You'll love this one...!! A book club & more discussion

Do you support your local library? What books have you borrowed?

I have 2 books out at the moment that I have mamaged to slot in, A Single Thread and The Invited, and one that I haven't, The Mermaid and Mrs. Hancock.

I'm expecting This Is Going to Hurt: Secret Diaries of a Junior Doctor next week. Everyone has raved about this book so much that I'm worried it won't live up to the hype.

I love using my library. :)

I recently requested a few books that all had long waits on them and then completely forgot I requested them. I went into my account just to see what I had going on and was surprised to see that one of the books was in transit and I was first hold on two more! I was expecting three books all around the same time and I already have an over-packed January.

Fortunately, my library finally started a hold service so I can pause my holds and not get them all at once. I paused everything except the one in transit. I will be getting Everything is Figureoutable: How One Simple Belief Can Help Us Overcome Any Obstacle and Create Unstoppable Success soon. It seems like good timing for this one.

That book sounds interesting Kristie. I've added it to my wishlist. You'll have to let me know what you think.

Sarah wrote: "That book sounds interesting Kristie. I've added it to my wishlist. You'll have to let me know what you think."

I sure will, Sarah!

I like the idea of putting your request on hold instead of being punted to the bottom of the waitlist.

My intention is to utilize the library more this year. Books won't get slotted into challenges unless I already own them or are available at the library. Before using a credit, I'll check to see if the book is available at the library.

I need to evaluate how I spend my money especially as personal income tax is going up, insurance is going up, and services are being cut which means we'll be out of pocket for things that used to be covered. Plus, I'm letting some clients go in my semi-retirement plan and I'm not sure how that is going to work out.

I also love my Library. It is closed today but I can still check out an e book or movie. I just did this. I now have an e book of the Count of Monte Christo

Yes, I like that they started doing that. They didn't have that option for a long time and I often got books when I wasn't ready and had to return them unread. I'm glad I can let them skip me and come back to me later now.

I also try to remember to check the library before spending credits and I've gotten better about it. They have quite a few of the books I want to read. The weird thing is that sometimes they have the books I really want to read and would purchase, but not the ones I want to try but am not too sure about. So, often I end up buying the books I don't want as much and borrowing the ones I really want.

I actually need to use my library less this year anb try to shift some titles that I own instead of browsing my library site quite so much. My problem is that I can't bear to see an empty sspace on my account.

My library just started the pause service on holds too. I paused three that I had on hold, trying to make sure they did not all come at once. I still have others on hold though. I used my library a lot last year, trying to keep from buying books. It did not stop me, but I bought way less than in previous years. Their availability of audiobooks has gone way too, but the waits are long.

My library has the pause on holds feature and I use it a lot.

90% of the books I read come from the library. I buy books in Spanish, since my library doesn't have any, and also books for my kids. Still 80% of the books they read also come from the library. I usually buy those old favorites that we love to have at home.

Having a good library is a privilege, and sometimes we forget.

Sandra wrote: "Having a good library is a privilege, and sometimes we forget..."

I agree, Sandra. I run into many adults in our city that do not even know where our library is, and we have two of them!
I remember arguing with someone at work, during our last election, over the bond increase for our library. They did not want to vote for it because they did not use it. I asked them why, and they said they did not have time to read books. I had to stop talking to them and walk away. These same people do not want to support the school levies because they don't have kids either.

Oh crap! That's what I was going to do today. I had some errands and I was going to stop at the library and pick up the book my real life book club will be discussing in a couple of weeks. I knew I was forgetting something but I didn't remember until I came to this thread.

I go to my library a lot when they have book sales to get really cheap hardcovers, so that surely supports them, but I haven't checked out anything from the physical location in many years.

I do however use their online library constantly, especially for audiobooks. I spend several hours a day driving about in my car, so I've got all the time in the world to listen to them now.

I'm currently borrowing the full cast rendition of Neil Gaiman's The Graveyard Book and my hold for It just came through. I read IT years ago, I'm looking forward to listening to the audio (some questionable scenes aside lol).

Cherie wrote: "They did not want to vote for it because they did not use it. I asked them why, and they said they did not have time to read books. I had to stop talking to them and walk away. These same people do not want to support the school levies because they don't have kids either."

Not to go to off topic or turn the topic political, but as someone who doesn't have children, I am embarrassed by and hate the mentality of "I don't have kids so why should my taxes go to schools".

I mean, really, they don't have kids so that means they don't care if the kids in their area grow up to be poorly educated and poorly cared for? I'm sure that will do great things for their neighborhoods! So frustrating. Education is for the good of all people, not just those who have children.

I get not having time to read, but holy cow, most libraries are so much more than a place to get books. The number of programs and groups that meet at my local library is astounding and we are only a city of 100K.

Lucy, I completely agree. My answer to these people each time I encounter them is that you are not paying taxes only for the education of your kids. You are paying for the education of the doctor who will perform your surgery, the politician who will decide on your social security benefits, the accountant who will do your taxes, the engineer who will build the bridge you cross every day, etc. It is hard for me to see that this is not obvious to everyone...

So true Sandra, nothing that we do is in a vacuum, we all feel the effects, eventually.

So, I went to pick up my book from the library and there were 3 books waiting for me. I'm pretty disappointed because I froze my holds on the other two, so they shouldn't have come in. Apparently, my library hasn't worked out the kinks in the program yet for pausing holds.

I ended up getting:
Everything is Figureoutable: How One Simple Belief Can Help Us Overcome Any Obstacle and Create Unstoppable Success
Dear Girls: Intimate Tales, Untold Secrets, & Advice for Living Your Best Life
If You Tell: A True Story of Murder, Family Secrets, and the Unbreakable Bond of Sisterhood

I'm sure I won't have time to read them all. I already had more planned this month than I can probably read. I'm a little annoyed that I'll have to go back on the waitlist.

The same thing has happened to me, Kristie. I paused Daisy Jones, and I just got a notice that it was available.

So frustrating, Cherie! I hope you have time to read it. It was very good.

Those are interesting titles, Kristie!

Thanks, Janice. I thought so too. I was hoping to stagger their arrival dates a bit so I could read them all, but I guess we'll just see what I can get through. They all still have holds, so I can't renew any of them.

Hopefully you'll get them finished before they have to go back Kristie.

Love my library! I get most of my books through Overdrive and have two checked out right now as well as one paperback. Two of them are for this year's challenge:
Fire Storm
Love Does: Discover a Secretly Incredible Life in an Ordinary World

I have some others I need to read first so if I don't have time, I'll just get them back later. It's not really a big deal. What can you do? At least I now know not to expect the pause function to work in the future.

I sent the Daisy Jones audiobook back this afternoon and just signed into Overdrive again to put it on hold again. I’m #5 on 31 copies. I wonder how long it will take to come back this time? All my other pauses seem to be holding, so far.

Oh that's good. I would think it would be back soon with that many copies.

Lucy wrote: "I go to my library a lot when they have book sales to get really cheap hardcovers, so that surely supports them, but I haven't checked out anything from the physical location in many years.

I do h..."

I listenen to It after reading it about 20 years too Lucy. If anything I enjoyed it more than the first time around!

I espied a book in the library (I know - I should wear blinkers) - but I couldn't resist! It's called Death of an Old Git. I just have to see the title to chuckle away to myself - and I'm really enjoying the read. Of course, it's set in a quaint English village and there are lots of stereotypes, but it has that dry humour to it that just tickles me..

I googled human blinkers - apparently they're a thing. Maybe I could do this with the book I'm supposed to be reading.

Lucy wrote: "I go to my library a lot .... my hold for It just came through. I read IT years ago, I'm looking forward to listening to the audio (some questionable scenes aside lol)...."

My library's audiobook selection isn't great, but I've just purchased It on audiobook. I read it a few years ago and I'm really looking forward to revisiting it on audio. I need to finish my current reads first though, so I can devote more attention to it / the plan is to submerge for a while...

Love it, Annerlee!

Annerlee wrote: "I espied a book in the library (I know - I should wear blinkers) - but I couldn't resist! It's called Death of an Old Git. I just have to see the title to chuckle away to myself - a..."

Lol!

Oh lord I need to make that! LOL

My loan came through on The Book of M and I borrowed If You Want to Make God Laugh. I'm not sure about either book - I was just thinking that's the beauty of library books, I don't have the same misgivings about DNFing them at all.

My library is closed at the moment and they are requesting that we do not return any books until they reopen, which makes sense since the bins would overflow quickly with nobody emptying them. So, I have a couple of books at home that may be with me for a while.

I have Hey, Kiddo, which I already read and enjoyed well enough. Graphic novels aren't my favorite format, but I thought this one was pretty good.

I also have Before and After: The Incredible Real-Life Stories of Orphans Who Survived the Tennessee Children's Home Society. I thought I wouldn't have time to read this one before it was due back, but now I just might.

I'm happy to report that the electronic book system is still functioning. I currently have The Picture of Dorian Gray and The Silent Patient, which came in early. I also got a notice that they purchased The Sun Down Motel, which I requested so it is available to me now. I may end up with more books than I can read even with being home!

Anyone else have anything good on loan that they're planning or hoping to read while stuck at home?

My library is doing the same thing, Kristie.

I have No Friend but the Mountains: Writing from Manus Prison, which I was worried I was going to return before I could read it.

I have The Gathering and The Glass Woman out as e downloads but I don't think I'm in the mood to listen to either. I just want fantasy right now.

The reality of the library being closed doesn't affect me me as much as all of you as the only thing I really use it for is ILLs of audiobooks BUT the idea of of library closures send shivers down my my spine!

I am getting my audiobooks coming through slowly. My ebook requests are still waiting and unfortunately, the two text books that I had ordered before the shut down never arrived. I downloaded The Hellfire Conspiracy and A Dangerous Place and the second book in a new Sherlock Holmes series I found, A Study in Treason

I checked my library and they are closed, but it sounds like staff will be working. They say the external book return slot is open and you can drop books off any time. You can put a book on hold and staff will deliver to curbside.

Wow, I’m envious Janice, our is closed entirely. No staff on site, no book return, no books 😞 only the elibrary remains accessible

I was surprised when I read that on their site.

Yes, ours is closed completely. How amazing that yours can deliver books curbside. I am sure our area is much too large for that. I was able to cancel the hold on one of my text books, but the other was in transit, so it would not allow me to cancel the hold. The funny thing though, is that the library tools will not allow me to renew the date of my group read book, Lab Girl, because someone put a hold on it. I will finish it before the due date and turn it in, because that is the correct thing to do. I noticed that the tools said that the holds were extended for two months. It made me hopeful that this thing IS going to end.

I joked that books could not be a vector. But they think they could be. My health care counselor advised me to not read any paper cover books from the library for 3 weeks. The ones with covers should be whipped down then they should be fine. I still think this is all over kill. But I will do it anyway.

I tried to put one of my library books into the book drop, but even the book drop is closed. Everyone is to keep their books until they open again.

We've just received notification that our libraries will have reduced hours and we will soon go on to open plus which means that if you have registered, between certain times, you can enter the library without any staff being there.

Anna's Reading Life wrote: "We've just received notification that our libraries will have reduced hours and we will soon go on to open plus which means that if you have registered, between certain times, you can enter the library without any staff being there."

What?! You can enter the library without any staff being there? I've never heard of that. That's quite trusting of them.

Wow. Never heard of that.

Some of our smaller libraries have worked like that for a while now. It is a great way of extending opening hours ahile keeping costs down.

So far it whas worked well over here.

My library has started curbside service. We can not return any books, but we can check out books if they are available. All due dates have been changed to July 1st. So, it will be a while before any popular books are available again.

I was able to pick up a couple of books for my grandson. He has school reading that he has to do every day and Audible has free children's books available to borrow right now, so I picked up a couple of the books that they're offering that I thought he'd like so he can follow along with the narrator. I got him The Terrible Two and The Quest for the Diamond Sword.

I also picked up the DVD of It's the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown to watch on Easter. :)

I got Of Mice and Men and Year of Wonders yesterday from the library. I was in the queue for both, and of course they came at the same time. Very excited, though, since I've wanted to read them for a long time.