I have a sizeable library of books, and from time to time I’ll lend a few out to trusted friends and acquaintances, especially if I’m sharing something I think they’ll really enjoy. This is not without risks: while trying to entice my nephew to read Harry Potter last year, he somehow lost my first edition hardback copy of Harry Potter and the Sorceror’s Stone and it hasn’t turned up since. :eek: I haven’t replaced it yet… there’s a gap up there on my shelf next to my Hedwig the owl plush toy and homemade Ollivander wand…
I recently found out a family friend took it upon himself to buy Alan Moore’s graphic novel * V for Vendetta* after seeing the movie and really liked the writing. He earned big pointf from me saying he preferred the book. But since he’s not a big fan of superheroes, I decided against lending him “Swamp Thing” and “Tom Strong” and gave him Moore’s From Hell and I told him to take his time getting it back to me since it’s about ten times as dense as Vendetta.
My two co-workers and I circulate books among each other pretty regularly. Right now one has my copy of Freakonomics (after the other co-worker finished it), and I’ve got his copy of Neal Stephenson’s Cobweb.
Amazing 3D by Morgan and Symmes, a book that came out in 1982 on the history o 3D art, movies, teaching devices, and photography. Profusely illustrated in 3D (anaglyphic), and not listed (at least anyplace I can find) on Amazon or Alibris.
I’ve loaned my stepmother the 3 Mark Kurlanski books that I own. Right now she has both Cod and A Basque History of the World. She has already returned Salt.
Lent this weekend to various members of my family:
Patrick Forsyth, Avenger
Melvin Burgess, Bloodtide
Dan Brown, Angels and Demons (I know, I know- it is, at least, preferable to The Da Vinci Code)
Joanna Clark, Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell
As for borrowing… hmm, I did borrow a copy of The Doll’s House (Neil Gaiman) back in 2002…it’s still on my sheld :D.
Oh dear. I never keep track, but my borrower friends don’t either, so sometimes I get back more than I loaned out.
One friend has The English Passengers by Matthew Kneale and The Last Witchfinder by James Morrow. Two friends have A Feast for Crows by George R. R. Martin – I bought two copies because I knew I’d loan one, but I ended up loaning both and I haven’t read it yet!
My daughter just returned The Cell by Stephen King and The Drive-In by Joe Lansdale. She also returned seasons 2 and 3 of Buffy and picked up seasons 3 and 4. She’s turned into quite the Buffy fan, after years of thinking she wouldn’t like it.
I don’t borrow. None of my friends buy books. They don’t have to.
Loaned out to students over the last few weeks: Christopher Moore’s *Practical Demonkeepping * and Coyote Blue, Terry Pratchett’s *Guards! Guards!, Men At Arms, Pyramids, * and Mort, David Brin’s Startide Rising, Heinlein’s The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress, and David Palmer’s Emergence.
AP tests are over, so they finally have time to read.
After my gentleman caller(ish) admitted he was reading “The Da Vinci Code” for lack of anything better, I popped into my library and handed over “Master and Commander”.
I loaned out The Book Of Life to a friend of mine who was having problems grasping evolution what with the god blocks he has on. Maybe not the best book on the subject but a decent start.
Alas. It was no use. He hand waved all of the technical lingo (Too many dinosaurs apparently) and tried to convince me that the intelligent designer wasn’t god but something else.
Most recently I lent a friend several Disc World books (Guards! Guards!, Mort, and Small Gods) as well as Good Omens.
Now that I think about it I still have never retrieved my copies of I, Claudius or Claudius the God from my sister. And I lent those to her almost six years ago! She claims to still have them but it manages to slip my mind whenever I am there.
Leant a few of my friends Stepping Through The Stargate , a collection of essays by various people about different things in the Stargate universe (from a somewhat satirical discussion of ineffective alien weaponry to one about how aliens dress to which members of the Stargate crew are more or less preferable for getting in a relationship with). Edited by P.N. Elrod
One of my friends is currently borrowing Freedom Flight , a novel set in the Wing Commander universe about the adventures of a drunken Australian space fighter pilot, his indentured alien servant, a Scottish spy, and an bird-like alien race fighting to free their world from the clutches of the evil Kilrathi. Great book.
Also loaned to the same person:
The Honor of the Queen , an excellent military sci-fi novel by David Weber, part of the Honor Harrington series
And loaned to a different friend:
Heart of a Soldier , by James B. Stewart, this is a very good book about Colonel Richard “Hard Core” Rescorla, a fellow from Cornwall who served in the US Army during the Vietnam War, and was later responsible for the evacuation of nearly 4000 employees of Morgan Stanley from the Word Trade Center during the 9/11 attacks.
A nurse/artist friend of mine has Song of the Dodo, which I thought might appeal to both his science side and his “appreciates good writing” side. No sign yet that he’s planning to read it.
Another friend of mine has The Prestige – I don’t recall the exact conversation we were having that I jumped up in the middle of and ran to grab it. Last I heard he was in the middle of it and enjoying it.
