I borrow everything I can!

I buy:

• super cheap paperbacks at the charity shop if the library doesn't stock them, that are then re-donated

• books related to my career for my desk shelf after reading

• antique hardcovers of anything interesting/beautiful

I simply no longer buy novels new. I occasionally treat myself to a non-fiction to keep (usually on ecology), but never novels. I can't afford new books every week! I get most of my reads from the library, and my local charity shop has a huge selection for as little as 50p and a couple quid at the most. I also share a Prime library with my mum through their shared content scheme, so anything one of us buys (hooray for 99p offers), the other has too. 📚

I care about immersive writing and believable characters and I dislike it when you can hear the author. It's not possible for every character to think the same way and share the same values - that's the author's opinions talking! That includes main characters across different books/series by the same author. A new name does not a new character make.

I'm also not a fan of books that don't use quotation marks for dialogue. I know it's a style choice but I like them. I don't like getting halfway down a page and realising that several people have been in a conversation I didn't 'hear' and I don't know who said what. At least indicate speech a different way!