Book snob

Callistemon

^I'll get round to reading Lucinda Riley's "Missing Sister" before the year's out^
I'm waiting for a price drop first, Terribull!

Or for a friend to lend it to me ?

FFS, just buy it! What is it with people, that they expect NOT to pay for their entertainment? And if you don't want to pay, then please use the library - at least that way the author qualifies for a PLR payment. Honestly, entitled attitudes like yours really exasperate we writers.

i get my books now from amazon most of them are free, when a new set of books come out they usually give the first one free

Please could you remember that the author of a book that you enjoy deserves to earn something from it. "Free" to you means no income for work that has probably taken at least a year.

Books I no longer want, I put on the wall outside my house. They pretty much always go. The one bad time was when people decided that it would be friendly to put 'their' books out there in return. Nooooo!

As a writer of fairly light books, I see these discussions over and over again. One myth that always comes up is that if it's Mills * Boon it 'must' be trashy. I can tell you that some of those authors are good friends of mine, hugely intelligent, well read and really top writers. Some of the titles (which the authors do not choose) are seriously off-putting, I'll admit but there is (especially in the historicals) a fair ol' bit of expertise in there.

The word 'trashy' when applied to books simply means the sort that the book snob might prefer not to read. They will therefore never know whether the authors are any good at putting across a great story or not. Maybe don't be so judgy.

The op shops(charity shops) have some really good books now. Fact and fiction. Also some really good recipe books in pristine condition because so many of us turn to google for recipes now. I like both. I have the sense many don’t read much these days. Our local library has just had a sale, sadly stopped by our fierce lockdown. Books were 50 cents each or $2 a bagful and I got a couple of good ones. One was by Stella Rimington. I will read them then pass them on to our Probus club who have an ever expanding library, all free.

Thankyou ladies, I didn’t know such a thing as a bookseat existed

Do you not feel that these are the books left on the shelf and the good ones have gone already. For goodness sake reading any book is good for you, it helps you relax and what one enjoys another may not. I'm sure being an avid fan of dark novels, detective novels and thrillers may put me in the bracket of poor reading quality to some, but I also like history, informative books, biography, but I dont like Mills and Boon books, that is personal choice. I also buy from charity shops, pound shops, Waterston, on line, off authors. I read books written from many authors as I don't just stick to one. It's personal choice, but one thing I do love it the feel and smell of a paper copy, but I do also have a kindle. So what am I?

For anyone wanting a really cheap and versatile book support, I’d suggest trying the ‘Isberget’ tablet/phone stand from IKEA. Currently £2, tho I suspect mine was a little more some years ago. I don’t think I’d have got to the end of The Mirror and the Light without it!
My iPad lives on it for daily use too.

I like reading,many medical novels,I usually pass them on to my best friend or my next door neighbour,as they pass theirs on to me,then when finished I usually leave them to a charity shop where I inevitably buy some others.
I am a slow reader so dont read many books a year but enjoy when I do read.
I think GN has taken over my reading time!

Thorntrees & Sarah1954
Look on Amazon for a Bookseat.
I have neck, arms and back chronic pain after an accident over 10 years ago. I find turning pages or holding a book or kindle too painful but use reading as a way of zoning out as far as possible.
I use a Kindle Oasis which is my 2nd kindle, the previous one being the original keyboard kindle. The Oasis allows you to either use the keys to turn backwards or forwards or you can lightly tap the RH edge of the page to go forwards or the LH edge of the page to go backwards.
The Bookseat easily holds my Kindle or a book. It really is a boon and I wouldn't be without it.

I'm a prolific reader and book club member. I never read a book twice and donate them all to the charity shop once read. I used to have book shelves heaving under the weight of books when much younger - but no longer. More wall space to hang paintings.

I loved the Stephanie Plum ones too and that fantastic Grandmother.
Grandma Mazur? I want to be like her, Carolpaint!

I love books, will read most things, detective mysteries, ghost stories, was an avid reader of Poe and Dennis Wheatley in my younger days. Loved Hemmingway, Leon Uris and Wilbur Smith. Anything really, favourite classical Jayne Eyre, Christmas Carol and Great Expectations, of which I am lucky enough to have a first edition. Carlos R Zafron is another favourite. Could go on but won’t bore you anymore. Read what you enjoy, not what you feel you should.

Hollysteers
I agree, I love to browse other peoples bookshelves.
Always exiting if I find we have a lot of books in common.

Reading is mainly for relaxation and as such anything goes! It’s the same with other things such as TV and films. I allow myself one soap opera on tv for sheer chilling out but also watch more serious stuff.

In our village their is a book shop in our local phone box My daughter has now given me loads of books bought on eBay so when finished more for the phone box as charity shops in Solihull don’t want them

Thank you Callistermon, I loved the Stephanie Plum ones too and that fantastic Grandmother. There is room for all our moods and imaginations. I think Salman Rushtie falls into the worthy, but he does not light my imagination. We pass this way once and I do not want to waste any of it.

I love to read "real" books but I only have a small amount of room to keep them in. Once that is full I have to start weeding them out. I try to give them to others but sometimes I have to give them to a charity shop. A lot of charity shops are not taking books any more because they too have too many. Its a shame but when I tried to use a library again they just didn't have the books I wanted to read.

It’s not necessarily snobby to get an idea of a person’s tastes by scanning their bookshelf (if they have one). It can tell you about their interests and hobbies. I’m fascinated by other people’s bookshelves.
My son said he would be put off a girl whose bookshelf was full of self help books?

Not many people would ever call Dan Brown's book The Da Vinci Code literature but the people in charge of Roslin Chapel have been very grateful to it, the visitors to the area have helped them build a new visitor centre and make restoration work possible. There is something worthy in all books.

"One man's meat is another man's poison"

The proverb applies to reading matter too!

As others have said the books we give to the charity shops are the ones we either didn't care for, or felt we would never re-read.

The others are on our bookshelves, where I personally have some of my parents' and grandparents' favourites as well as my own.

During her final illness my mother read books she once would have stigmatized as "trashy novels" - she explained her change of reading matter as follows:

"It doesn't matter if I fall asleep in the middle of a chapter or if pain makes concentration impossible - the story is so predictable that I can pick it up anywhere and follow it."

After her death we packed up all these "trashy" novels and gave them to a hospice for those in the last stages of AIDS. The year was2002 so there were still a lot of poor souls just waiting to die, so to speak in those hospices then.

The matron of the hospice was delighted by what she termed "our kind thought" as it was just the right type of books for her patients.

So don't deride "trashy novels" we may be glad of them one day!

ElaineI

Actually think it is very rude and snobbish to scan anyone's bookcase and judge what kind of a person they are. Tells you what kind of a person the scanner is

I agree. It's a really unpleasant trait.

Of course we are all aware that some books are more high brow than others. Just like people. However, the two are allowed to mix.

My great uncle was an Old Bailey Judge. Well educated. Knew more about the classics than most of us. However, he loved to read the News of the World on Sunday. Thought it was such fun in comparison with the broadsheets.

Let's not be judging.

ElaineI

Actually think it is very rude and snobbish to scan anyone's bookcase and judge what kind of a person they are. Tells you what kind of a person the scanner is

Totally agree. Who’d do that? No one like that would get past our front door.

Years ago I studied English lit at uni. After that I didn’t pick up a ‘good’ book for approximately 10 years. I just read trash and more trash as some kind of reaction against all those well written serious pieces of work. Now I read a mixture though I can’t read utter trash I must admit but I love a good psychological thriller.

My bookshelf has everything from Dickens to James Patterson on it. I love a wide range of authors and genres.
What is considered a 'classic' these days? As great new authors are emerging each year what will be classed as a classic in 50-100 years time? Your thoughts please.