Books on the floor beside my bed.
Three stacks.
Twelve books.
Ten have been read. Two been put aside.
Each stack for one municipal area of Melbourne.
City of Glen Eira; City of Kingston and City of Monash.
Each area has about 7 local libraries.
I have 21 libraries in my direct vicinity.
I’m the luckiest woman in the world.
I should use our libraries more. My problem is that I have similar piles of books – but have paid for them all!
I understand. Here in Melbourne, we have Council areas. Each Council has about 7 libraries. We live in an area that is bounded by 4 Council areas which means I have access to a lot of libraries all within 1km through to 10-15kms away. I downloaded their Council apps which means I can search for the book and immediately it tells me where it’s sitting then I can order it in to pick it up at my closest library. I also like that you can suggest titles for them to order – and they do. I have suggested book titles many times which means, they get them in and I have first dibs on the book given that I suggested it. Sometimes I buy second hand books too. It’s rare – well hardly ever, do I buy a fiction book. Any books I buy are those that I’d like to keep on my shelf. I have a great collection of literature from writers I love, Orwell, Greene, Steinbeck, McEwan, Keun, Hemingway, Bryson and more. When I look at my book shelf I feel happy. That’s my criteria for buying a book – it needs to belong to my book shelf because it somehow moves me.
I have book shelves full of half finished books! I need to sell the or recycle them because they currently don’t bring me joy! I should go back and finish them or re-read ones that have impacted me rather than buying new ones but there is so much power in that Amazon endorphin rush…