This week Lizzie continues her Lent book ban, encountering the pressures of last minute course purchases and the allure of vintage book shops…
So this hasn’t been the most successful week. I’m sad to report that I have cheated, although, in my defence, it was necessary! The week started really well – I had cut down slightly on the time I spent browsing for books, but sadly, just as things were going my way, disaster hit. I realised I needed to buy a book for a module (and also have read it, but that’s a different story). Anyone who has experienced that sudden ‘I swear I’m forgetting something’ feeling will be able to relate to this, or any English students who have turned up to a lecture realising they don’t own the book in the possession of the person next to them.
“It hasn’t been that long since I last bought a book, but it made me realise how much I miss it!”
This required an emergency bending of the rules of this Lent challenge, as I can technically buy books for my course. Later that day, I spent more time that I should have browsing Amazon and Blackwell’s, eventually found it and bought it with only a moment’s hesitation (comforting myself with the fact that I genuinely did need this book for my module). It hasn’t been that long since I last bought a book, but it made me realise how much I miss it!
Although it didn’t quite have the same guilty pleasure in buying a book that you know you don’t need, but will look wonderful on your bookshelf until you finally get a minute to read it – not something that happens very often! Never mind, even though it was an essential course-related buy, it was a buy none the less!
“I saw a copy of Thomas Hardy’s Jude the Obscure and was on the verge of buying it”
The second temptation came in the form of a weekend in Bath and anyone who knows this lovely city will be aware of all the quaint vintage book stores located on pretty much every corner. Resisting this was tricky, as I saw a copy of Thomas Hardy’s Jude the Obscure and was on the verge of buying it. I seriously came so close as this has been on my to-read list for years! But with my purse intact and a bitter-sweet feeling of victory, I left the adorable little book store in favour of coffee instead as I distracted myself with Jane Austen themed cups and bags. Surely next week won’t pose the same disasters!
To be continued…
Lizzie Robinson
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