Loving The Library A Little Too Much?

I love the library. If you are a regular in these parts you will know this as I have mentioned it quite a few times. As a youngster the library was a place of wonder I would go at the weekend with mum and go find a new book to love as well as finding some fascinating tome on something like spontaneous human combustion. Then at school again it became a place I loved (because ALL those books) and often a refuge (from being bullied), it sounds a bit sad but books became my friends. This has meant that as an adult, well since I started reading in earnest again, I have always supported and joined the library local to me. I am slightly worried I might be taking it too far and indeed I may be loving them a bit too much and a little too selfishly. (Is that possible with libraries?)

You see where I am in the Wirral I have a lovely library down the road which resembles a stately home meets museum, brimming with wonderful books. Whilst I haven’t maxed out the amount of books I have from there, I have borrowed quite a lot…

Then, lucky me, near where I work in the centre of town I also have another library (a literally amazing one) in town which I am also borrowing from as you can also see…

Now some of you may think that this is not that bad, some of you may think it is excessive. I love to support my library but I think that sometimes I am a little bit naughty, you see I am one of those people who renews books over and over and over and over… or I take them back and then take them out again on the next visit, often getting asked “erm, you have taken this out before”, which seems a bit unfair to everyone else who might want to borrow them. I know this is partly what the library is for but it is also there so we can try new things, whether we end up liking them or not. They shouldn’t be gathering dust on my shelves though.

So I have made some rules, this happened last night actually when I realised my books were up for return or renewal, that I must stick by.

• I can borrow the maximum amount of books and not feel guilty, that is what the library is for and we are blooming lucky to have them, if we don’t use them they will vanish.
• I am ONLY allowed to renew a book the maximum amount of times that I can. If after that I don’t want to read it, just let it go, if I still do but haven’t I need to buy myself a blinking copy. (I have just done this with Ben Myers Pig Iron and Lee Rourke’s The Canal which I have renewed well over ten times each!)
• I need to read at least one or two library books a month, this will stop me hoarding if books start to just linger.
• I need to be more adventurous in the library and take some more risks.
• I should donate more (because in the Wirral you can) books to the library rather than have those gathering dust on my shelves. I can check them out again if I suddenly have the urge to read them.

I returned several books today; of course I borrowed a couple more. How could I not?

So, that is my new library pact with myself. I can stay loving the library but not in such a bonkers way. It will also make me think about what I borrow a little more and be aware of how often I press that renew button, which I have never known if is a good move or not? What about you, what is your relationship with the library? Which gems have you discovered thanks to your library or a lovely librarian?

Savidge Reads Library Loot #5

I won’t write a big long intro about the return of my Library Loot vlog post, as I do that in the video. I will say you might like to make yourself a cup of tea and grab a fairy cake as it lasts about 16/17mins – who knew I could waffle so much? Anyway hopefully you will enjoy me embarrassing myself once more talking to you all about the latest books that I have borrowed from the libraries of late, a list of which you can see below, and waffling a lot about why.

The books that I have borrowed from library number one, in author surname order, are…

The Afterparty by Leo Benedictus
Sleepyhead by Mark Billingham
Behind the Beautiful Forevers by Katherine Boo
Nothing to Envy – Barbara Demick
I’m the King of the Castle by Susan Hill
Zoo Time by Howard Jacobson
The Imperfectionists by Tom Rachman
The Chalk Circle Man by Fred Vargas

The books that I borrowed from library number two, in author surname order, are…

The Bridge by Iain Banks
World War Z by Max Brooks
The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie
Lightning Rods by Helen DeWitt
Starlight by Stella Gibbons
Landfall by Helen Gordon
Why We Broke Up by David Handler and Maira Kalman
Pig Iron by Benjamin Myers
The Icarus Girl by Helen Oyeyemi
Bad Blood by Lorna Sage

Phew, that is quite a selection. Do let me know your thoughts on any of the books on the list you have read or if there are ones that you’d like to give a whirl. Also let me know what you have borrowed from the library of late, or even simply what you are reading at the moment. Look forward to chatting to you about them in the comments below, hint! Ha!

Savidge Reads Library Loot #4

As it is National Libraries Day I thought I would share the library loot that I went and got today to make sure I maxed out my borrowing allowance. So, with a starring role for Millie this time, here is the third in my new series, yet first of the year, of vlog posts where I get to embarrass myself once more talk to you all about the latest books that I have borrowed from the library, and waffle a lot about why.

Mr Briggs’ Hat – Kate Colquhoun
Mrs Bridge – Evan S. Connell
When I Lived in Modern Times – Linda Grant
I’m the King of the Castle – Susan  Hill
The Summer Book – Tove Jansson
It Ends with Revelations – Dodie Smith
The Temptress – Paul Spicer
The Closed Door and Other Stories – Dorothy Whipple

As is the usual routine I would love to know your thoughts on any of the books; have you read them, did you like them, and are you thinking of reading them etc and any thoughts on the intermingled waffle. What have you borrowed from the library of late? Many thanks in advance.

Savidge Reads Library Loot #3

So here is the third in my new series, yet first of the year, of vlog posts where I get to embarrass myself once more talk to you all about the latest books that I have borrowed from the library, and waffle a lot about why. There is a lot of waffle at the start so beware though Oscar does show his face briefly. Anyway here is the latest library loot from me, I will pop a list of the books mentioned below…

The books mentioned amidst all that rambling were…

The Chalk Circle Man – Fred Vargas
Seeking Whom He May Devour – Fred Vargas
The History of a Pleasure Seeker – Richard Mason
Tom-All-Alone’s – Lynn Shepherd
The Good Plain Cook – Bethan Roberts
The Pools – Bethan Roberts
Wonder – R.J. Palacio
Zoo Time – Howard Jacobson
A Death in the Family – Karl Ove Knausgaard

As is the usual routine I would love to know your thoughts on any of the books, have you read them, did you like them, and are you thinking of reading them etc and any thoughts on the intermingled waffle. Many thanks in advance.

Savidge Reads Library Loot #2

So here is the second in my new series of vlog posts where I get to embarrass myself once more talk to you all about the latest books that I have borrowed from the library, and waffle a lot about why.

The books mentioned in this video, in order, are…

Havisham by Ronald Frame
Black Water Rising by Attica Locke
Florence and Giles by John Harding
Everything I Found on the Beach by Cynan Jones
Miss Ranskill Comes Home by Barbara Euphan Todd
High Wages by Dorothy Whipple
The Girl Who Fell From the Sky by Heidi Durrow
Living in the Maniototo by Janet Frame
The Plague of Doves by Louise Erdrich
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
The Chrysalids by John Wyndham

What have you recently acquired from the library? Have you read any of the above and if so what did you think of them?

Savidge Reads Library Loot #1

So I thought I would try something new and different today, well its new and different for me, by doing a Vlog post. I have often admired Eva of A Striped Armchair’s video posts of what she has recently gotten from the library and thought ‘well why don’t I give that a whirl myself’. So the other day I plumped myself down in front of my phone and have made a little (well its nine minutes, so maybe grab a cuppa) video for you all of my latest library loot. Get ready for the word ‘awkward’ a lot and some nervous rambling here and there…

Would you have liked a list of these books below? If so I will add one when I am back in the UK. Most importantly though does a post every now and again like this one work for you? Do you like a random video to watch now and again or is the whole thing not your bag? If you do like them would a ‘library loot’ post or a post of ‘books incoming’ be better? Let me know your thoughts