The Book Lover's Storage Box That Inspired An Epitaph

About once a month I venture out of my office to restock the bookstore shelves. Most of my book buying travels take me directly into people's homes and quite often I find myself being offered more than just books to purchase. Vinyl records, DVDs, CDs and videos are the usual bonus offerings, most of which I refuse, but occasionally something more interesting pops up. Last week I was given the opportunity to purchase a home made storage box that featured the title and author of the maker's favourite books. Even though it was a bit knocked around this kind of one-off creation was right up my alley, so for just $5 AUD I couldn't refuse.

The book titles featured are The Golden Bowl, Gone With the Wind, On the Road, The Lord of the Flies, Portnoy's Complaint, Native Son, Possession and A Clockwork Orange. The top of the box is a painted illustration of some books and a lamp all resting on a table. When viewed from the side the lid of the box is actually a book laying down. The most endearing feature of this little treasure chest is also one of its' major flaws. Whoever painted the titles of the books didn't do a great proofreading job and instead of painting Gone With the Wind they mistakenly painted Gone With Wind. This could very well be the perfect epitaph for my husband's grave!

What Types of Books Do You Like to Collect?

In my line of work I am constantly amazed at the weird and wonderful types of books people like to collect. You always come across the bibliophiles who collect things like modern first editions. These collectors are the norm. It’s the offbeat ones that always raise an eyebrow for me. I’m intrigued to know why they collect what they collect, and how their obsession started. Today, for instance, I had a customer call who wanted me to compile a list of books we had available that had blue spines. Seems he was collecting them to create some sort of arty wall feature slash bookcase. And, only last week I fielded an enquiry from a lady who collected children’s books that had butterflies on the cover. Turns out she collects them so that she can cut out the illustrations for craft projects. Sacrilegious, I know! My favourite of all time though is the guy who collected books with the last page missing. I don’t mean the blank endpapers at the end of most books. I mean the last text page! He collected them because he found it amusing to read a book and not know the real ending. I never quite worked out why he didn't just rip out the last page of every book he came across. Each to their own, I guess! It got me to thinking what other crazy book collecting habits are out there in the book-o-sphere.

My own book collecting habits are of the more mundane kind. When I was a teenager I collected the Trixie Belden detective books. I’m still fuming that my mother consented to lend them to a friend and they were never to be seen again. I then went through a funny phase of collecting any books that had my name in the title. How very self indulgent of me? Again, I was just a teenager and in my defence had recently fallen in love with the novel Forever Amber, so it seemed only logical that I’d be just as smitten with every other book with ‘Amber’ in the title. This theory was soon debunked after I read Elizabeth Lowell’s, Amber Beach (apologies to all Elizabeth Lowell fans out there). The Hare with Amber Eyes is the next title on my book club list and it’s got rave reviews, so there may be life left in this particular book fetish yet. It won’t surprise you to know that now-a-days I collect books written by people who run, or have run, second-hand or antiquarian bookstores. You’d think this would be a fairly narrow sub-genre, but actually there are quite a lot of books out there on the topic. It seems nearly every second-hand bookstore owner puts pen to paper eventually. I also collect books written by the great sporting coaches. I’m a netball coach myself and am always looking to be inspired by the words of the masters. I collect them because the good ones seem to be few and far between, and because I’m always inclined to re-read them when I’m low on confidence. Last but not least, I collect any books that deal with the history and current social plight of Aboriginal Australians. For me, this last obsession is all about trying to fill the gap that my white Australian education created. Sorry to end on such a serious note!

So fess up! What types of books do you like to collect, and why? Or, dob in a friend! They’ll never know.

Notes in the Margin: Good or Bad?

I’ve had a copy of Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom sitting on my shelf to read for some time. This particular copy of the book was originally in my second hand bookstore inventory, but I removed it because firstly I wanted to read it, and secondly because in my view it was close to unsellable. Almost every page had notes in the margins, pink highlighted passages or underlined quotes. You can see what I mean in the image to your left. Most book sellers view this as book vandalism bordering on the sacrilegious, but I’ve always found myself hanging around the fringes in this debate. On the one hand, I agree that good clean second hand copies of books make for easy selling and easy reading. On the other hand, I sometimes find things like inscriptions from previous owners on the inside front page of a book endearing. These kind of markings show that a book has been loved, enjoyed and devoured, and give the book a sense of character beyond its’ content.

So what about my copy of Tuesdays with Morrie? Did the notes in the margins enhance or detract from my reading experience? The book on its own is brilliant. So brilliant, that I can’t resist giving it a massive plug. It should be on everyone’s must read list and that’s that! The book itself took me on a journey, but the notes in the margin told another story and I found myself simultaneously getting to know Morrie and Mitch, as well as the anonymous jotter. It was like solving a mystery where each scribble gave me further insight into the person behind it. Whilst I will never know the true name or nature of the anonymous jotter, I have formed a picture in my head. In my head, the mystery person is a “she” and she was at the time studying to be a nurse. I imagine that she wanted to work in palliative care and that she was fascinated by the transition of a patient from illness into death. She is compassionate, caring, empathetic and intuitive. She is spiritual and is looking for direction and guidance in her life. She wants to be more present and the book seemed to be providing her with the tools to accomplish that.

It’s safe to say that I could be severely off base here and that my psychoanalysis is more the result of a rampant imagination than actual perception, but it doesn’t matter. What matters is how it made me feel about my reading experience. The book alone took me on a spiritual journey, but the notes in the margin made me feel like a good friend was travelling with me, and we all know how much better a holiday is when you have someone to enjoy it with.

What about you? Have you had any similar reading experiences? And, what are your thoughts on notes in the margin. I imagine the general reading public is divided on the issue, but nonetheless I’d like to hear what you think, or what your preferences are.

Reading Habit’s Five Best Selling Historical Naval Fiction Authors

On a recent book purchasing spree I was lucky enough to purchase a whole stack of different nautical fiction titles to boost our online second hand bookstore catalogue. It got me thinking about how a niche genre had maintained such a fanatically dedicated reader base for over a century. The naval fiction genre is littered with writing superstars who show unusual longevity and are incredibly prolific in terms of the number of titles they have penned. With my interest peaked I set out to find an online list of the top 10 best selling naval fiction authors of all time, but came up empty. I contemplated putting together a list of my own, but thought my selections might get crucified by the die-hard fans. Let’s face it! With such a rich catalogue of authors and works to choose from, I’ve no doubt naval fiction fans could argue forever about who the top ten authors of all time are. What I can write about with authority are the authors that sell the most consistently through our online bookstore. Accordingly, this piece will shine a brief light on five of Reading Habit’s best selling naval adventure fiction authors.

Let’s start with one of the definite front runners for best nautical author, Patrick O’Brian, an English novelist who is best remembered for his 20-novel Aubrey-Maturin series set in the Napoleonic wars. O’Brian was born in Buckinghamshire in 1914, the eighth of nine children. He lived a sheltered life with only sporadic education, but began writing from the age of 12. After the war, O’Brian lived a quiet life in the Wales countryside living off the small income he earned from his fledgling writing career and his work translating French texts into English. His early writings were published under his birth name, Richard Patrick Russ, before he changed his surname to O’Brian in 1945. O’Brian hit the big time in the early 1970s when the first books in the Aubrey-Maturin series were published. O’Brian’s work in this series was well researched showing an attention to detail and historical authenticity that still holds his work in high regard today. So much so, that the series was re-released in the 1990s to popular reception, and in 1995 O’Brian was awarded the inaugural Heywood Hill Literary Prize for his life work. O’Brian lived to the age of 86, passing away in Dublin in the year 2000 with a 21^st instalment in the series partially finished. Unfortunately, he did not live to see his Aubrey-Maturin characters come to life on the big screen in Master and Commander, starring Russell Crowe, released in 2003. Click here to view our current catalogue of Patrick O'Brian titles.

Did someone say Hornblower? Horatio Hornblower is quite possibly one of the most beloved of all naval fiction characters and we have none other than C. S. Forester (and British ITV) to thank for that. Born Cecil Louis Troughton Smith in Cairo, Egypt, in 1899, C.S. Forester was an English novelist who wrote many nautical novels, but was most noted for his 11-book Horatio Hornblower series, set once again in that golden age of sail, the Napoleonic era. Forester was writing from an early age and was awarded the James Tait Black Memorial Prize for his two novels A Ship of the Line and Flying Colours in 1938. Throughout his career Forester also wrote many novels of the non-nautical kind several of which were made into movies. The best known of these was The African Queen starring Katherine Hepburn and Humphrey Bogart. Forester lived most of his life in England before moving to the United States during World War II. While living in Washington he met a young Roald Dahl and is said to be the person who encouraged Dahl to write his first book. Forester died in California in 1966.  Thirty seven years later a lost Forester manuscript titled The Pursued was sold at auction. Just recently Penguin Books announced they would be publishing the book in early 2012 much to the delight of Forester fans everywhere. Click here to view our current catalogue of C S Forester titles.

Given that Dudley Pope was inspired by the works of C S Forester and has often been compared to Patrick O’Brian, it seems fitting that he is next on the list. Pope was born in Kent in 1925 and though he wrote many history texts, he was most famous for his nautical series featuring Lord Ramage as the central hero. Like many naval writers, Pope gained first-hand knowledge of his genre when he faked his age to join the Home Guard at 14 then joined the merchant navy at age 16. After just one year at sea, Pope’s ship was torpedoed in 1942 and he was lucky to come away with his life, spending two weeks in a lifeboat with a small group of other survivors. On being rescued he was discharged and went to work in newspapers as a naval correspondent. Writing naval history was his first love and he published his first title, Flag 4, in 1954. He tired away at this subject for almost 20 years before moving into nautical fiction after some encouragement from his mentor, C S Forester. And so it was that in 1965 the world was introduced to Pope’s first instalment in the 18-novel series featuring Lord Ramage, aptly titled Ramage. Pope spent most of his later life living onboard vessels where he did most of his writing. He was taken from us in April 1997, but has left an incredible legacy of both fiction and non-fiction titles. Click here to view our current catalogue of Dudley Pope titles.

On the home front, J. E. MacDonnell flies the flag as Australia’s most prolific and best loved novelist of the sea. As a boy, MacDonnell dreamed of becoming a seafarer and entered the Royal Australian Navy at age 17 where he spent 14 years. MacDonnell began writing in 1942 whilst still on active service and his first novel, Fleet Destroyer, was published in 1945 by The Book Depot. MacDonnell was also a staff member for The Bulletin between 1948 and 1956 for whom he wrote short stories. In 1956, MacDonnell began writing for Horwitz full-time and often churned out upwards of 10 novels a year. In total, MacDonnell wrote over 200 novels in at least 7 different series under various pen names. His most popular fictional characters were Captain ‘’Dutchy” Holland, Captain Peter Bentley, Captain Bruce Sainsbury, and Jim Brady. The Horwitz Naval series is what MacDonnell was most famous for but he also dabbled in the crime, medical, juvenile and espionage genres as well. MacDonnell passed away in Queensland in 2002, aged 84. Click here to view our current catalogue of J E MacDonnell titles.

Until I began trading in used books I’d never heard of Douglas Reeman, nor had I heard of Alexander Kent. I’m a little ashamed to say that even after becoming familiar with their work it took me quite a while to discover they were both one in the same. Douglas Reeman is another of those British naval authors. Born in 1924 he joined the Royal Navy at just 16, serving in both World War II and the Korean War. Not surprisingly, Reeman drew on his first-hand naval experience to write historical nautical fiction set mainly in World War II and the Napoleonic era. Reeman’s debut novel A Prayer for the Ship was published in 1958, but it is Reeman’s Napoleonic series featuring the central character of Richard Bolitho, written under the pseudonym of Alexander Kent, that is his most popular. It is interesting to note that the pen name of Alexander Kent was actually the name of Reeman’s fellow naval officer and friend who was killed in World War II. There are currently 30 novels in the Bolitho series including the most recent published in 2011, In the King’s Name. With Reeman still writing novels at age 87, Bolitho fans will be sated for some time to come. Click here to view our current catalogue of Douglas Reeman titles. Click here to view our current catalogue of Alexander Kent titles.

There are, of course, many other historical naval fiction authors, both past and present, that could have been included, but these five represent the bulk of purchases our customers make within the genre. There are also many popular authors who I haven’t touched on, like Tom Clancy and Patrick Robinson, who straddle many different genres. Suffice to say, the naval fiction genre is in a healthy state.

If you are interested in browsing through our online catalogues of second hand naval fiction books just click through here to our bookstore search page and look under Action/Adventure Fiction.

101 Things to Do With a Reader's Digest Condensed Book

Reader's Digest Condensed Books are breeding in my storage shed. I've got no idea how I've come to have so many in stock, yet there they are piled high to the rafters. All I can assume is that for everyone who donates books to my shop they slip in a few Reader's Digest. I certainly don't buy them for my bookstore because I can't sell the ruddy things, not even for 50 cents at a local market. They're virtually unsellable which if you ask me is a mystery unto itself. I mean, there are obviously heaps of people who buy them brand new otherwise they wouldn't be available second hand and they cost good money too. So why will no-one buy them for next to nothing second hand? Wouldn't it make more sense to not buy brand new, save yourself thirty bucks and pick-up a second hand copy for $1. Go figure?

Anyway, with no real practical idea for getting rid of the little blighters (other than disposing of them in the recycling section of my garbage) I've decided to come up with a totally impractical and completely silly way of using them. Thus, without further ado, I launch the 101 Things to Do With A Reader's Digest Condensed Book challenge and I need your help. I consider myself reasonably creative and am confident of coming up with a few ideas, but I thought it might be more fun to get your ideas. We'll be putting selected ideas into practice every couple of days and we promise to provide visual proof. Just post a comment here to have your suggestion considered and we will do our best to get around to it. Even if you don't make a suggestion for the list, make sure you visit the blog regularly to see what novelty ideas other people have come up with. Challenge accepted!!

What's on the Book Vine #1: Ita Buttrose and Cleo Magazine

Following the surprising success of ABC TVs Paper Giants: The Birth of Cleo, Ita Buttrose is definitely the current topic of many water cooler conversations. As an Australian woman who wasn't familiar with Ita's early work in journalism, I was certainly inspired by her trailblazing spunk and it seems I wasn't the only one. Since the TV show aired I have sold numerous copies of her autobiography A Passionate Life which was published in 1998 by Viking Books. Interestingly, some of these copies of Ita's book have been sitting on my book store shelf for years barely catching anyone's notice. This is what I love about the second hand book selling industry and it's appropriate here that I use a Heidi Klum fashion quote - "one minute you're in and the next you're out." Ita is definitely in!!

If you'd like to purchase a copy of Ita's book just click through to the Reading Habit website using this link - BUY: A Passionate Life (Ita Buttrose). And, if you missed the ABC series, you can still view it on ABC iView - Paper Giants: The Birth of Cleo (Episode 1).

Classic Book Follow Ons: Good or Bad?

I was cataloguing some books last week and came across the book you can see on your left - 60 Years Later: Coming Through the Rye (Buy it Now) by John David California. This unauthorised sequel to the classic cult novel Catcher in the Rye by J D Salinger, which revisits Holden Caulfield 60 years on, has been quite controversial. Personally I have no desire to read the book, preferring to remember Holden Caulfield just as he was in the original novel. But as I thought longer on the topic, I realised there are actually quite a lot of classic books that have been followed on (not by the original author). In fact, there's apparently a term for such books. They're called "Parallel Novels" and they can also be prequels, spin-offs etc. Some well-known examples include:

• Mrs De Winter by Susan Hill - sequel to Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier
• Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys - prequel to Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
• An Unequal Marriage by Emma Tennant - sequel to Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
• Scarlett by Alexandra Ripley - sequel to Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
• March by Geraldine Brooks - parallel novel to Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

There's obviously a market out there for these types of novels, but how do we all really feel about them? Have you read any of these types of books and did you enjoy them? Do they take away from the original book? Are they even necessary? I'd love to hear your thoughts on the subject.

Thanks For Your Input Into Our Packaging Debate!!

Our new business name has also meant new stationery and we've had lots of fun designing it!! We particularly wanted to mention our brand new packaging sticker. Following many thoughtful responses to an earlier Reading Habit post ("Book Packaging - Brand New or Recycled - Help Please!!") we decided to take your advice and stick with our recycled packaging policy. We also listened to suggestions from our blog fans as well as our customers across the twitter, facebook and Book Blog communities. Among these suggestions was the idea of creating a little sticker to go on our book parcels that would explain our use of recycled materials. We loved the idea and ran with it, the result being the sticker you see on your left, complete with a cute little verse. So a BIG THANKS from Reading Habit to all those who commented. Your feedback has been invaluable and we really appreciate it.

Our New Business Name and Logo - Your Thoughts???

After 10 years operating as Ambire Secondhand Books, we've decided to spice things up a little and revamp our brand. As of November 2010 we will be trading under the new business name of Reading Habit with the short but sweet slogan 'Feed Yours'. We love our new look logo and slogan so much that we thought we'd get your thoughts on it early in this blog post. Let us know what you think!!

Please Tell Me Chivalrous Males Aren't Just Romantic Fiction??

Yes this is a grotesque picture!! And you may be wondering what it has to do, if anything, with chivalry let alone books. I promise I'll get there. I was trawling through some old photos the other day and came across this beauty, taken long before I was ever blogging. Just looking at the picture had me seething because it reminded me all to vividly of what I can only describe as one of the worst book buying experiences I've ever had. So I thought I might share it with you.

I go out book buying to replenish stock for my online store about once a fortnight. Normally this involves going directly to peoples homes in my local area. Quite often I am purchasing large libraries of second hand books that require packing into boxes and transference into my van. I will acknowledge that for the most part the clientele I see are older men and women who I would never expect to help me with heavy lifting. What I do expect is for 30-something males, or females for that matter, to at least offer assistance. Given the following experience, I am clearly delusional.

Last year I frequented the home of a local male in his 30s who appeared to have all four of his limbs. His house was built on a very steep incline and after much wheel spinning I succumbed to the realisation that I was never going to get my van up the driveway. I went through the usual transaction process of buying books, packed them into boxes, and then proceeded to start carrying the books down to my van, wrongly assuming that said 30-something male would grab a box or two himself. For 30 minutes I lugged over 800 books up and down the driveway. It was hard yakka, including at least 30 steps, and a slippery driveaway on a 45 degree angle. Not once did said male offer a helping hand, but he graciously watched me, keeping up a running commentary that included me falling arse over tit down the driveway with a box full of books. The result = above photo.

One would think that after incurring the above injury said male might come to my rescue. Wrong again!! He proceeded to watch as blood poured out of my hand and then handed me a dirty rag. Would you be shocked to know that despite still having 10 boxes to carry down to the van, said male still did nothing? By this time I wasn't. So me and my chundered finger stoically finished the job, eyes glazed over in fury, and drove home.....totally bemused. My only consoling thought was that I had the strength not to cry through the whole ordeal. My husband was horrified when I told him the story. I even considered taking him on a drive-by the clients house to demonstrate the sheer ludicrousness of that god-awful driveway. One year on, my finger has healed, and I now sport a scar reminiscent of a sailing boat that will forever remind me that chivalry, not to mention plain old good manners, are definitely taking a nose dive in the 21st century. Thank god I'm married to one of the good ones who still understands the concept.

BOOK PACKAGING - Brand New or Recycled - Help Please!!

Since opening my store in 2001, I have always packaged books for mail-out using recycled cardboard and bubble wrap. I make sure that whatever we use is clean and durable enough to protect the books on their journey through the post (which is often a bumpy one). My philosophy has always been that if we can use recycled packing material then we are not only reducing the end cost for the buyer, but also the environmental impact of our business. In almost 10 years of operation, we have received no complaints about this packaging method.

The only negative I see with using recycled materials is that upon opening their parcel the buyer is not presented with visually appealing packaging. Let's face it, recycled cardboard and bubble wrap can look a little scruffy. The only solution to this negative impression that I can come up with is to have a small sticker made to put on the packaging highlighting the environmental benefit of using recycled materials (and my logo of course).

After some web surfing, I've noticed that among my secondhand bookselling counterparts there are some pretty extreme views on packaging. Most believe that brand new packaging is best as it leaves the buyer with the best buying experience. However, I wonder whether in a climate change conscious world my little sticker might, in fact, pack more punch.

So I thought I'd ask your thoughts on the matter. What kind of impression would recycled packaging have on you if you opened such a parcel? Is my sticker idea a good one? All feedback, pro or con, is welcome and thanks in advance for helping me out.

We've Won a Versatile Blog Award - Yay!!

Feed Your Reading Habit has just won our first ever Versatile Blogger Award (actually it's our first blog award full stop....but there's no need to quibble). A big thanks to The Book Bee for bestowing us with this wonderful honour. The best thing about this award is that it exposes all of us in the wide world of blogging to new and previously undiscovered book blog treasures. The award requires the recipient to: thank and link back to the blog that granted you the award; share 7 interesting things about yourself; bequeath the award to another 15 deserved blogger's; and contact the award recipients to let them know of their achievement. Quite frankly it's just one big self-promotion masquerading as a warm and fuzzy moment, but I love it!! So here are 7 interesting things about me. You'll recognise I've stuck with the booky theme.

1. I don't own an e-reader and don't want to, but I secretly want to try one out just so I can report how trully despicable they are from a well informed point of view.
2. My favourite place to read is in the bath with a glass of wine and as my current bathroom renovation is denying me this pleasure I am suffering a reading drought.
3. My secondhand bookstore is breeding Reader's Digest Condensed Books that no-one wants (even for 50 cents) so I am planning on making a coffee table out of them.
4. My husband congratulated himself on buying me an early edition of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice for our 'Paper' wedding anniversary. I don't have the heart to tell him that his $150 investment is only Volume 1 of the set.
5. My struggle with the Russian surnames in Anna Karenina have resulted in me trying to read this classic novel 5 times with no success. I am planning the next assault in a month or two.
6. The book that I never fail to recommend to everyone is We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver. It'll blow you away!!
7. Last but not least I confess to being a book vandal. Shock, horror, gasp of disbelief!! I dog-ear them, fill them with notes and inscriptions, spill coffee over them, shove them carelessly in my bag, bend the spines back, and use them as coasters. As far as I'm concerned a book absorbs part of the reader and I make sure I leave my mark and give every one a character injection of my own.

Now that you know a little bit more about my reading quirks, here are a couple of blogs I am awarding my Versatile Blog Awards to (in no particular order). Check them out!!

1. Suz's Space Blog
2. Stuck In a Book
3. The True Book Addict
4. Miss Snark, the literary agent - (Miss Snark no longer posts, but it's still a great blog!!)
5. LiteraryMinded
6. Fly the Falcon
7. BookHounds
8. Bibliophile Bullpen
9. The Book Bee
10. for.theloveofbooks.com
11. Terra On the Bookshelf
12. The Book Buff
13. The Mumpsimus
14. LibraryThing
15. BOOKSURFER

Enjoy perusing our award winners!!

A Book Joke - Never Argue With A Woman

I'm not a big fan of jokes, but there aren't many book related ones out there, so when I came across this via my bookstore email and it tickled my fancy just a little, I thought I'd share!! Here goes!!

One morning, the husband returns the boat to their lakeside cottage after several hours of fishing and decides to take a nap. Although not familiar with the lake, the wife decides to take the boat out. She motors out a short distance, anchors, puts her feet up, and begins to read her book. The peace and solitude are magnificent.

Along comes a Fish and Game Warden in his boat. He pulls up alongside the woman and says, 'Good morning, Ma'am. What are you doing?' 

'Reading a book,' she replies, (thinking, 'Isn't that obvious?')

'You're in a Restricted Fishing Area,' he informs her.

'I'm sorry, officer, but I'm not fishing. I'm reading.'

'Yes, but I see you have all the equipment. For all I know you could start at any moment. I'll have to take you in and write you up.'

'If you do that, I'll have to charge you with sexual assault,' says the woman.

'But I haven't even touched you,' says the Game Warden.

'That's true, but you have all the equipment. For all I know you could start at any moment.'

'Have a nice day ma'am,' and he left.

MORAL: Never argue with a woman who reads. It's likely she can also think.

Twitter Finally Comes Through

It was with hesitation that I opened my account on Twitter some 12 months ago. Skeptical is the word that comes to mind. But buoyed by the encouragement of a fellow small business owner, I decided to embrace this new social networking craze. After all it could turn out to be an interesting, and hopefully lucrative, way to promote my second hand bookstore. I started out enthusiastically building my list of followers, but my eagerness fizzled as the weeks rolled by with little Twitter action despite lots of effort. Over time, the annoying tweet noise from TweetDeck served only to remind me that another seemingly useless piece of information was heading my way. One year on and I was well and truly jaded. Sure, I got the occasional tasty morsel of information, and as far as networking with like-minded people in the trade it proved handy, but on the whole it was a dud. Yesterday, I decided to pull the plug and end the misery!!

And I almost did! One last visit to TweetDeck proved it's saviour. After months of fruitlessly searching for a book titled 'Little Dream' by Cynthia Leonetti for a new client with no success, Twitter finally came through for me. One of my esteemed followers located a copy, and the next thing I know I had completed a transaction and the book was on its' way to my client. The profit for me was very little, but the buzz I got out of actually locating this hard-to-find kids book was definitely worth it. Whilst, this one transaction hardly makes up for the effort I've put into Twitter it has reminded me of the value of keeping your feelers out there. Second hand bookselling is often a tough business and locating rare books can be like searching for a needle in a haystack. It's fun, but frustrating at the same time and without a good network of contacts it's almost impossible. So, whilst I am not exactly pro-Twitter I do acknowledge that it won't hurt to keep my presence out there.....even if it only helps me please one customer every twelve months.