Totally unexpectedly, I was given some book tokens yesterday. They were a completely unnecessary thank you for a very minor service I'd done someone, but nevertheless very very welcome, because I love book tokens.
Not, every one does, you know? I have three sets of god children, all in varying stages of growing up, and while the youngest are still at the stage where I wouldn't think of giving them a token, because anything that doesn't have wrapping paper that can be torn to shreds is a major disappointment, the other two groups have diametrically opposed views on the subject. The eldest, a grouping of three, now all in their thirties, demand the real thing. So what if I choose a book they already have? It doesn't matter. They want something I have gone out and chosen especially for them. The youngest of these has a birthday just days away from my own and we think so alike about literature that on three occasions we have chosen exactly the same book for each other. It can get complicated.
The middle group are both teenagers and for the last twelve years or so, they have been equally adamant about wanting tokens. I don't think it's to do with them not trusting my judgement, they will often ask for advice about what to buy, they just like going round the bookshop for themselves and weighing up the options.
And I'm with them. The thrill of being able to browse the shelves, knowing that you don't have to leave all those books behind, that you're in a position to take one or maybe even two, home with you without having to calculate whether or not you can really afford them, is wonderful. Some of you will have heard this story before, so I apologise in advance, but I think it's worth the retelling. Some years ago an ex-partner (and believe me, that ex is important) asked me what I wanted for Christmas and I said that I would love some book tokens so that I could go and browse round my favourite bookshop looking for books that I didn't even know existed but which I would want as soon as I saw them. Well, Christmas morning came and we exchanged presents. I gave him the individualised, custom-made barometer I'd commissioned after he had admired the maker's work at an exhibition we'd been to and he gave me.......
An Electric Toothbrush.
You see why the ex was important.
Well, no electric toothbrush this time. This time I get the joy of deciding which bookshop I'm going to go to, browsing for a couple of hours, going off and having tea and cake while I think over what I've seen and then finally coming home clutching my wonderful and unexpected purchases. Could life hold any greater pleasure? Not from where I'm standing.
That's lovely, I hope you enjoy your shopping trip. I asked for book tokens from my mam and my sister for my 40th birthday, I had great fun choosing the books.
ReplyDeleteI love book tokens too - that feeling that you can choose any book (well with price restraints) is just wonderful. My thrill this morning was receiving a book from my son that he'd chosen off my wishlist - just as good as browsing and a nice surprise.
ReplyDeleteI have a love-hate relationship with them. I love them but then I can't decide how to spend them. I want to buy something meaningful rather than just the next book I'd like to read. I HAVE to get over this!
ReplyDeleteEnjoy! I love getting these too. I also love getting books that have been lovingly and thoughtfully selected, and often some of my best discoveries have come this way, as people give me books I might not have thought to choose for myself--but it gets hard, as my collection grows, for people to know what I already have. I've never quite shaken the sense of guilt I had about book buying as a student, as if it's a luxury, especially when I already have a lot of books (many still unread!)--so though I am happily in a position now where I can afford to buy them, I still enjoy the airy feeling of shopping quite guilt free. In fact, I got just such a treat for my birthday recently and am planning a happy afternoon of browsing sometime soon...
ReplyDeleteI shall have almost as good a time deciding which shop to go to as spending the tokens, Joanne. Do you have any wonderful bookshops near you?
ReplyDeleteWhere do you keep your wish list, Margaret? The trouble is that if I started one it would become so big as to be unusable.
WG if you have any book tokens knocking around that you can't decide how to spend I would consider it my duty as a friend to help you out:)
Rohan, you're right about sometimes a well chosen book opening up a new avenue to explore. The godchild whose birthday is so close to mine often manages to do that for me. And I do so know about that feeling of guilt when there are books still lying around unread. But then you never know when you might be housebound, do you, and not able to replenish the stock. You have to be prepared for all emergencies.
Annie, I don't have wonderful bookshops near me. I so wish I did. A reasonably sized Waterstones in the nearest large town is the best I can do. My town did have a very small independent bookshop until a few months ago. They had a limited stock but would order anything in. But they weren't making a profit so had to close.
ReplyDeleteIt struck me after making my comment that, as I rarely buy new books, and when I do always used my local shop (which has now closed) that perhaps I hadn't really searched out any bookshops. So out came the Yellow Pages and guess what? Two independent book shops within 10 miles of me. Hurrah!
ReplyDeleteI have two wishlists on Amazon, one is private where I list the books I want to check out further before deciding whether to read them - ie check at the library and bookshops. The other is public which is where my son saw the book he gave me.
ReplyDeleteThe private one is very long!! And some are on both lists - I really should be more organised. I try not to add to them - ha, ha!
I love book tokens, the excuse to go in the book shops guilt-free, the feeling that you can choose pretty well anything to the value of the present. I love the whole build up to it, as well as the book you take home. It is the equivalent of being able to choose any cake of your choice in a calorie free bakery while you are on a diet.
ReplyDeleteJoanne, that's wonderful - I think! I know what my bank manager would say if there were independent bookshops that close to where I live (my nearest is about 35 miles away, although I do have branches of Waterstones closer) and it wouldn't be wonderful:)
ReplyDeleteMargaret, I was hearing about someone the other day who keeps her wish list on her Kindle by downloading samples of what she wants to buy later. I'm not sure it would work for me as a lot of what I want isn't yet available electronically. Also, the temptation to push the button and actually buy everything must be very great indeed.
Leah, that is the most wonderful image. There is a new tea shop in Stratford where even the smallest cake must be at least two days worth of calories. Mind you, I wouldn't swap a couple of hours guilt free in a bookshop even for that.
I love book tokens too - family members gave me $200 worth of Borders tokens for a recent birthday, and as they are valid for 12 months I didn't feel in a hurry to start buying. How I wish I had used them straightaway; Borders (Australia)are now in great trouble and have announced that for each book token used customers must spend the equivalent amount themselves. I'm not sure what to do now, as I have a Kindle and also buy a lot of books from the Book Depository whose prices are usually less than half the Australian price and of course have the added bonus of free postage. But I would feel bad if I didn't use the gift tokens.
ReplyDeleteI'd much rather chose books for myself so I love tokens and gift cards and gift certificates. I can think of only one friend who can do a good job of selecting books for me.
ReplyDeleteAnnie, I'm another who uses Kindle samples as a sort of wish list. Before e-readers I'd list all the books I was remotely interested in at Amazon--and although it's a public list no one's ever chosen a book from it--and then I determine which I can get from the library, which I'd truly like to buy. But now if I see something that looks interesting that's available in e-book form, I'll download the sample. Then, if it shows up at the library in a few weeks I delete the sample, usually unread. I try not to buy too many e-books since I can get classics for free, but I have more than 70 samples.
Excellent! I love getting personalized gifts, but with books ... a book token or gift certificate, as we would call them here, is perfect. Taste is such a tricky thing with books!
ReplyDeleteElizabeth, if our experience here in the UK is anything to go by then you should spend those tokens as soon as you possibly can. There were attempts to rescue the firm here, but they failed and the whole concern folded about a year ago now. Our other big chain, Waterstones, is also in trouble because of problems in its parent company, HMV. However, there are a couple of people bidding for it at the moment, so I hope it might survive. If it doesn't there will be almost no bookshops left in the larger towns.
ReplyDeleteSFP, would that I had your control. I just know that I would read the sample and then push the button and my bank manager would then flay me alive!
Yes, Dorothy, I do agree. And when you read as many books as we do, the chance that someone who does know your taste will have managed to select one you haven't already read diminishes with time. I'm wondering if I might manage a day in Oxford, just me, Blackwells and a Book Token (and, of course, about two million tourists but I'll just ignore them!)
I love tokens too - they are pure book potential. It's quite hard for people who know me to buy me books as, ahem, I do have quite a few. Although I keep my amazon wish list nice and up to date, in the hope that relatives will refer to it! My son is 16 and also at the token stage. His wants are very specific, and few and far between, so tokens are a great solution - plus they give that warm glow of consumer power.
ReplyDeleteAre book tokens the same as gift cards? If so, those are my very favorite form of gift. It's not just getting the book itself, it's the pure pleasure of wadering around the aisles, taking in the smells and sights, knowing you have cards in your pocket that are just as good as (better, really) than money. All one has to do is choose! Lovely.
ReplyDeleteLitlove, we have the same problem, clearly. There is no way either of us could have claimed to have read everything in print (although someone told me the other day that Milton made such a claim) but nevertheless, in general for life-long readers tokens are the better option.
ReplyDeleteGrad, yes they are and you are so right about the pleasure of browsing. It's almost greater than the act of buying itself.
An electric toothbrush! That's enough to make anyone an ex! Hope you enjoy browsing and spending your tokens!
ReplyDeleteI will have a wonderful time, Stefanie. I have to say that it wasn't just the toothbrush, but it was definitely symptomatic!
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