Books #27

[Caffeine Fiend]

Remember kindle used to offer you 40% off wishlist books occasionally. What ever happened to that?




No Im not trying to buy more books. Mind your business.

 

[LaBlonde]

here are my march reads (a few mid ones as the kids say but again a pretty good month):

this time tomorrow - emma straub
honey & spice - bolu babalola
ask again, yes - mary beth keane
astrid parker doesn’t fail - ashley herring blake
briefly, a delicious life - nell stevens
booth - karen joy fowler
small things like these - claire keegan
the summer that melted everything - tiffany mcdaniel
georgie, all along - kate clayborn

 

[twilightgarden]

Sorry to lower the tone but NO TIT is making me giggle

 

[cill2019]

I lost you guys I didn’t realise there was a new thread.
Anyway I’ve literally just finished The Stranger in Her House. Jaysus Christ what a fecking roller coaster absolutely brilliant

 

[Heidi88]

I started ACOTAR last night and I am loving it. I even read on my lunch break today (wfh). I was in a reading slump last year and have been a little more consistent this year...not reading a lot of books numbers wise but reading consistently which for now is all I want.

 

[tp1986]

Saw this and had to screenshot for this group. My TBR is going gangbusters right now!

 

[Booklover]

Hi everyone. Not been on the book threads for a bit. Lost my mojo for reading lately! I've got three half read books on my bedside table, that I want to finish, but they're not page turners as such. So just not reaching for them.
However, went to my trusty Asda this week and as I've had a few days off, I picked up and read None of This Is True by Lisa Jewell in two days! And now powering through The Other Mothers by Katherine Faulkner.

 

[Caffeine Fiend]

I have been spending but it was a bargain!

I got the first 4 books in the Elsie Silver Chestnut Springs series in The Works 3 for £6 deal last year. Ive been waiting to try and get the 5th book as Ive actually read the others (shocking I know - imagine reading the books you buy) anyway its been full price online at Waterstones and Amazon.

Again I know Im probably an anomaly but I dont like paying full price for my silly little romance books

Ive been checking all my Waterstones and theyve not actually had the 5th book in stock in store. (I was prepared to pay full price)

Ive checked The Works (so many stores!) Havent ever been able to get it. Wandered into my local The Works today and there it is £2.50!!! Straight home and onto the book shelf the set is complete.

 

[nbt]

I’m trying to complete my templates regularly this year too.

Also, I visited my grandparents earlier on and my grandma was saying about how she couldn’t find anything decent on BorrowBox at the moment.

I managed to get her set up on Libby and it’s made her day. She’s since emailed me to say she’s now got three books ready to read

I know where I get my love of reading from!

 

[Caffeine Fiend]

Im going to go against the grain. Im someone who sticks books out even if Im not feeling it initially.

Some of my most touching and favourite reads have not been instant loves for me and took until much further into the book to click for me.

Bellies, Shuggie Bain, Beartown, Weyward all took me a while to get into.

I think it also depends on the genre of the book, I imagine if you predominantly read Thrillers / Police Procedurals then you do need that instant hook to be engaged. Whereas with literary fiction the story tends to swell and embed into you the more you read.

No right or wrong obviously but just another POV from someone who isnt a DNF-er.

That being said I have given up with a few books over the years when I just feel dread about picking them up.

 

[TheChicagoPiano]

New to this thread but SO excited to see there is a book thread!! My absolute fave trope (or genre?) is unreliable female narrator with some psychological twists and turns such that you’re not really sure what’s real or not - think Boy Parts, Other People’s Clothes (less famous but I LOVED it, would recommend). Does anyone have any other recs like that?

 

[daisynoon]

So, I saw a reference to a book which sounded like my kind of read, and it's out of print in the UK, and there's no ebook version. Amazon had second hand copies for £75. I was contemplating shipping from the US, and then I checked Blackwell's (they do free shipping from the UK, so I thought it might work the same way), and the book is £22, reduced to £9. Perfect. I ordered it.

I opened Blackwell's again today, and the book is now £32, so now I have to work out what to do with the £66 £23 I have saved.

 

[AllieBee]

Little haul from my favourite charity bookshop and as its for charity it doesn't count right?!

 

[slugella]

Going back to a post a few pages ago about book costs, sorry Im late to the discussion but I do find it interesting. This will likely be quite long.

The cost of books in the US / Canada / Aus has always shocked me. We are really quite lucky in the UK that most hard back new releases will be under £20 and if its a popular release then you can usually pick it up for £10-£12. New paperbacks can be bought cheaply in the supermarket often £5/6 or if you wish to buy 2 then £8-£9 for both.

With libraries being so underfunded and I suspect this is likely to be worldwide buying becomes more common.

As a child I had very few owned books, my mother was a minimalist so we werent allowed to keep things, probably why Im a hoarder now to be fair but Im derailing so I would visit the library often. We also didnt have much money. I remember picking books at random to read. I didnt ever go with a list I was looking for and I do wonder if social media to a certain extent and rampant capitalism has changed how we choose our books? We are certainly living in a want it now society and I no longer seem to have the patience to wait for a library book to become available. If I see a book I want it (when we all know the reality is that I wont read it right away anyway)

I am really stabbing myself in the head with this one, the lower cost of books in the UK has it devalued them? I definitely hoard, I have so many books that I havent read in kindle form, physical book, audio book. I think nothing of buying cheap books from The Works or even to a certain extent BOGOHP tables at Waterstones. Books that really if they cost more I may think harder about buying. Would I be choosier and more careful with what I buy if the cost was more prohibitive? Probably.

On another note I had 5 books in my Amazon cart the other day and it was £42. The exact same basket at Berts Books and Waterstones was £49. With Waterstones you'd also get 5 stamps if you chucked in a book mark so almost £5 back really. I notice Amazon arent really that cheap anymore out with the 'best seller' sort of stuff. For bog standard books that arent in the top 100 theyre the same as every other book store. I know other posters have said before but its worthwhile checking other websites before ordering from Amazon as often its the same price.

Wow that is long. Its really just a verbal splat of my thoughts so probably isnt coherent or makes much sense. Also typed on my phone with my fat fingers so likely to have typos.

Totally agree. I think we expect books to be really cheap now, probably fuelled by 99p deals on amazon/books for £2 at The Works. Whether they should be that cheap is an interesting question, and I would say no, but it does make them more accessible to people who couldn't afford full price though, if they can't get to a library.

Since starting reading from the library over the last year I've saved so much money (and finances was my main reason for moving to borrowing over buying). I also feel a bit icky about buying from amazon when I can get from the library and avoid supporting them.

Also since moving to the library instead of buying, it feels more exciting for me as I have to wait for the book to become available and then I'm more motivated to read it as I have limited time. I am lucky that my library is v good and has a great selection, and usually a decent number of copies. I did read somewhere that authors do still benefit if you get their books from the library so it does still support them even if you're not actually spending money.

Edited to expand some of my nonsensical sentences

 

[Mamacita]

Ugh I really want to stay in all day with my cats and read but I've committed to going out

 

[daisynoon]

Agree! My particular dislike is something being described as ‘essential’, ‘vital’ or ‘whip smart’… l always think ‘let me be the judge of that...’ but perhaps I’m just awkward / don’t like being told what to think about something!

"Unputdownable" is my bugbear - it immediately makes me think the book must be really sticky.

 

[Tofino]

Is anyone doing these? Thought it would be interesting to do! Templates are on the story edit insta page.

 

[BWGossip]

I bought 3 books while waiting for my train.
The train was only delayed 2 minutes.

Edit: You have to tell us what books you bought though!

 

[ordinaryjelly]

Where do you all get your book recs from (besides here of course )? I usually just do loads of digging online but any websites with good unique ones would be fab!

I'm so bored of all the bookshop websites they just all show the same obvious choices, even when filtering by genres etc I really have to work to get to ones I've never heard of.

eta: posting this has just reminded me of lithub actually which I haven't been on for a while and I remember used to have great recs.

Bert's Books does this "What are you reading this weekend?" thread on a Saturday morning on Twitter every week. It isn't his picks but those who follow him. There are usually about 90 posts and I follow that. Often it isn't new books, sometimes people reading old books that have slipped under my radar.

He has only recently posted today's post but there are already a few responses. I always check in there.

 

[nbt]

Gave two read books to my friend the other day, picked up three more today 🫣

Book swap cabinet books are my new 99p reads