proserpina

Probably about 500 but I do tend to find I'm always adding to the collection, as well as giving some away. I never could get my head around the idea of selling books or sending them to the charity shop but most books I only read once so they're only gathering dust on my bookshelves. If I can sell them on Amazon, I can find the money to buy unread books.

I used to buy only new books because I didn't like them in anything less than pristine condition. I tend to be very careful when reading books so they're still like new when they're finished so I used to think that it defeated the object if they were scruffy before I got my hands on them. I have no problems with library books because they're only in my hands for a short period of time. I have loosened up somewhat, mainly because of cost. I can't remember the last time I bought a book at full price, they are just stupidly expensive. I can often get seven decent used books for the price of one new book. I do tend to get them in the best condition I possibly can but if there are a couple of creases, I don't fret (especially if it's a book I am desperate to read). It is amazing how many books are in excellent condition and I always snap those up.

I can only hold a book with my right hand, it feels weird holding it with my left (force of habit, I suppose). I also read while eating, it gives me precious reading time and, when I am alone, I find it rather decadent. Mostly I read sitting upright (none of this lying on stomach or back lark!) with the book relatively high; I get neckache if I look down for too long. I do have this habit of reading on my side when I'm in bed. It can be a tad awkward but when it's cold and I want to be covered by the duvet or I don't want to waste the energy to sit up, it works a treat.

If it's fairly clear what the word means given the context, then I don't use a dictionary. Though sometimes I have been caught out and the word has more connotations than I have considered. I tend to jot down the words I don't know and add them to my reading journal, which means I can learn some new vocab too.

I think I know what my favourite book is this year, I think it was so good that I doubt I will read better this year. However, I have read some cracking books over 2007 that will definitely be worth a mention.

I have finished a couple of slightly obscure books for the Olympic Challenge this week: The Curriculum Vitae of Aurora Ortiz by Almudena Solana, which was a very quick read, only 150 pages and I am so glad, I don't think I could have coped with any more! I thought it was a rather strange story about a woman in Madrid who wrote long, rambling letters to a recruitment agency because she wanted to become a caretaker in a residential building. It was positively surreal. The Translator by Leila Aboulela, which I really enjoyed. Set in Aberdeen and Khartoum, this book was essentially a love story with a happy ending. I like those.

I am mainly been able to read so much this year because I have been on a career break since March: travelling and volunteering so have had much more spare time than I would otherwise have and IA have really re-discovered my love of books. I have a new job starting in a month, however, so I think my reading will be very much more limited then. I usually go to the library every week, when I can, and return what I have read in that time, so I don't have to carry 20 at once. I had been away for a few weeks recently so had 18 books to return in one sitting (at least half of them were hardbacks too!) I managed to cram them in a huge bag but I think one arm was longer than the other by the time I had finished lugging it about! I finally finished Blood Sisters last night and started my 100th book this morning. I decided to read something quick and easy and picked up Adriana Trigiani's Milk Glass Moon. I had never read anything by her before but read a couple this year (Lucia Lucia and Queen of the Big Time). I loved them, finding them both to be so comforting and satisfying to read. So far Milk Glass Moon is proving itself to be no exception.

Books can be taken out for 3 weeks initially and renewed up to 3 times (as long as nobody else has reserved them) so potentially the books can be mine for 3 months. They never usually are in practice, as I am currently reading about 3-4 books a week...... I do think the allowance is very generous. Thank you Lancashire libraries. I just wish I could finish Blood Sisters now, I'm getting more than a little fed up with having been reading the same book for so long (I was away for work last week and then went to see my boyfriend so I have been reading it since about Wednesday, ages for me!)

My local library allows 20 books to be taken out at a time, I usually take them back in batches as I read them, I have an ever-revolving TBR pile!

I took out a haul of library books last week which I'm starting to plough through. The Interpretation of Murder by Jed Rubenfeld The Line of Beauty - Alan Hollinghurst The Sea - John Banville (1001 Book Challenge) Love in the Present Tense - Catherine Ryan Hyde Alentejo Blue - Monica Ali (Olympic Challenge - Bangladesh) The Translator - Leila Aboulela (Olympic Challenge - Sudan) The Ringmaster's Daughter - Justein Gaardner (Olympic Challenge - Norway) The Testament of Gideon Mack - James Robertson Bitter Sweets - Roopa Farooki (Olympic Challenge - Pakistan) Solibo Magnificent - Patrick Chamoiseau (Olympic Challenge - Martinique) Geographies of Home - Loida Maritza Perez (Olympic Challenge - Dominican Republic) The Abortionist's Daughter - Elisabeth Hyde The Book of Lost Things - John Connolly The Curriculum Vitae of Aurora Ortiz - Almudena Solana (Olympic Challenge - Spain) Vernon God Little - DBC Pierre I particularly enjoyed The Line of Beauty, which was nothing like I expected it to be but nonetheless a cracking read. It seemed to capture the tale of Thatcher's Britain in the 1980s; a heady mix of sex, drugs and politics.

I am currently half way through Blood Sisters by Barbara and Stephanie Keating. The story is plodding along nicely and is interesting enough but I can't say I'm feeling particularly overwhelmed by the story or the setting.

I wouldn't even consider the possibility of writing in books, like Kell mentioned I would probably add a card if I wanted to included an hand-written note. I do have several books handed down from grandparents which have been written in and I like that because it offers me a sense of history.

I have 3 book shelves on my bedroom wall and then 2 new tall bookcases that are about three-quarters full. When that is full, I shall be buying a third. I do have some books in the spare room as well. I have all the Penguin classics together on my bookcase (in alphabetical order). The books on the shelves are all the other books I have (again in alphabetical order). The rest of the bookcase has books on my TBR list and library books.

Possibly Harry Potter (please don't ask me to choose one, if I had to probably The Deathly Hallows) I think I would like to be absorbed in a complete fantasy world and read something fairly simple and that I know would absorb me, save me worrying about things I couldn't control.