Shelf-centredness

[simont]

Also during my busy weekend I drove lzz, a friend of hers and drswirly to Emmaus for random shopping. I came back with a big pile of books which is making me a little worried that a shelving problem might be looming in my near future. My lounge has little remaining space for new bookcases, the existing ones are nearly full, and I fear my book collection might have to overflow into the study soon.

During this trip I managed to buy two copies of the same book by mistake: I saw one copy on a shelf, debated whether or not to buy it, and eventually decided yes and added it to my pile. Fifteen minutes later I spotted another copy – same edition – on a different but nearby shelf, and I assumed that it must be the copy I'd seen the first time, that I must have forgotten precisely which shelf I'd seen it on, and that when I debated whether or not to buy it fifteen minutes earlier I must have decided no. Having made these three wrong assumptions, I then decided I'd changed my mind and would buy it after all, so I added it to my pile. Imagine how silly I felt when I unpacked my bag of books at home and found two copies of it, particularly since (as was required by the nature of the error) it wasn't even a book I'd been entirely sure I really wanted! Oh well, it's fodder for my giveaway books pile…

Comments

[mair_in_grenderich]

what book was it? :)

[simont]

The novelisation of Close Encounters of the Third Kind, because I've never got round to seeing the film and thought I might find it less hassle to read a book than rent a video. The downside, of course, is that there's a good chance it'll have the awful writing so common in film novelisations, which was why I was uncertain; I certainly wouldn't have bought it if it had cost more than the 50p I paid.

(Er, except that in fact I paid a pound, due to the second copy. Oops.)

[aldabra]

Check the edition: there are some advertised second-hand on Amazon for £38...