Hitting the Sales...
Dec. 28th, 2011 02:25 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
endlessraritiesOkay, I went shopping in the sales. And I got carried away.
I had ulterior motives. I had a £5 HMV voucher on my points card, and - being something of a pessimist - I figured I should spend it before the company went down. I decided on a Dr Who video - I've been slogging through Pertwee episodes just recently, but they didn't have any of the ones I'd been looking for, so I went for a McCoy one - Paradise Towers. It's got Bonny Langford in it, and while I used to HATE Bonny Langford as a companion, I've mellowed to her now. And I must admit, I quite like the plot in Paradise Towers...
My next destination was Waterstones. The Boss gave us all hefty book tokens to spend instead of a Christmas bonus (c'mon, Boss! We're archaeologists! Give us tokens for OXBOW!! [Cue volley of missiles as colleagues throw whatever comes to hand at me. Oh, more books! There's a surprise!!!])
This is fun - it gives me a licence to buy the kind of books I wouldn't normally spend my hard-earned cash on. So what did I buy? Um, a popular book on the Spartans by the Maestro of All Things Spartan, Paul Cartledge, the complete works of Euripides, several plays by Sophocles, and some little extras: Beyond Black by Hilary Mantel (I read seven-eighths of this book on holiday once and couldn't finish it because I went home and had to return the book...) Frankenstein by Mary Shelley (no, I haven't read it before. How embarrassing!!) and Warhorse by Oops!-I-Can't-Remember-The-Name-Of-The-Author-Oh-Dear-Oh-Dear-Oh-Dear,
As I wandered around Waterstones, I suddenly realised that as a consumer, my patterns and habits have now completely changed as far as fiction is concerned. I've read a couple of trendy best-seller type books this year and I've really not found them very satisfying. I'm not taken in by the hype, I know what I want, and more and more often, the big publishing houses just don't deliver. I do not want a speed read which is slick and fast and formulaic. It's like gorging yourself on a beefburger - it fills a hole and nothing more. That's why I opted for the Classics, and an author whom I know can deliver. I think as far as fiction is concerned, my book-buying will in future be done largely on-line, and largely at the recommendation of my fellow bloggers.
Enough of the weeping, wailing and gnashing of teeth. After Waterstones, I went to Lush. To buy a couple of bars of soap, some facial cleanser and some shaving cream for J. Ha! That's what I thought!!! Turns out they were selling off their surplus stock of gift boxes for half price, so I bought a couple. I guess that's me sorted for the year as far as bath bombs, soap etcetera is concerned!
I'm home now, and it's getting a wee bit windy outside. 'A wee bit windy' is a bit of an understatement - there's a howling gale blowing up. I have put off my horse-riding until Friday, so I can relax now. Though I am supposed to be cooking dinner - that is, if the roof stays on!!!
I had ulterior motives. I had a £5 HMV voucher on my points card, and - being something of a pessimist - I figured I should spend it before the company went down. I decided on a Dr Who video - I've been slogging through Pertwee episodes just recently, but they didn't have any of the ones I'd been looking for, so I went for a McCoy one - Paradise Towers. It's got Bonny Langford in it, and while I used to HATE Bonny Langford as a companion, I've mellowed to her now. And I must admit, I quite like the plot in Paradise Towers...
My next destination was Waterstones. The Boss gave us all hefty book tokens to spend instead of a Christmas bonus (c'mon, Boss! We're archaeologists! Give us tokens for OXBOW!! [Cue volley of missiles as colleagues throw whatever comes to hand at me. Oh, more books! There's a surprise!!!])
This is fun - it gives me a licence to buy the kind of books I wouldn't normally spend my hard-earned cash on. So what did I buy? Um, a popular book on the Spartans by the Maestro of All Things Spartan, Paul Cartledge, the complete works of Euripides, several plays by Sophocles, and some little extras: Beyond Black by Hilary Mantel (I read seven-eighths of this book on holiday once and couldn't finish it because I went home and had to return the book...) Frankenstein by Mary Shelley (no, I haven't read it before. How embarrassing!!) and Warhorse by Oops!-I-Can't-Remember-The-Name-Of-The-Author-Oh-Dear-Oh-Dear-Oh-Dear,
As I wandered around Waterstones, I suddenly realised that as a consumer, my patterns and habits have now completely changed as far as fiction is concerned. I've read a couple of trendy best-seller type books this year and I've really not found them very satisfying. I'm not taken in by the hype, I know what I want, and more and more often, the big publishing houses just don't deliver. I do not want a speed read which is slick and fast and formulaic. It's like gorging yourself on a beefburger - it fills a hole and nothing more. That's why I opted for the Classics, and an author whom I know can deliver. I think as far as fiction is concerned, my book-buying will in future be done largely on-line, and largely at the recommendation of my fellow bloggers.
Enough of the weeping, wailing and gnashing of teeth. After Waterstones, I went to Lush. To buy a couple of bars of soap, some facial cleanser and some shaving cream for J. Ha! That's what I thought!!! Turns out they were selling off their surplus stock of gift boxes for half price, so I bought a couple. I guess that's me sorted for the year as far as bath bombs, soap etcetera is concerned!
I'm home now, and it's getting a wee bit windy outside. 'A wee bit windy' is a bit of an understatement - there's a howling gale blowing up. I have put off my horse-riding until Friday, so I can relax now. Though I am supposed to be cooking dinner - that is, if the roof stays on!!!
