Reading as a cheap hobby

Savvy_Sue

I was shocked to hear you have to pay to request books: I don't know how far afield my library card is valid, but definitely all over the city, and some of the ones I've requested have come from much further afield, so I might even be able to borrow from there too, if I was ever on holiday on the coast! I've ordered several books, but it's taken several weeks in one case for them to arrive, I began to think it might not be available at all!

Oh, and they installed a new computer system, it went live last month. For a couple of weeks I couldn't request books, renew online or do much else - even in the library all you could do was borrow! Just went on their webpage, apparently the system is very slow and not quite working properly yet ... 

MrsStepford

Mary Berry's Foolproof Dinners will be published on 10th October 120 recipes to accompany a six part series.on BBC2. Can be pre-ordered on Amazon 20% off.

elsien

Savvy_Sue said:

I was shocked to hear you have to pay to request books: I don't know how far afield my library card is valid, but definitely all over the city, and some of the ones I've requested have come from much further afield, so I might even be able to borrow from there too, if I was ever on holiday on the coast! I've ordered several books, but it's taken several weeks in one case for them to arrive, I began to think it might not be available at all!

Oh, and they installed a new computer system, it went live last month. For a couple of weeks I couldn't request books, renew online or do much else - even in the library all you could do was borrow! Just went on their webpage, apparently the system is very slow and not quite working properly yet ... 

87p a book in my library. Which I considered to be reasonable value for the latest releases.

There’s also a big library in the main county town which has a load of books I want to read if I go there for the day for something else I call in and borrow lots off my list because you can keep renewing them for about 6 months if no one else wants them.

kimwp

I've just got to an exciting moment in the book I'm reading, but as I have to get up early, should have gone to sleep an hour ago, aarh! 

catclaires

kimwp said:

I've just got to an exciting moment in the book I'm reading, but as I have to get up early, should have gone to sleep an hour ago, aarh! 

Ha! I think we've all been there it's a good sign you've picked a good book, though! I've just added The Salt Path to my BorrowBox library reading list (I can't reserve it as I've maximised my loans and reserves!) as it looks interesting - thanks for the mention of it.

I'm having a reading addiction issue with the other end of the day at the moment. I am luckily able to work from home and have been going outside when it's dry to have a coffee and 'quick read' before work - it's a lovely thing to do and puts me in a good frame of mind for the start of the working day, but I've learned that only allowing 15 minutes or so as I have sometimes been doing is not at all enough if I have a gripping book and makes me feel very reluctant to have to stop and go inside to log on!

@FlorayG I get the issue with your phone being too small for electronic library books - it is an excellent service though that would probably save you a ton of money if you ever find yourself with a bigger device! My phone is quite a large one and is therefore okay, although it is nicer to read on the Kindle (which sadly isn't compatible with the library books).

@Wednesday2000 I hope you're enjoying the Gillian McAllister!

elsien

You can use download library books to adobe digital editions then use a programme such as Calibre to convert them before transferring onto the kindle to read, but it is a bit of a faff. If you don't do if very often and forget how, it's a lot of a faff!
If you are downloading free epub books that don't have DRM you can use the send to kindle on the newer kindles to side load them. 

mehefin

Just finishing 'The Bravest Voices' an autobiography of Ida Cook. A very brave woman.

kimwp

catclaires said:

kimwp said:

I've just got to an exciting moment in the book I'm reading, but as I have to get up early, should have gone to sleep an hour ago, aarh! 

Ha! I think we've all been there it's a good sign you've picked a good book, though! I've just added The Salt Path to my BorrowBox library reading list (I can't reserve it as I've maximised my loans and reserves!) as it looks interesting - thanks for the mention of it.

I'm having a reading addiction issue with the other end of the day at the moment. I am luckily able to work from home and have been going outside when it's dry to have a coffee and 'quick read' before work - it's a lovely thing to do and puts me in a good frame of mind for the start of the working day, but I've learned that only allowing 15 minutes or so as I have sometimes been doing is not at all enough if I have a gripping book and makes me feel very reluctant to have to stop and go inside to log on!

It was the Bandit Queens by Parini Shroff, I recommend it. 

Avaaz currently has a petition to make marital rape illegal in India at the moment, so the themes in the novel are very much reality for many women today.

I used to read at lunchtime at work, I found ten minutes would take me completely away and then I had to stop to go back to work. Your routine sounds lovely, I know I'd want to keep reading too!

MrsStepford

We switched from low carb to the Mediterranean Diet but started putting weight on. So back to low carb but trawling through recipe books for different things to cook and have borrowed quite a few Kindle books. 

Reading has been proven to be the fastest way to relax, in a study. Another study, from the University of Sussex, found that reading reduces stress by 68% 

MrsStepford

Bought from Oxfam:

The Everything Mediterranean Diet Book by Connie Diekman MEd RD LD FADA
The Clever Guts Diet Recipe Book by Dr Clare Bailey
Dr Atkins' Age-Defying Diet Revolution by Dr Robert C Atkins

Reading a new (to me) detective series by Rachel McLean, set in Dorset e.g. Lyme Regis, Wareham, Bournemouth, Winfrith, Sandbanks. Pretty good stuff.