Reading Matters

I'm going to start posting up the books I've read, partly as a reminder to me, but also in case anyone out there is looking for recommendations.

Choosing books is more difficult for me these days. I tend to leave that long list of books I haven't read but wish I had until I have a chunk of time to devote to them, then greedily devour them one after another when I do get the opportunity. I also rely heavily on other people's recommendations.

As a child, I spent many happy hours perusing the shelves of our beloved 'Albion Bookshop' (now sadly closed). It was how my love for reading was fuelled. Admittedly, as a teenager, there was competition for any available cash I had. Posters for my bedroom (sourced from 'Athena' of course), and sale bargains from the upper floor in 'Snob', jostled for position in my list of needs and wants, and so I discovered the concept of the second hand bookshop, a wonderful way of developing an eclectic taste in reading.

I used to be tempted by the 3 for 2 offers at 'Waterstones', but I've grown bored with the rather prescriptive fare. What I really want is to discover books for myself, by browsing the shelves in a local bookstore, knowing there's a wide choice of titles (Methvens did this so well). Or I want to hear about a book from somewhere, go along to my local shop, physically be able to lay my hands on it, read a couple of pages to see if I think it's my sort of thing and then go home with it tucked under my arm. So many times, I've tried this approach only to find the book isn't in stock because it's not in popular demand. Then I end up ordering it on on-line because then I don't have to make an extra trip to go and collect it. Yes,I do know search engines are wonderful things!

I hope my recommendations prove to be of interest to a few people - the worst that could happen is that I recommend something you hate but the best thing is that you might find a new book to add to your own list of favourites.