My local library closed in Mid March 2020 and I am really sad.
I am the person who orders the very latest Detective/Suspense/Mystery/Thriller books and impatiently awaits them. I currently have over forty of these types of books on order at the library. Many are waiting for me right now.
I was at the library on its last day prior to closing and left with 3 fiction books and 2 non-fiction books. A very small haul.
At that time, no one knew about COVID-19 in its present form. I had been self-quarantining since early March 2020 and I did not have my usual stack of books to rely on.
I am a fast reader, about 4 fiction books a week. I think it is for my sanity and those I come in contact with. But now, I only had 3 books. I did not seriously count the non-fiction as I don’t usually read them. Some are books suggested by someone else who says ‘Hey, Joanne, go buy this book.’ My strategy is to peruse the book first, via the library, and if I like it, then I buy it.
I needed to read fiction! I googled and eBay came up with a curated Box of Books of my genre. I readily purchased the 20 books for 20 Bucks of Mystery and Suspense books and impatiently waited.
While I waited, I did open up one of these non-fiction books written by Whitney Johnson, titled Disrupt Yourself. I realized reading non-fiction takes longer than reading fiction. I took a long time reading this book and it is great. I took many notes unlike with my Thriller books. Once I completed Disrupt Yourself, I chose Turning Pro by Steven Pressfield, another non-fiction library book. Another great choice that I do not know why I got it. I have since purchased both of these books as they are educational and enlightening. Post-it notes and highlights galore. I also went on to purchase more books by Steven Pressfield; I love his perspective on life and had no idea he was famous.
Then my $20 Box of Books was delivered. I was extremely excited. Twenty books would last me for a long time.
Alas, they were not as promised. I ordered Mystery and Suspense and received about five of that category Other books included those titled: The Works of Shakespeare, Women Who Ruled – History’s 50 Most Remarkable Women (I did keep this one, of course) as well as a copy of Fifty Shades of Grey.
The remainder of the books were Romance and Suspense – its own genre – who knew. All these books with one exception are now in a box for Goodwill.
My next more successful venture was Thrift Books Dot Com. Their user experience is great and if you order $10.00 or more of books, there is Free Shipping. Yay! I have since placed at least three orders of 3 books each; the most recent order was for six books. I was living in the land of hopes and dreams for my library to open soon – not happening. Next time I will order more as my state, Washington, will not be ‘opened’ until May 18, 2020.
Who knows when my library will open. Who knows if someone will be cleaning the book covers. Who knows?
What are you missing during this Time Out? Tell me here.
Joanne
- Episode #275: Investing in Your Book: Why Hiring a Ghostwriter is Worth It with Josh Kelley - June 6, 2023
- Time to Get Back to Basics - June 6, 2023
- What Gets in the Way of Your Dream Business? - May 29, 2023