Books and more books

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I bought two new books yesterday. Yes, two. NEW. BOOKS! There was a time when barely a week would go by when I didn't buy a book or a few magazines and newspapers. I quit that behaviour about five years ago when I realised that conserving money helped me conserve resources. Being frugal reduced the amount of greenhouse gases I was responsible for, reduced the amount of money I needed to live and helped me transition from spending $1000 a week to $1400 a month.

So how did I buy these books? It was through the kindness of the readers here. Those of you who have been reading this blog for a while will know I had an Amazon portal on the blog until January. I disabled it when I changed the template and haven't put it back yet. In November and December I received two gift certificates as payment for all the books you purchased.

It usually takes me a while to get around to these things but yesterday I ordered A Very Small Farm and Green Mountain Farm, they should arrive mid-March. Thank you to everyone who purchased books through my Amazon thingie. I am SO looking forward to having new books to read. There is nothing like the smell of a new book. ;- )

While we're on the subject of books, just this morning, Diana emailed to say she's passing on the Choosing Eden book I sent her earlier in the year. The book originally came to me from Dot at Wool 'n Ewe. She kindly sent it to me to read and asked that I pass it on, which I gladly did here. Now Diana has read the book and, in the true spirit of generosity, is passing it on. Diana has a wonderful blog - Pebbledash - and if you go there before Sunday March 9 and make a comment, you'll go in the draw to win the book. I hope that whoever wins the book will also pass it on when it's read. I wrote my name on the inside cover, I hope Diana does that too, as well as each person who reads it. That book may well be the most travelled book of the decade when we're finished with it. Read on ladies and gentlemen!

A while ago someone asked me to list me favourite books. As I said before, I usually take a while to get to things, not for lack of trying or laziness, but because there is so many other things to write about and do. But now we're on the subject of books so it seems the right time to write more about what I like to read.

My favourite book of all time is Ulysses by James Joyce. I have two copies - one first edition American book, published 1922 and another paperback copy for reading and lending. I must confess that everyone I've lent it to has returned it as unreadable. !! Oh well, I guess it's just you and me, James. A few years ago I went through a period when I read only gardening books, then books on philosophy, then physics. The last books I bought before my self-imposed ban were books on simple living. The one I enjoyed the most of these was Carla Emery's Encyclopedia of Country Living. I also read a couple of John Seymour's books, which I enjoyed very much, but they were from the library. Another library book I liked was the Readers Digest Back to Basics book - Australian version. There is also an American version of that book.

The best Australian gardening book I've read is Lyn Bagnall's Easy Organic Gardening. That book taught me things I didn't know. I've been gardening for many years and I generally just read what I already know, but Lyn's book was a revelation. I use it frequently as a reference book and to read about vegetables just before I plant them. Lyn is an organic farmer and has many year's experience producing organic vegetables, and it shows. I was lucky enough to have Lyn send me a signed copy of her book. :- ) If you're reading this Lyn, thanks again.

So there you have it. It is said you can tell a lot about a person by the books they read. I wonder what my books say about me. I think it's such a jumbled mix it would be difficult to nail me. But who knows, you might already have my number. ;- )