Second hand Books

My husband has a terrible addiction....to second hand books. Actually, I believe Political Correctness has gone so far as to re-brand them as 'Pre-Loved' - when will the madness end??

There is a fabulous, cavernous place near to his office in Belfast that he can't help but go to often. He's taken me to it, as I too must confess my overwhelming love for books. This slightly dank, fusty place is fabulously Tardis-like and has books of every type, literally floor to ceiling. It's run by (as far as I can tell) an elderly gent who seems to have his mates sitting with him to keep him company and to go out and get the chips for lunch and make the many cups of tea they consume. It would be a great way to spend your retirement.

Anyway, Andrew is forever coming home with a new/old/'pre-loved' gardening book from this place (which I don't think even has a name sign above the door, so I can't tell you what it's called). He just can't help himself. But to be fair - it's full of fantastic finds. He has many out of print RHS books and famous gardener's books that you just can't get anymore or if you can, they're expensive. Recently he came home with a great one on Fruit growing with hundreds of photos and drawings - he says it's the best book he's ever had on the subject (and we have quite a few books - Amazon makes it all too easy!) and it cost a whopping £2!!!!

So just wanted to share the 'pre-loved' love, with you all. It sort of fits in with the hippy, cheap-sake, alternative viewpoint people have of us Allotmenteers - so I say embrace it. Save yourself a bundle of money and go Vintage - they're always doing it in the Fashion Magazines. And we all know Allotmenteering is far sexier than wearing someone else's old clothes - right?