Friday 27 August 2010

Holidays and books

I'm going away on holidays this week. I'm going to a small village by the seaside, near Murcia. It's on the Spanish coast but it would be hard to tell if it wasn't for the sun. Everywhere you go you'll find English and German people acquiring a surprisingly bright colour of beetroot under the sun.

There is such a large English community in that area, that many cafés have a corner with bookshelves where you'll find a curious array of books, and all of them in English. It's basically an exchange system where you pay 2€ for the book you take home and get 1€ for the books you leave at the café. This means that the stream of books is constantly flowing.

I find this the perfect way to discover new authors. These books come from very different people so you'll find books for all tastes, and as the choice isn't as wide as in proper bookshops you'll be more likely to get a book by an author you didn't know before.

Can you believe this is the part I'm most looking forward to? I've got a pile of books I'm going to leave there in the hope that those authors will be known to new people. However, I do find it difficult to decide which books I'll part with. 

Now there's something thing we can't do with eBooks! However, my eReader is coming with me too.

7 comments:

  1. Have fun! We'll miss you on Twitter!

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  2. And I hurried back from my holiday especially for you, just in time for you to go off! Huh! Have a great time anyway, and don't forget to leave my books behind. Er. If you see what I mean...

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  3. Have a safe and fun trip. Looking forward to photos. :)

    Mason
    Thoughts in Progress

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  4. That's such a great idea! I love sharing books with people and finding new amazing authors. Have fun!

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  5. That is such a great idea to encourage people to leave their books and take away new ones. I was in a Spanish cafe/bar (in Wales) the other night and they had a community bookshelf there, too.

    Look forward to hearing what you leave there and which books you come home with. Have a fabulous holiday!

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  6. Have an excellent trip! And what a wonderful idea, the book trade. I hope you inspire many new readers.

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  7. Thanks everyone. I followed your suggestions and had a great time.

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