Rediscovering the library

The house I was born in - and lived in until I married - was just yards away from the local library. For a solitary child it was the perfect escape and it became my second home, where I spent hours choosing books for myself and, in later years, for my grandfather. He liked murders, which I chose solely on the basis of the picture on the cover.For various reasons I haven't been to the library for years but when Husband retired he joined the new Central Library in town and last week he took me with him.

Child and toyshop are words that spring to mind. All those books! To take away for free. And not just books but cds, dvds, and audiobooks too. I didn't know where to start.

AND it has magic checking out machines that can read isbn details through the covers!

Of course I love to have books of my own and a house isn't a home without books but borrowing allows more freedom. I can try authors I've never heard of and if I don't enjoy them, it doesn't matter. I don't have to feel obliged to read it as I didn't have to pay for it. Even though a large percentage of the books I have these days were sourced from car boot sales or charity shops. But there's a certain predictability about the books you're most likely to find in second-hand places: authors like Danielle Steel, Jackie Collins and Lee Child all feature heavily.

I'm sure I'm preaching to the converted saying this but it's been such a wonderful - I was going to say revelation but renewal of a friendship is a better phrase.