Putting the fizz back in

In a way the mundanity of trailing book shops for titles I would like to read has gotten a bit much. I go out with a mental note of what I would like to find, authors or titles and when I go out I search in the relevant sections. Previously I've been very focussed towards novels translated from Chinese and more recently I've been looking for any Christopher Hitchens or a decent Dawkins or Steve Jones that I haven't already read. Dawkins and Jones' works have not been at all forthcoming but now I am drowning in Hitchens. I found Hitchen's Thomas Paine's "Rights of Man" and snapped that up. I don't know how I've not seen any second hand Hitchens in the last year but two in close succession.  I also found a copy of The War of The Worlds by H.G. Wells that I was scammed into paying for when I see that it was a free copy given out and "not for resale". Damn it.

H.G. Wells is on my list of "interested in" titles. I read The Invisible Man about 10 years ago when I moved to London. Reading about the streets of London, in particular Gower Street, was pretty exciting not only because of the pace of Wells but because knowing the actual geography of the novel felt good. I recommend The Invisible Man - thrilling and short, even better if you can get an old copy with a good cover. I do judge a book by its cover.

Currently I have a mission. My mission is to hunt down and complete my paperback set of Harry Potter novels, Bloomsbury children's editions. I have been generally looking but I am now actively hunting. I *need* to find the full set in paperback and finish reading by the end of September. I *need* to finish reading the set so that I can watch all 8 films back to back and go on the Harry Potter Studio Tour (again). And I do *need* to, that is not an exaggeration.

I have been looking and asking in every secondhand book shop and charity shop I pass - do you have any paperback Harry Potter? And apparently, this is almost impossible.

I have seen about 10 copies of the Deathly Hallows in hardback. On asking about what is in store cupboards I have been told that they get copies in every day, which is clearly not true or... other people have the exact same plan as me and are buying up all the paperbacks. I've averaged about 5 shops over the last 10 days. I have bought one book that I wanted and another that I was guilted into buying. I was guilted into a hardback of the Deathly Hallows after seeing 2 copies on the shelf, I asked a lady to check to store for me and after a good while she came back with a third but cheaper copy. So I bought it. It is for charity.

In a scene of comedy that I really should have photographed, I did find a pristine paperback of The Order of the Phoenix. The book was clearly visible (it is pretty huge) at an Oxfam books in the childrens section. The entire area was cordoned off with yellow and black tape in a crime-scene-esque fashion and I was just 3 meters away from a paperback I have literally trekked all over north London to find. I could see the book but was unable to reach it. Thankfully a bit of explaining about my desperation to buy that book and the lady behind the desk risked life and limb to grab it from the building works/wall repairs that were going on. Thank Dog.

47. Thomas Paine's "Rights of Man" - Christopher Hitchens - £2.50 British Heart Foundation
48. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (hardback) - J.K. Rowling - £2.00 British Heart Foundation
49. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (paperback) - J.K. Rowling - £2.50 Oxfam

Oh. Also found a great-filled-to-the-brim-buy-your-books-here-we-pay-our-taxes bookshop and saw a big pile of NME, reminding me that my sister collected these for years and must have this copy at home. 1997 I think this was?