Clayton's comments (member since Oct 02, 2007)

Clayton's comments from the The Next Best Book Club group.

WawaBear wrote: "Hi Clayton,

Same like you, I bought a lots lots lots of book until I finally decided to buy another bookshelf.
I was stacking up my books last night, and realise I've got heaps to read! But st..."

Wawa, you are welcome. I have been going to the Halfprice store since the mid-80's. Like you I am probably going to have to invest in another to-be-read bookshelf soon, though if I do that I may not be able to stand myself until it is filled up as well. LOL. website sounds good. We have a couple here that sound similar. Still, nothing like wandering through the shelves of a great used bookstore. The smell and the feel of the books and the notes in the margins written by previous readers.

Nice to see so many others who suffer from my addiction to buying more books then I will ever read in one lifetime. At this rate I can't die for another 150 years!!! Living in Alabama, we suffer from a severe shortage of good used book stores, so when visiting family in Dallas, Tx, I always hit the Halfpric Books,Records, and Tapes store off Northwest Highway. If you have not heard of it, they have been in Dallas (with smaller stores around) for years. Now they are in an old Burlington Coat factory store and are great. I was there in February and came back to Alabama with 50 books that I am making my way through. Latest titles I read were Bare Bones and Bones to Ashes, both by Kathy Reichs (inspiration for Bones TV show). Good books but would have liked a more complicated plot for each.

True! True!. If I have a really good book that I know will take some time to finish, I will get all housework and yardwork done in the evenings after work so I can spend all day Sat/Sun reading.

The person below me will trawl e-bay and amazon for out-of-print copies of books for hours until he/she finds the one they are searching for.

Well, not me exactly, but my aunt named her daughter Christy after the Catherine Marshall book of the same name. I hope it counts because she is flying out to visit me for the weekend.

The person below me has turned down a date or an evening out with friends because they REALLY REALLY wanted to finish a great book they were reading.

yep, currently reading Toni Morrison's Sula because one of my co-workers finished it and thought I would like it. Half way done and really like the characters.

The person below me has more books than bookshelves and will probably always be that way.

Yep, that is me to a tee. Grew up around Dallas Texas and spent many a Saturday grubbing through the clearance section of the downtown Halfprice Books, Records & Tapes store on Northwest Highway. LOVED finding a great novel for $1 or even better when they were trying to unload overstock and marked them down to 50 cents. Would walk out with books tumbling out of my arms and spend the next month reading them all.

Have tried to keep up with these, so I hope this is not a repeat, but the person below me usually reads more than one book at a time (one at home, one in the car, and one on the go - purse, backpack, or briefcase.)

I have a few that I just cannot part with. A hardcover edition of Agatha Christie's autobiography is one I read over and over and will never part with. Another is a first edition of Around the World with Auntie Mame (sequal to the original Auntie Mame novel). Apparently it was never originally published in hardcover for paper shortage reasons (?) and was first released in a small paperback printing. I also have a huge copy of the collected works of Dickens that is no collector's item, but is sentimental because it was the first book I saved up to buy while in high school. (Thats the kind of book geek I am, LOL)

Agatha Christie, probably because I read her autobiography every year. I feel like I already know so much about her, but would still love to talk with her about her plot designs.

The Biograph Girl - William Mann

Bagombo Snuff Box - Kurt Vonnegut

wish I still had my copy of this rather obscure title. have not read it in years, but it popped into my head.

The Treasure of the Sierra Madre - B. Traven

The Secret History - Donna Tartt

I always have a book (usually a collection of short stories or essays) in my car so if I arrive early (sometimes on purpose hehehe) somewhere I can take advantage of the time to read. Especially if I have to pick up someone after school. It does take a while to finish a book this way so I make sure it is something that is a collection as opposed to a page turner.

The Women in His Life - Barbara Taylor Bradford

My Life in Three Acts - Helen Hayes