I'm an avid reader, but for a long time I've been practising minimalism when it comes to my books. A few years ago I got rid of many of my physical books and started to buy books for my Kindle instead. When I did buy an actual book I would pass it on when I'd finished with it, and over the last year or two I've been a frequent visitor to the local library.
But a few months ago something changed. Perhaps because during lockdown I got used to reading physical books from the library, and although most of them were enough to keep me entertained over one reading, some of them were ones that I knew I would want to read again. I've also been chatting to a friend who told me how much she enjoys roaming around the local charity shops and coming home with bags of books.
During the summer holiday I took Mia for a shopping trip to our nearest large village. Along with a quick stop in the café and a visit to the toy shop we discovered five charity shops. I was delighted to find a great selection of books to come home with - a few that I had already read and wanted to read again, some new to me but by a familiar author, and some that I had heard of and wanted to read.
From that moment on I was hooked. I've found that around here the going rate in a smaller charity shop is £1 for a paperback, rising to £1.99 in larger shops like Oxfam. I've found several areas nearby where I can visit five or six shops within a few minutes walk, and if I have a child with me I always come back with more because they help to persuade me that I really need a particular book.
Many of the books that I'm buying are ones that I've already read and enjoyed. I also have a wish list in my head - I couldn't write it out from memory but if I see a particular book on the shelf I will know that it's one I'm after. It's all going a long way to filling up my new bookcases!
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