The Library had accepted 16 books from me for the book exchange, after refusing Thornton Wilder’s Theophilus North because the pages were brown. Whatever – I don’t mind keeping it. NLB accepted the biography of Cher and other volumes rescued from the bin when friends were moving out, and these formed the bulk of my 16 Book Exchange contributions.
I checked Facebook to see if anyone wanted my coupons for a library in some third world country, like I read about last year. Found nothing.
So come the day, I drove towards the Central Library bright and early, parked at Bali Lane to save on CBD and higher parking rates at the library itself, and walked seven minutes.
Half an hour into the event, there was already a queue waiting to go in. I joined with sinking heart, but it was windy and pleasant, and the people about me were friendly. I could hear announcements telling the people who were inside, choosing books, to please make their choice quickly so that people like myself could have their turn.
The turn came within half an hour. Crowded, but not impossible to move about. And the selection was not bad. It took me just 20 minutes to settle on my 16 books – 4 or 5 that friends might be interested in, some that I was very keen on, like Shamini Flint’s Inspector Singh Investigates: A Bali Conspiracy Most Foul.
I went for one of her readings once, and was quite impressed, but didn’t buy her books, because I was in the middle of a self-imposed period of not buying any entertainment. I bought the first volume of The Seeds of Time – The Animal Talkers, and thought it was great. The volume has since disappeared among my friends. I’m waiting for the next.
Borrowed two more of her books from the library, one about Inspector Singh investigating the murder of a timber tycoon in KL, and another about murder in a law firm. Both were good, so I was glad to get my hands on one more.
Also picked up a RK Narayan, a signed copy of an Alexander McCall Smith’s Botswana novel, and various self-improvement, economics and other reading that looked interesting. No harm, right? If I don’t like it, I don’t have to finish, and can exchange them again next year. Actually, even if I like them, but don’t want to keep them, I can pass them on to another person next year!
This is great!
One thing though – carrying 16 books back to the car was do-able, but not a breeze, and parking at the library that afternoon was not a breeze either. I went for a performance of Animal Farm there, and had to queue to get into the car park. Waited long enough to make me late, and had to watch the first 10 minutes or so on the TV outside.
If you want to exchange a lot of books, it might be worthwhile getting someone along to help carry – just tell them to choose what they want. Or consider taking a taxi home – it just might be better than waiting to enter the car park, then joining another line to get to the books.
