More Books

I really shouldn't be buying more books at the minute, what with not actually earning any money at the mo, but it's hard to resist. I was out in Lancaster to buy a book for a friend, wandering down some of the quaint alleys and by soot-blackened, teetery buildings. Neither of the two Waterstones had what I was after, so I thought I'd have a look in a couple of charity shops. What with there being a university close by, it's a decent place to find some Literature (and literature) amongst the Maeve Binchy and Tom Clancy. Plus buying them 'for a good cause' makes me feel less bad about spending money I shouldn't.

The Salvation Army has helped those close to me, it's an extremely worthwhile cause. In there I found:

• Romeo and Juliet - Bill Shakespeare (Cambridge School Edition)
•  A Concise Chinese - English Dictionary For Lovers - Xiaolu Guo

Next I popped to Oxfam. Up there on Penny Street (so close to and yet so far from a wonderful Beatles reference), this is a shop that just sells books, CDs, DVDs and vinyl. No clothes or bric-a-brac. Heaven. It's even in proper sections, so you can head straight for the Literature one. In there I found:

• Let Them Call it Jazz - Jean Rhys
• The Writing School Guide to Writing the Short Story - Roy Lomax
• The Grass is Singing - Doris Lessing
• Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert
• No Plot? No Problem!: A Low-Stress, High-Velocity Guide to Writing a Novel in 30 Days - Chris Baty