450 new books in one week
In the last week I’ve acquired more than 450 books. They’re all stacked in piles in my conservatory; separated into fiction/non fiction and further sorted into adult/children; true crime, fiction; sport, biography/autobiography etc. At a rough estimate this lot would cost more than £3,000 new.
They’re not going to be added to my TBR however. In fact I sincerely hope their time with me will be short lived.
In case you think I’ve flipped due to an over-indulgence of chocolate this weekend, I should explain that this mountain of books is all destined for a book sale I’m organising in April in aid of the community library we’ll be opening in my village in June. It’s our first fund raising event and we thought what could be more appropriate for a library than to bring people together who love books. Donations have been coming in all week – I know there are more to come – so all we need now is for a few people to come and buy.
It’s been rather fascinating to see what kind of books my neighbours gathered together as their contributions. I was expecting to get multiple copies of crime fiction from the likes of James Patterson and Jo Nesbo but we’ve not had one even. What I didn’t expect was to find some of my neighbours are fascinated by true crime – I think we’ve had books on everyone from the Moors murderers (my UK readers will be very familiar with that notorious couple) to the reformed drug dealer Howard Marks and the organized gangs who stir up trouble in football matches. I never realised that the quiet little man who I see in the newsagent every Sunday was so much into this kind of world. Nor the chap who sits in the pub doing his crossword over a pint, is such a world traveller – his donation was full of travel guides on places like Vietnam, Sweden, Russia. Thailand as well as long distance cycle paths.
No-one has been brave enough to hand over copies of 50 Shades of Grey yet though. I know they’re out there because they keep turning up in the charity shops. In fact one of those had so many copies they built a fort from them and appealed to people not to give them any more!
I really hope all our books get sold otherwise I might need to start getting creative myself.
What a fantastic project! For a good cause and you get to learn about what books other people are reading 🙂
The unfortunate thing is I will not be at the sale myself so will have to rely on others to keep me posted on how it’s going
I am amazed you know the numbers of all your books! I have not stopped to count, I think I would be overwhelmed by the sheer volume (wink, wink) though I try to sort through every summer. It’s a blessing and a challenge all at once, isn’t it?
I know lots of bloggers view a large TBR as a problem but Ive stopped thinking of the, as anything other than my own library of delights
I thought maybe you had gone on some sort of wild and crazy book buying binge! How fantastic you have collected so many books for a sale. And how clever of you to be the place to drop them off so you get first look! Funny the things you learn about your neighbors on occasions like these!
I can do binge buying with the best of them but this would indeed have been crazy…
Best of luck; great idea and a good cause. I thought the fort was yours as others did, but kind of glad when you said it was one book – 50 Shades or not it’d be hard to sell so many copies of just one book.
impossible I would think Charlie especially since the other charity shops in the city will likely have multiple copies too
It would be so interesting to get a look at what your neighbours are reading!
Good luck with the sale! And, glad to hear you haven’t been overladen with 50 Shades….
i never bought 50 shades myself nor have any desire to buy/read it. how it ever got published is a mystery
Someone knew it would sell! And they were right. I haven’t read it, either.
I was really hoping that fort was something you built! Good luck with the book sale!
knowing my construction skills my fort would look rather more wonky
For a minute there I thought you were going to have to join me in my challenge!!
i’m not even in the same league as you Cathy
Good luck and I hope you raise lots of money. Great picture of 50 shades fort.
I’d heard many charities complain about getting multiple copies of the same book (Da Vinci code was one I think) but never imagined it was as bad as that picture indicated
Best of luck with the community library. I do a spot of volunteering at our local one every now and again – it can be very rewarding. 🙂
It does seem like a lot of fun. Just a pity a local library is not considered important enough for our local government body to fund it themselves.
My advice is to price them very low. I’m always willing to pay more to a second-hand bookshop where I know they have to pay rent and a salary to someone but I expect to pay a lot less than that at a car boot sale or village stall.
Start with what you’d be willing to pay for them, and then halve it or more. Better to get rid of the lot than to be left with them afterwards!
we’ve had multiple discussions about pricing and ended up going in the main for £1 a paperback and £2 a hardback for adult level books and half that for children. But we’ll judge on the day and do some discounting as the end gets closer….
Good luck, I hope it goes well:)
I always found oxfam’s £3 per paperback was a little too steep for my liking, but I was prepared to pay a little more (£4/£5) for a speciality hardback, say, a needlework book. You might get away with £1.50/£2.50, but it’s your decision!
Hope you make buckets of money! That 50 Shades pic made me laugh so much.
whoever came up with that idea has a very creative mind and and lot of patience. i keep wondering how many times it fell over before they got to the final version
Good luck with the book sale 🙂
thanks Jessica. once this is over we need to start on our next fund raiser – and the next and the next …
Hope the book sale goes well, and good luck with opening the village library. Good for you for taking an active role!
It’s a role that was forced on us Rebecca – either we took over the library or it closed
Sounds like the sale will be a success!
certainly hope there are people who buy books and not just donate them
Perhaps someone will leave one on your doorstep in a plain brown wrapper
then i’ll just have to put on my Miss Marple hat and track down the culprit
450! That’s fantastic! Hope you guys raise lots of money!
I remember spotting some four copies of 50 Shades at my library’s recent sale!
The stephanie Meyers series seem to turn up a lot too
For a second I worried it is all for you :). What a great initiative! I wish i could come over and buy some to support the library!
i wish you could too!
That first sentence had me hyperventilating….. Are you going to see if there are any that appeal to you???
I was afraid I would end up spotting so many I wanted but so far nothing has really grabbed me (phew)