy books as children (why buy when you can borrow?) and even now, my mother frowns when she lays her eyes on my bulging book cases and is never happy to receive a book as a gift. It's wonderful to read that Tamara and Michaela were encouraged to buy books.

This week's question
How do you obtain the majority of your books: library, books bought new or used? E-books or paper? Does browsing for books whether in a book store, flea market or online make your heart sing? Are you a poweruser of your library's catalogue?

This week's question
I'm about 85% library books, 13% used books and 2% new, usually paperback, esp. after some new hardback disappointments (The Prophets). I am mostly successful avoiding Amazon for book buying - I use Alibris or Thriftbooks for new and used. 99% print over ebooks. Sometimes I have to use Amazon's Book Depository website for books published outside the US.

I used to love bookstore browsing, but much to my surprise, I like using Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ to browse much more! Through recommendations on GR groups, and the author and small publisher browsing that leads to, the books I discover are so much more varied than anything I've come across in a bookstore. Not being able to flip through the book doesn't make much difference to me. I feel like a traitor to brick and mortar bookstores, but I figure that I'm still patronizing them, just doing it remotely by buying used books through Alibris and Thriftbooks.

Carol and Hannah, what you both said resonated with me as well. I've never quite understood why being a wide-ranging passionate reader causes discomfort in so many people but I do know that it does. Finding kindred spirits on first Shelfari and now Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ was a lifechanger for me too.>
I have people in my life who read but somehow when I try to start a conversation about our books it ends up being very short. A close niece invited me to her in-person book club meeting when it was her turn to host. Most of the conversations were about mutual kids team sports accomplishments and half of the group did not read the selected book. I definitely did not fit it. My library has both an afternoon and an evening monthly book club but I feel too intimidated to join. I am so grateful to have found Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ and this group.

This week's question
Half of my book selections are from the library in both physical form and on my Kindle. My original Kindle recently bit the big one and Tom bought me a new one that I can read when it's dark. So if I find myself awake at 2 a.m. I can read it without bothering him. :) I have a number of books on the Kindle that I bought over the years and made a goal of getting through them before buying any more. But once in a while, there is a book that I really want to read that isn't available to borrow so I cave and buy it (like The Pear Field which I just could not pass up.)

The rest of my physical book selections are from a university book store in town. The folks there are so terrific. They read the books and leave little notes on what they thought of them or will even come over to discuss it with you if you like. They definitely know their stuff.

My used books come from a fantastic used book sale at a library located in a summer beach town. They get a huge number of donations all summer and the volunteers run the sale on weekends all year long. I find myself leaving with bags of books. Typically I re-donate them unless it's a selection I can't bear to part with.

I like to and often give books as gifts to the children in my life.

I honestly can spend hours in either the library or a bookstore wandering and browsing. There is something about being among all those books.

Hannah wrote: "Carol your conclusions are so profound and many ring true to me also, particularly c. Although I didn't figure all that out until much later in my reading life. I don't know if it's really funny or..."

I also don't really talk books to anyone in my physical sphere very often. I have a few bookworm friends and siblings, but those discussions are few and far in between. For example, I have ongoing texts with one about the Wheel of Time series because of the impending show. And while everyone in my life knows that I love books and reading, I rarely get them as gifts. Even though, to me, reading is a fundamental part of me - I can not go to sleep until I've read at least a little of something - it is not a fundamental part of what defines me to my family. It's so strange. They have no idea what I've read, or how many books I've read, and probably not even the wide range of books I read, but it's all here on Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ with my dear Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ friends. It's like we're all living two selves, haha.

I'm exactly the same Anita! I even sneak my books to and from the library which is opposite where I work because I hate people asking me about what I read! They can't seem to understand when something doesn't fit into an easy genre like romance and I feel uncomfortable not being able to explain my book choices even though I feel they are a big part of who I am.

I'm very jealous of all of these bookshop stories! Tamara's was particularly magical. Here in the UK it's hard to find anything that's not a giant chain replica. Secondhand bookshops are basically limited to charity shops which rarely have the kind of book I read. There's actually a "booktown" in Scotland devoted to independent bookshops but even there it's basically just filled with old white male authors. I went last year and was so exicted but I only found 3 books I wanted to read in about 10 different shops.

That takes me to this week's question. I prefer to read print books but due to chronic neck pain I also have a kobo to read in bed. Paper books either come from the library or second hand from world of books online. I rarely buy new print books as I'm conscious of the environmental impact. I download ebooks from the library or buy them if they're more obscure. Thanks to Carol I became aware that you can request a purchase from libraries which was a gamechanger for me! I now get pretty much all newly published books via the library :)

I rarely buy books for myself anymore. I mostly use the library, and since Covid, I've even begun utilizing more and more ebook and audiobooks. I am lucky enough to have access to two different state's databases, since Colorado's membership lasts pretty much forever, and I still use their overdrive for ebooks. I still absolutely love print books, and can happily spend and afternoon perusing shelves at the book store or library. I do buy physical books as gifts all the time, but rarely for myself since I've run out of shelf space. I've also learned that I read way more books than are (imo) worth owning. My re-read ratio is microscopic.

I mostly buy vintage books or books that are out of print and are hard to get hold of otherwise, I get some things from the library, some from Edelweiss and Netgalley, a lot second-hand, but I'm trying to buy fewer books, as like a lot of others the space is limited! And I only keep books I'll definitely want to return to/refer to in future, everything else goes to charity. Even so I'm overrun.

Sophie wrote: "My used books come from a fantastic used book sale at a library located in a summer beach town. They get a huge number of donations all summer and the volunteers run the sale on weekends all year long. I find myself leaving with bags of books. Typically I re-donate them unless it's a selection I can't bear to part with.
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Oh, you've really made me miss my library's giant book sale with your answer, Sophie. I also tend to leave staggering under the weight of the bags of books I buy and then re-donate the majority of them as soon as I read them. I can't wait for the pandemic to end so that the library can have their next sale.

Hannah wrote: " Secondhand bookshops are basically limited to charity shops which rarely have the kind of book I read. There's actually a "booktown" in Scotland devoted to independent bookshops but even there it's basically just filled with old white male authors. I went last year and was so exicted but I only found 3 books I wanted to read in about 10 different shops.
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Well, Hannah, you've just crushed my travel fantasy of coming to a booktown or two in the UK with an empty suitcase & a sack of cash and buying all the BritLit books I can't get here. I'm going to go away and cry a little now.... (joking) ((not really)) (((I really am quite disappointed)))

If you go somewhere like Hay-on-Wye you'll find plenty of good, second-hand bookshops.

Alwynne wrote: And I only keep books I'll definitely want to return to/refer to in future. Even so I'm overrun"

Me too, Alwynne. I'm a re-reader and I tend to mostly buy books that I've first borrowed from the library and know that I'll want to read again, usually getting them from the library sale or charity stores. But even so, I have several shelves of books I have yet to read.

Anita wrote: " Even though, to me, reading is a fundamental part of me - I can not go to sleep until I've read at least a little of something - it is not a fundamental part of what defines me to my family. It's so strange. They have no idea what I've read, or how many books I've read, and probably not even the wide range of books I read, but it's all here on Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ with my dear Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ friends. It's like we're all living two "

I know just what you mean, Anita. It's weird to have such an important part of our lives be not fully visible to those around us. It makes me wonder what I don't notice or know about others...maybe they have secret passions that I know nothing about too.