Why I like used books

I like brand new books with their spine unbent. I like to be the very first to open them wondering about the wonders written inside. I like the smell of new books. I can’t describe it at all but I do love it. It’s a combination of clean and promising. Rubbish description I know!

Funnily enough though I like used text books more. They sometimes smell a little bit of coffee and being stored, and I love that smell! I like to think someone else has read them, loved them and learnt from them. I like that no new tree has had to be chopped down so I can learn, I like the shared experience of reading form the same book.

What I absolutely like best though is to wonder why someone paused at a certain page and made a note in the margin or why they stopped reading at a certain page when I can tell a page has been bent back. It makes me smile to wonder who has read a book before me.

If the person who has read the book before me is one of my friends that is even better. It means I can discuss the book with them, preferably over coffee and cake.

I tend to buy used books form charity shops then donate them back. I pick up books from car boot sales then sell them on from my own. I buy them from school fairs the hand them in again the following summer. I love that books can be passed on and on and on.

Imagine the tales they could tell!