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My Current Obsession

Lynn Fountain Campbell

Silver Meritorious Patron
I’d really like to post more often than once every few months, so now that the obsession with $cientology and ex-$cientology is fading away, I’ve been trying to figure out what in the world I’m obsessed enough about that I’d have something to say about it that often. I’d really rather just go back to whatever book I’m reading. Then it hit me. Duh! It’s books.
I just hooked John up with the Libby app, so he can check out audio books from the library and listen to them on his phone. For free. He lit up like a kid on Christmas morning, so I’m thinking maybe you might like it too.
John and I are addicted to this stuff – books, ebooks, audiobooks…. It’s a good thing it’s not crack cocaine, or we’d be in big trouble....
So as not to waste excessive bandwidth, if interested, you can read more at my blog http://shearperfection.com/blog/destiny.html
 

I told you I was trouble

Suspended animation
Me tooooooooo! I read constantly (when I'm not sewing, walking my gorgeous dogs or mosaicing things) and like to have a small pile of books at the ready at all times ... I start to worry as it shrinks (lol) and have to quickly order some more.

I was an avid reader as a child and it's fantastic to finally have the time to just disappear into a book again.

I'll go and look at your blog later on ... (I'll just finish my current book first).
 
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ThetanExterior

Gold Meritorious Patron
Me tooooooooo! I read constantly (when I'm not sewing, walking my gorgeous dogs or mosaicing things) and like to have a small pile of books at the ready at all times ... I start to worry as it shrinks (lol) and have to quickly order some more.

I was an avid reader as a child and it's fantastic to finally have the time to just disappear into a book again.

I'll go and look at your blog later on ... (I'll just finish my current book first).
Ha, that sounds like me (apart from the sewing). I have a pile of books to read and when it gets too low I start to panic and order more from ebay or Amazon (I prefer a real book rather than an electronic one). When I was a child I used to use my pocket money to buy books. I don't think either of my parents had ever read a book in their lives so they used to think there was something wrong with me.

My book pile is satisfyingly high at the moment and there are two more arriving soon so I'm happy.

My books are almost exclusively non-fiction and currently I'm fixated on cults but biographies are also a favourite.
 

strativarius

Inveterate gnashnab & snoutband
Ha, that sounds like me (apart from the sewing). I have a pile of books to read and when it gets too low I start to panic and order more from ebay or Amazon (I prefer a real book rather than an electronic one). When I was a child I used to use my pocket money to buy books. I don't think either of my parents had ever read a book in their lives so they used to think there was something wrong with me.

My book pile is satisfyingly high at the moment and there are two more arriving soon so I'm happy.

My books are almost exclusively non-fiction and currently I'm fixated on cults but biographies are also a favourite.
Me too!

Most of my books (I have thousands) came from charity shops and were collected between 1970 and 2010. These days charity shops won't put a book on a shelf unless they are in almost pristine condition. Also the quality of the stuff they have on sale these days seems much inferior to how things used to be. I have almost all of J G Ballard's entire paperback output for example, as well as most of Robert Anton Wilson's stuff and a few rarities like a mint condition copy of the Olympia Press issue of Aubrey Beardsley's 'Under The Hill' and Yael Lotan's 'The Other I'. You don't seem to find stuff like that on the shelves anymore.

Like you, most of my books are mostly non-fiction and (as I was telling someone else the other day) like you, I do like a good biography.

It's a great shame that electronic books are replacing the real thing IMO, and the same goes for music. You can't beat a gatefold sleeved vinyl LP with all the inserts (if there are any) and all the great art work that went along with them.

I also have a stack waiting to be read - Don Delillo's Mao II, Naomi Klein's 'No Logo' and Roger Penrose's 'The Emperor's New Mind' (good luck with that one Stratty!) among 'em.

I once recommended Geoffrey Chaucer's 'Troilus and Criseyde' to another esmb'er. A few days later she got back to me saying that she had made a stab at it but had to give up because she just couldn't cope with the 'Olde English'. I'm not bloody surprised. My Penguin version (a real book) was translated into modern English and that's what I intended her to read. To her credit she did start and finish Mervyn Peake's Gormenghast trilogy though.

Happy reading all!
 
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Victoria

Patron Meritorious
I’m using the libby app and it is really a perfect little app!
Better than audible which was driving me broke.
I currently have a Brooklyn library card and mostly
listen to audiobooks.
They have about 9,O00 on any given day.
Often the waiting lists for books are long.
Does anybody know of other libraries who will issue you a card in exchange for a ‘fixed donation’ even if you are not in their state?

I really want to get my hand back into the L.A. County system.
 

Lynn Fountain Campbell

Silver Meritorious Patron
Victoria, I think you can get a temporary library card at the LA Public library (lapl.org). No donation required. It's free, but to make it permanent, you have to show up at some point to pick up the card.
 

still here

Patron with Honors
So good to see that I am not alone.
I too like Real, paper books but I love fiction and read that. I suppose it is an escape from real life (non fiction) which we have to live after all, (I am fine with that though).

I usually go through the Man Booker shortlist, and choose the one or two I like the sound of, if I love it, I then buy other works by the same author so over the years I have compiled some great collections and they now fill a whole wall of my house.

I like to have 2 or 3 ahead, not too big a pile though, as I do not read for as long as I used to so they last a while. My eyesight is not up to long spells.

I am also really lucky to have a wonderful bookshop down the road, that has a wealth of second hand books books and another nearby that has all the new titles and some local authors works. In my tiny village we have a publishers!

Most of my extensive collection was made from 1990 to 2005 when I was working in central London and reading for my hour long commute (both ways) a great way to unwind from work and I could even change trains without losing my place! I re-read lots of classic literature, some I had once read, and I added any others I could find. I got through a lot. Waterstones (big chain bookshop) had an offer on classics for £1.00 and I think I bought them all eventually.

I have kept almost all my books, thinking I would pass them on to my daughter one day. Only last week I thought I should start to get rid of some as she would never want them all. I would find it very hard, they have really been a source of pleasure to me since Scientology and I am sure yours have, for all of you too!
 

Lynn Fountain Campbell

Silver Meritorious Patron
So good to see that I am not alone.
I too like Real, paper books but I love fiction and read that. I suppose it is an escape from real life (non fiction) which we have to live after all, (I am fine with that though).

I usually go through the Man Booker shortlist, and choose the one or two I like the sound of, if I love it, I then buy other works by the same author so over the years I have compiled some great collections and they now fill a whole wall of my house.

I like to have 2 or 3 ahead, not too big a pile though, as I do not read for as long as I used to so they last a while. My eyesight is not up to long spells.

I am also really lucky to have a wonderful bookshop down the road, that has a wealth of second hand books books and another nearby that has all the new titles and some local authors works. In my tiny village we have a publishers!

Most of my extensive collection was made from 1990 to 2005 when I was working in central London and reading for my hour long commute (both ways) a great way to unwind from work and I could even change trains without losing my place! I re-read lots of classic literature, some I had once read, and I added any others I could find. I got through a lot. Waterstones (big chain bookshop) had an offer on classics for £1.00 and I think I bought them all eventually.

I have kept almost all my books, thinking I would pass them on to my daughter one day. Only last week I thought I should start to get rid of some as she would never want them all. I would find it very hard, they have really been a source of pleasure to me since Scientology and I am sure yours have, for all of you too!
I've only recently started getting rid of a few of mine too. I think I still have some that I've been carting around since college. And that was a lo-o-o-ng time ago.
 

phenomanon

Canyon
I've only recently started getting rid of a few of mine too. I think I still have some that I've been carting around since college. And that was a lo-o-o-ng time ago.
I'm an indiscriminate reader. My Kindle is my best friend, and the Library 10 miles up the road sell discontinued books for a quarter. I like to read Historical novels, Fantasy, Thrillers, Lisa See's novels set in Ancient China, books of Mao's Regime, and stories of the Civil War.
 

Dave B.

Maximus Ultimus Mostimus
I like to sort through the bins looking for books at Goodwill Outlet Stores, (not the retail stores). Bin stores are the receiving warehouses where big bins of junk are wheeled in for people to sort through. Softcover's are usually $1.00 hardcover $2.00. If you don't mind digging you can find some treasures. I've found some amazing stuff over the years.

I'm not much of a fiction reader anymore, I look for oddball stuff, I know it when I see it, lol. Recent acquisitions: Zen for Americans by Rev. Soyen Shaku (originally published in 1913 as Sermons of a Buddhist Abbot). An excellent book. And Home by Withold Rybcynski. A fascinating book about the concept and history of houses as "homes". Highly recommended.
 

Lynn Fountain Campbell

Silver Meritorious Patron
I'm an indiscriminate reader. My Kindle is my best friend, and the Library 10 miles up the road sell discontinued books for a quarter. I like to read Historical novels, Fantasy, Thrillers, Lisa See's novels set in Ancient China, books of Mao's Regime, and stories of the Civil War.
I like these too. It's a book -- what's not to like? :thumbsup:

I love Lisa See. Our book club has read a couple of her books -- China Dolls, and The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane.
 

Lynn Fountain Campbell

Silver Meritorious Patron
I like to sort through the bins looking for books at Goodwill Outlet Stores, (not the retail stores). Bin stores are the receiving warehouses where big bins of junk are wheeled in for people to sort through. Softcover's are usually $1.00 hardcover $2.00. If you don't mind digging you can find some treasures. I've found some amazing stuff over the years.

I'm not much of a fiction reader anymore, I look for oddball stuff, I know it when I see it, lol. Recent acquisitions: Zen for Americans by Rev. Soyen Shaku (originally published in 1913 as Sermons of a Buddhist Abbot). An excellent book. And Home by Withold Rybcynski. A fascinating book about the concept and history of houses as "homes". Highly recommended.
Sounds like some excellent deals, which I would probably take advantage of, if I weren't in "getting-rid-of" mode. That's why I like the library so much. I don't have to wonder what I'm going to do with it when it's time to get rid of it.
 

programmer_guy

True Ex-Scientologist
I usually buy specific books from Amazon. The local library doesn't usually have what I want.
(I like specific computer software books and specific history books. I'm picky.)
However, my daughter uses her Kindle instead of hard-copy books.

Many years ago I was moving from one house to another.
My parents were helping and saw the number of books.
They told me "Haven't you ever heard of a library?"
(I just understood that they grew up in the aftermath of the Great Depression.)
 
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JackStraw

Silver Meritorious Patron
Dr. Jordan Peterson's book Maps of Meaning is recently out on audio books.

It's not for light-weight readers. (I think) it's about the origins of myths, archetypal stories that inform human experience ant stuff like that. (that's my grip on the subject.)

I've watched/listened to several of his university lectures on this subject, I don't pretend to be any kind of expert, but this guy is certainly worthy of a listen/view...

Try it out. Give him a listen. See what you think. And it requires thinking!

Good stuff.
 

programmer_guy

True Ex-Scientologist
I'm an indiscriminate reader. My Kindle is my best friend, and the Library 10 miles up the road sell discontinued books for a quarter. I like to read Historical novels, Fantasy, Thrillers, Lisa See's novels set in Ancient China, books of Mao's Regime, and stories of the Civil War.
If you like books about ancient history then you might like this one:



(Dave B. mentioned this book awhile back.)
 

strativarius

Inveterate gnashnab & snoutband
So good to see that I am not alone.
I too like Real, paper books but I love fiction and read that. I suppose it is an escape from real life (non fiction) which we have to live after all, (I am fine with that though).

I usually go through the Man Booker shortlist, and choose the one or two I like the sound of, if I love it, I then buy other works by the same author so over the years I have compiled some great collections and they now fill a whole wall of my house.

I like to have 2 or 3 ahead, not too big a pile though, as I do not read for as long as I used to so they last a while. My eyesight is not up to long spells.

I am also really lucky to have a wonderful bookshop down the road, that has a wealth of second hand books books and another nearby that has all the new titles and some local authors works. In my tiny village we have a publishers!

Most of my extensive collection was made from 1990 to 2005 when I was working in central London and reading for my hour long commute (both ways) a great way to unwind from work and I could even change trains without losing my place! I re-read lots of classic literature, some I had once read, and I added any others I could find. I got through a lot. Waterstones (big chain bookshop) had an offer on classics for £1.00 and I think I bought them all eventually.

I have kept almost all my books, thinking I would pass them on to my daughter one day. Only last week I thought I should start to get rid of some as she would never want them all. I would find it very hard, they have really been a source of pleasure to me since Scientology and I am sure yours have, for all of you too!
I know what you mean, I can't bear the thought of parting with any of my books even though about 60% of them are in cardboard boxes in my hallway where they've been since I moved in here ten years ago. I've always wanted to do what you've done and cover an entire wall with my books, but so far I haven't managed it.

My fetish has even gone as far as collecting different paperback copies of the same novel. I have five copies of Tom Robbins' 'Even Cowgirls Get the Blues' for example (all acquired from charity (thrift) shops by the way), and Penguin books issued loads of different covers of J G Ballard's stuff in the 70's. It's the great artwork that appeals to me.

You see a lot of bad spelling and bad grammar not just here but on the 'net in general. My theory is that the best spellers are probably those avid readers who've seen more printed words than those who don't read much .

Oh, and another thing still here. One of my favourite books has got to be the large hardback volume crammed with Arthur Rackham's book illustrations that I picked up in a charity shop for 50p or something ridiculous sometime in the 1990's.
 
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phenomanon

Canyon
I like these too. It's a book -- what's not to like? :thumbsup:

I love Lisa See. Our book club has read a couple of her books -- China Dolls, and The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane.
I first read her " Snowflower and The Secret Fan", and then went on to " Peony in Love". I was so hooked on her writing that I have subsequently read all her books.
 

I told you I was trouble

Suspended animation
Some of you may like Roma Tearne ... she's Sri Lankan born but emigrated as a child and was brought up in Brixton, England. Her first two novels ('Mosquito' and 'Bone China') are astonishing, she's an artist as well as a writer and you can tell ... she literally paints with words.

I'm no longer a gatherer of books ... well, apart from vintage cook books (@strat, cover your ears eyes now please) and I sent hundreds of books to goodwill about 8 years ago in one of my 'cleaning out the past' mad organising sessions! I couldn't bring myself to part with some special books though and they include Roma Tearne's and some classics.

I just re-read 'Cold Comfort Farm' and 'Christmas at Cold Comfort Farm' is next on my list ... I think if I could only keep one book it would have to be Cold Comfort Farm, I literally laugh till I cry when reading it.


At the moment there are 35 (non vintage!) cook books at my front door, all bagged up and waiting to be dropped to the thrift store and I have had to make a new rule ... every time I buy a new one, I have to throw one out (it's an awful rule and I already hate it but it had to be done).

I love the library and order everything online, but have turned into a bit of a germaphobe in recent years and wipe each book over thoroughly with white vinegar before I read it (well, we all have our idiosyncrasies ... don't we?).

:oops:
 

I told you I was trouble

Suspended animation
Sounds like some excellent deals, which I would probably take advantage of, if I weren't in "getting-rid-of" mode. That's why I like the library so much. I don't have to wonder what I'm going to do with it when it's time to get rid of it.

Lol! Exactly ... have you read 'The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning' yet? Apparently it's all about decluttering. I haven't read it ... (the title was enough for me).

:D
 
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