Tudor History Lovers discussion
OCD for Books - Support Group
Thank you thank you ladies, I feel so loved! Oh, while I was away I made my usual mandatory trip to the used book store with my friend I was staying with. As we drove away she acutally asked me if I was planning on *actually* reading all those books I just bought. I had to laugh, I immediately thought of our discussion earlier on this thread!
I used to have my books on display, for me, to remind me what I had read and I never used to throw them away.It started with my parents, too mean to buy me books in the 1970's their shelves were bare. I had to read any old rubbish from the library or from school. I tried to get good books, but sometimes read things just cos they were free.
I decided when I turned 18 that I was going to read like mad, and keep all my books...I did until I was 30 but sadly I got an eye disorder and part of it was an allergy to house dust mites but also, book mites. My paperbacks were yellow and eaten and creating book mite excrement to appear....so I had to throw the lot away.
Well, I donated to charity, probably near a thousand books. They came and collected them in boxes with a van for Oxfam. This was for my local shop. Then I proudly took a friend to oxfam, to show him where my old books had gone (in case he wanted to buy one for a few pence) and there were NONE of my old books in sight. I asked them where they were and did not get a satisfactory answer!
Where do charity books go? And when I have read a book....it has to go somewhere....but who will adopt them? I can't afford to post them, I put them on sale on ebay for a low price...but no-one buys them?
So although I have OCD on wanting everything I have read on my real shelves, I am now obssessed with adding books to Goodreads shelf and have reached about 550 so far....but there are hundreds if not thousands more....does anyone else feel wierd about their collection of books on here not reflecting ALL that they have read? I am obssessed about looking for titles, and remembering missed ones now
Erssie
You need to join www.paperbackswap.com/. You put up what books you have to trade and get a credit, for a book of your choice, everytime someone asks for one of yours. You now shop for someething you want to read.You do have to pay shipping for books you're sending but you can mail from home. You print the postage off the site. Several people on Goodreads also belong to paperbackswap. Great way to get rid of books you've read but don't want to keep.
Well, my latest obsession is buying Plaidy's books that have been reprinted by Arrow pub.The covers are awesome but they are only available from the UK. Abe books has the best prices. It's terrible but I'm all about covers! I've replaced books I already own, just to have the nicer cover.
Rationally it's stupid but nothing is rational when it comes to books!!!!
Erssie, welcome to the group and no cheek intended, that was a heartwarming story. Give us you ebay handle and you may find buyers in the group, a lot of us are obsessed with collecting any coveted book we can get out hands on!I am sorry to hear about your eyes, it's not the same but at least you can perhaps take small comfort in audiobooks :)
I don't like paperback swap personally but that's just me. I love www.swaptree.com and I have always had great luck selling my unwanted books on amazon.com
Audiobooks are good for me, as I knit and need something to listen to but I do find my attention wandering a bit and keep rewinding.I will eventually get a sony e-book reader or something like that, as I am trying to ban paper from my home.
However there are not enough titles available at the moment for good prices via ebooks, so paperbacks it is. I will try out a swap group. But am not always able to get to post office in time for requests as I don't live near one, that can be a problem for promising to post within 24 hours or so.
I was interested to see the excitement about tudor London, and people wanting to visit. I live in London, and am ashamed to say have never been inside the Tower or been to Hatfield house yet!
I have dogs, and visiting stately homes means gardens have to accept the pooches but some homes won't have them.
I was interested to read though, that Henry VIII had a special baker just to make the greyhounds loaves of bread, he made about 80 or so a day apparently! Sorry, am going a bit OT now.
Erssie
Erssie
Erssie
Erssie, i've been looking at ereaders too, because of the easiness to get books. So far, the kindle has the most titles that I'm looking for, but the Sony one is cheaper. *Sigh* I love audiobooks! I always fall asleep to them. Unfortunately, i'm such a visual learner that I can't listen to a book without reading it first. For some reason, it just doesn't get into my brain if I haven't seen the actual text. And you have to go to the Tower!! It's incredible!! I love London, I have to say I'm jealous that you live there! :)
I just use my ipod and itunes, though you have to search for them, has plenty of podcasts and audiobooks for free. The library always has books on tape, not always the most up to date selection I have found. Some sites to try:www.AudiobookStand.com
www.TheAudioBookStore.com
www.Audible.com
Aly, I can only get to sleep by watching TV or a movie but it bugs my husband so I have taken to listening to books on my ipod, I love it.
I tend to see historic buildings from the outside, and I don't do the touristy things in London.When I first came here, I was so much more interested in subcultures and art and fashion of the underground variety that I didn't get into historical stuff. Now I have been here 20 yrs, we rarely do touristy type things.
First on my list is Hatfield House.
Then Hever Castle.
We did have a date to do Hever Castle on my birthday (I went there before on my 18th birthday...ahem....a good few years ago now). The recent trip was cancelled. Sadly my partner has a dodgy leg. I might go alone, and then just sketch stuff as I like designing textiles and love historical influences to things.
Erssie
Oo that's awesome that you sketch and like designing! I'm miserable with a pencil, but I'm a photographer, so my camera comes with me everywhere! I didn't make it to Hever when I was England. i really wanted to go, but ran out of time. I didn't think that the Westminster Abbey was going to take as long as it did. Hampton Court is incredibly huge. i was disappointed that more of the original palace wasn't around. *sigh* But I took an entire day to go to the Tower. I know that most people could probably go around it in a little over two hours, but we even ate lunch there because I didn't want to leave!Colleen, that's how I am too! I have to have something playing otherwise I can't sleep, so audiobooks are perfect. Last night I listened to Innocent Traitor! Or part of it anyway. My ipod was the best thing I have ever bought! I have an account with Audible, they have everything! I bought The Autobiography of Henry VIII by Margaret George about six months ago.
I have to get onto swaptree!
Um... I have a confession. I've 'hurt' one of my books. LOL
I was reading The Wives of Henry VIII the other night (Fraser's) and as reading has been taking over my life I decided to try to multitask but still keep reading. So what did I decide to do? Paint my stupid nails. Of course you can see where this is going... deep purple *%&!?$# nailpolish all over my book. So what was the next step? How do I fix it? Yup, nail polish remover. That takes nail polish off right? lol yeah a little but then of course it ran through the pages which wouldn't have been so bad had there not been picture pages a few pages after that. The ink ran through and stained more pages. Sigh. Believe it or not... it gets better. I was trying to get the stain off and then ended up smudging my wet nails on the pages AGAIN.
After all this I thought... well, at least that's the worst that can happen, right?
Nope...
I checked the inside cover.
It was a First Edition...
Oh boy...
Jennifer wrote: "Um... I have a confession. I've 'hurt' one of my books. LOL
I was reading The Wives of Henry VIII the other night (Fraser's) and as reading has been taking over my life I decided to try to mul..."
AHHHH! sorry Jennifer, that stinks. I get upset if my edges get a little worn or a bug lands in my book needing to be killed. A have major OCD about howmy books look, I always use a cover so as to not damage the cover.
LOL..That is sooo funny Jennifer. Poor book though...LOLAre you reading too many books at once ?
Yup... 4 and they're all good so I just don't know what else to do I know Susan! Me too. So unlike me normally....
The horror, Jennifer we feel your pain! Did hubby have any sympathy or did he laugh at the incedent?Suasn, funny you should mention bugs. I love nothing more than to sit outside with a book and I have noticed lately thee tiny little ants on the pages of my copy of wives. It's hard to just brush them off instead of smooshing them then mourning the ant guts on my precious book.
No actually hubby knows to sympathize. He said 'oh, you poor thing, you must have had a terrible night!' and actually said it seriously. He was in bed already. Lucky him! lolUgh... bug guts on books are terrible!
Awww, it's good to have a husband that may not understand but sympathizes with you being upset. Kudos for Jennifer's husband!
Yay Hubby :)He's a keeper for sure... one that never reads a book but lets me read as many as I want without ever complaining about it ;)
High five for Jennifer's loving husband!
Sounds like mine. Never reads himself. He says I'm obsessed with buying books but that it's a good obsession that he supports.
Hurray for amazing partners!!! I got a package today from Amazon and I hadn't ordered anything from there in awhile. Turns out, my boyfriend bought me a book that I have been wanting for six months!!! Hurray!!!!
Awww - what good partners you guys all have!! Yay for the supportive boys! I think mine is coming around; my latest box of books arrived last night and my boyfriend was actually (and genuinely) happy to go and get the box for me, and to see me happy with my new treasures... which, by the way, includes Weir's Children of Henry VIII recommended by this wonderful group!
OO!! Thats such a great book, Paula!!! And that's awesome that he got the box for you!
Aw, Aly; nothing better than surprise books! What did he get you?
Yay for our partners! :)I go home all smiles when I've found new treasures and thinks it's so cute how happy I am.
Paula wrote: "Awww - what good partners you guys all have!! Yay for the supportive boys! I think mine is coming around; my latest box of books arrived last night and my boyfriend was actually (and genuinely) hap..."Congrats Paula!
Aly wrote: "Hurray for amazing partners!!! I got a package today from Amazon and I hadn't ordered anything from there in awhile. Turns out, my boyfriend bought me a book that I have been wanting for six mont..."Now that it wonderful! I'm not sure I've just received a book a wanted out of the blue. You lucky dog, you!!!!
It was Man and Monarchy by David Starkey. I saw it when we were in London, and for some reason didn't buy it. Its even more beautiful than I remember!! It's the catalogue of the exhibits that happened at the British Library as well as pieces of some others (like portraits and stuff). Its so cool, because there are letters from Henry to Anne, Henry's birth certificate, and a bunch of other documents. I couldn't put it down last night!
I'm envious. I've heard quite a lot about the book and it seems like a treasure.
O yes!! The entire thing is pictures (which I LOVE!). They even enlarge some of Henry's letters so you can attempt to read them!!! He had HORRIBLE handwriting!! and of course, the spelling is completely different. David Starkey has a commentary throughout the whole thing citing mostly his books, but he throws in a cite or two from some other authors. There are sketches and engravings that i have never seen before. Amazing!!!
That sounds like the next best thing to having the luxery of living in London and being able to go see everything IRL.
I joined this group as an Tudor newbie in October. Little did I know that reading The Innocent Traitor would start an addiction. In a little over one month, I've joined several more history groups, have added countless books on my amazon wishlist, and have purchased even more--I just can't get enough! I want to read about everyone at once! I read about one person/time period, get excited about exploring more about someone mentioned, then when I'm reading about them, I find someone else I'm interested. It's like a never ending rabbit trail :-) And then, these groups are like a double edged sword--I love them (this one, european royalty, a history of royals, and historical fictionistas), but being part of them has done serious harm to my wallet. I keep meaning to not buy books to save up to replace my ipod that broke, but I can't stop myself from hitting the purchase button on amazon! My name is Tina and I have OCD for books.
Hi, Tina! I know exactly what you are talking about!!!!Colleen, its incredible. It's so much like the exhibits that I saw, its amazing!! (Its a good thing too, because in a lot of the exhibits photography isn't allowed, so this helps me to have a record of it!)
Welcome to the club Tina, you are among fellow addicts. Sorry to say there does not seem to be a cure :).
Ah Tina, we are all too familliar; you have been bitten with the Tudor bug. There seems to be no cure because no one is looking for one ;)Aly, I hate that! Seeing incredible history in person and not being able to take pics is even worse when they don't provide pics for purchase. Thank God for that book!
I just got in a huge box of books that I can't get on kindle. I'm so excited--The Children of Henry VIII by Weir is in it! Yay! :-)
Tina, you've got to read that one and Memoirs of Cleopatra first. They're both fabulous!
Tina wrote: "I just got in a huge box of books that I can't get on kindle. I'm so excited--The Children of Henry VIII by Weir is in it! Yay! :-)"I recently acquired The Children of Henry VIII by Weir as well - perhaps we could do a buddy read sometime in the new year??
I would love to do that Paula, maybe in February or something?
February sounds great - December and January are getting pretty full for books, but I don't want to wait much longer either. Thanks!!
Tina wrote: "I joined this group as an Tudor newbie in October. Little did I know that reading The Innocent Traitor would start an addiction. In a little over one month, I've joined several more history group..."I looove that Tina, I have something like that on my profile!
I love that you both admit your addiction and own it!
Colleen wrote: "Thanks Susan C.! "You're Welcome, from a fellow addict!
I know Susan, Colleen is my idol. Like Tina, before I joined Tudor Lovers I was interested in the Tudors. Now I am addicted, and my sister is always teasing me about the number of Tudor related books on my TBR.
Lyn M wrote: "I know Susan, Colleen is my idol. Like Tina, before I joined Tudor Lovers I was interested in the Tudors. Now I am addicted, and my sister is always teasing me about the number of Tudor related b...""Great minds think alike"
*blush* thanks Lyn! I swear I felt like some medical oddity before I joined this group. Now I can post any tiny Tudor thing ant any time and not feel like a nerd. It was good to not be alone in my joy when I reached one (IRL) bookshelf full of Tudor books and had to create sub-catagories (bio's and HF).
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I'm so glad your books are out in the fresh air, waiting to be read, and admired on their shelves.
Enjoy