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Excellent essay. I'm like you with second hand bookshops, I really find it very difficult to resist!

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Thank you Juliet. I'm glad you enjoyed it. Visiting a second hand bookshop and then settling down in a coffee shop with my haul is probably my number one favourite thing to do.

Any favourites? Mine is the Deanery Bookshop in Winchester (probably due to its proximity to me). And, of course, Barter Books in Alnwick and the whole of Hay-on-Wye!

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Edinburgh has a lot of excellent second hand book shops, mostly charity run. My favourite in many ways is Edinburgh Community Bookshop, which raises funds for local charities, a different charity every month

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That sounds great Juliet. Next time I am in Edinburgh (I am making it sound like I am there all the time - I'm not! I wish I were though...) I will check out that bookshop!

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Emma, I loved this post! Like you, I'm a bibliophile. I can't even go into bookstores much because I will always purchase a book or more. My local library is huge, so I'm always checking out books. A lovely addiction, but an addiction nonetheless.

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Thank you Beth! I'm so glad you enjoyed this post. I had a lot of fun writing it! Over the last couple of years I've had a rule that I can only buy two books a month (even if they only cost 5p!), but I've really slipped on that recently...

Libraries are great, but I find I am better off using the library's ebook facility. That way they can forcibly remove the books from my (digital) possession... 🙈😆

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That rule sounds like a good way to control book buying! Libraries are definitely a great resource for book lovers.

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Thank you Ahmet. I am someone who both craves having rules to follow (although only ones I agree with!) and is incapable of sticking to them! Still, my book buying is more under control with my lax following of a rule than it would be without any rule at all!

I love libraries too, and have spent my life borrowing books, and then failing to return them on time. I feel I am making a valuable civic contribution by (I hope) financing the library's ability to buy more books!

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Great read Emma x

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I missed this comment before. Thank you! This was harder to write than I was expecting it to be, but I enjoyed writing it.

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