Owning Books

[Anita Bensoussane]

Most of my Billy bookcases have doors too, Boodi.

[Jack400]

Yes, you can't beat a Billy bookcase -with glass doors - as far as I'm concerned.

I ,back in the 1970s, boosted my book collection considerably with the aid of jumble sales and book stalls at village fairs. Usually about 5 pence for a paperback, no use for collectors of first editions, but, although sometimes rather tatty, gave me a new adventure or mystery to read.

Pleased to see that the item has created so much interest.

[Bertie]

Both sound lovely as well, Anita and Boodi.

Re: 'charity shop' look, Anita. Yes, I too would take that as a compliment. I've got many a book, DVD, CD from charity shops, car boot sale, etc - as well as very affordable ornaments such as Clarice Cliff, Charlotte Read, Susie Cooper. And added to my mum's Egyptian ornaments much to her delight!

I also get some lovely cheap Christmas decorations throughout the year at things like charity shops, second hand shops, boot sales, etc. My niece and nephew saw the tree this year for the first real time since being toddlers as they hadn't come in for a couple of years during lockdowns. They absolutely loved it and asked why they didn't have real trees decorated like that - which was particularly pleasing as my sister in law, who likes minimalist decorations and a fake teee, has barely hidden the fact she's not overly fond of all the lights and decorations on it. Listening to them rave about it to her was music to my ears.

[Boodi 2]

All my original Blyton books were new, as I was lucky enough to be allowed to choose a book as a treat every Friday after school and I mainly selected a Blyton one, but in no particular order...I was influenced by the title and/or the cover illustration! I had a huge collection, but unfortunately when I advanced to reading Agatha Christie mysteries my mother gave all my Blyton books (plus Black Beauty, Heidi, The Chalet School series and books by Monica Edwards) to one of my cousins as she considered that I had "grown out of them". When my son was small I started trying to replace my Blyton books and while I managed to find some new ones, I mainly bought secondhand ones in charity shops and at car boot sales, regardless of how tatty and scribbled on they were, so I am no stranger to charity shops. There is an excellent one in the village where I now live, which is run by the local school where everything is free (the shop is actually called "Costs Nothing"), the idea being that one either brings something one no longer needs or else makes a donation to the school. However, I have not seen any Blyton books there yet, although there were plenty of Christmas decorations!

[Anita Bensoussane]

'Costs Nothing' sounds great!

I'm glad your niece and nephew liked your tree, Bertie.

[Anjalli]

I own a lot of books, some new, some old and some in between and they are in bookcases. My Blyton's are mostly old or oldish, i do have some of the newer covers of some of the books. For other authors like John Grisham, Steve Berry, Mary Higgins Clark, Anne Perry, Sue Grafton are new, Louis L'amour and Agatha Christie are old, Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys are the old hardcovers and i still have some Harlequin and Mills and Boon, 2 of my fave authors, Anne Mather and Betty Neels. I do not care for the e reader or whatever electric device to read books ( i tried one and did not like it). I like to hold my books and read it and turn the pages and smell it-----i guess i am old fashioned that way.

[Jack400]

Today at 5pm 'The Footage Detectives ' on Talking Pictures TV has an item about favourite children's books. On Freeview it is channel 82 .

[Anita Bensoussane]

Thanks for letting us know, Jack.

[Jack400]

Well to be honest, I found it to be a very small almost forgotten piece of the programme.

[Anita Bensoussane]

Yes, just a couple of minutes right near the end! I must admit I found the whole programme "bitty". It was all over the place, with no structure, and some items were introduced (with little enthusiasm, much of the time) only to be dropped almost immediately.

Having said that, it was nice to see Mike Read again as he was a presenter on Saturday Superstore, which I used to watch in the early/mid 1980s (after Multi-Coloured Swap Shop ended). I was pleased that he said he liked Enid Blyton, and that he wasn't in favour of altering older children's books.

[Jack400]

Normally the programme seems more structured than that, but, it just seemed to be thrown together - I too liked his comments about Enid and that he wasn't in favour of altering older children's books.

Update: watched today's (12/03/2023) and no mention/additional info on the books.

[Moonraker]

I think it's a pretty poor programme in general. Nice idea but needs improving.

[Jack400]

I believe it started off well, but recent weeks have been frankly rather tedious.

[Boatbuilder]

I have always had an interest in reading books about true crime and the other day I read this article Edith Thompson: Commission to re-examine hanged woman's case on BBC News about the crime that occurred 100 years ago in late 1922. The news article is self-explanatory from its title.

I subsequently discovered that a book about the case by Professor René Weis, who is referred to in the article, was written back in 1988, so I decided to find out if I could obtain a copy and discovered about five or six used copies were available in hardback from different sellers on Amazon from about £20. I don't remember what the highest price was but I think it may have been about £40. It was also available in paperback from about £17. I decided to buy the copy for about £20 including delivery and it arrived today. The book is in almost perfect condition and very clean. The dustjacket has at some time been torn slightly but repaired with a transparent tape, so is in pretty good shape. It's also a first edition.

However, yesterday I happened to look again on Amazon and there were just three of the hardbacks there - but priced from £85 to £130. I've just looked again and there are now four of them priced from about £62 to £112 including delivery. I assume the earlier higher-priced ones have since been reduced, but still I would imagine the news article pushed the prices up somewhat. The paperbacks are now priced from about £20 to £102.

[IceMaiden]

Can't imagine a house without books and nik naks and wouldn't want to. A house that is perfectly tidy, perfectly matching, perfectly surgeon's table clinical but utterly devoid of any warmth or soul. That's not a home it's just somewhere to hang your coat. Houses need books and all the other odds & ends that make it cosy and inviting. I actually wouldn't want to go to the house of someone who thought they ruined the look of a room.