Tidying up

Well, most of the Christmas cake has been eaten and the few crumbs remaining are proof of its goodness. I'm trying to ignore the rain lashing against the windows and concentrating on clearing space on the floor and on the shelves, though the two are merging together in a few areas of the house. Five Farthings will arrive from the printer very soon and I need space for the boxes and also a bit of space for the production line of postage and packing.

I'm also sorting out things like library books and trying to remember when they're due back as I'm worriedly aware that it's soon and that fines threaten. This is why one library book has concealed itself in the house and is probably waiting for me to count to one hundred before searching for it. I try and use the library regularly on the way home from work as it keeps me in the habit of reading and browsing, always nice if you need some peace after work. The range of stock is particularly good, from the main publishers to smaller people like Persephone and Fidra Books. That's why I still use libraries - I may want to read a light novel on the train, but I may not want to buy my own copy just yet. I may want to try out a new author - that's Guillaume Musso for the moment - and I can't (sadly) afford to buy every book that looks interesting. Then again, I'm lucky to have a branch library that is open later in the evening and is on the way home. I'm still furious that my local library got rid of so much of its rare stacks and that many of those books never made it into the library booksale. The time has passed since I last took out as many books as my ticket would allow - perhaps I've grown up and balanced by enthusiasm, but there is a limit as to the number of books you can comfortably carry home.