Friday 27 August 2021

44 Scotland Street.


I recently heard one episode of a radio serialisation of this book, and was totally enthralled.

I've not bought books through Amazon before, so was a little wary of buying one that was described as 'used'.


The book cost a total of €5.12 (£4.50), and I'm pleased to say that it has obviously been unread (an unwanted Christmas present perhaps?). On the back of the cover it gives its original price as £14.99; I consider that a bargain.

I bought the book for Lady Magnon, who is running out of books. I hope she enjoys it, I shall read it later.

 

25 comments:

  1. How have you managed to live to such a great age without buying a used book from Amazon!!
    And why were you worried about a used book, a book is "used" as soon as someone has opened it!

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    1. And I know that Amazon originally was a bookstore! I buy all sorts of weird stuff through them, but never a book.

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  2. A bargain, especially if that included postage. Sometimes the shipping costs to IOM are more than the item I want to buy!

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  3. I have bought dozens of used books through Amazon, especially cook books, and only once been disappointed with the condition of the book. Most have been real bargains!
    I remember reading this one years ago, then the whole series, all very enjoyable. Time to read them all again, methinks.

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    1. I'm sure this one was brand new, it didn't seem to have been opened!

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  4. The radio reading was hilarious, unfortunately I only caught one episode. I'll read the book when she's finished.

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  5. I love that author. He's always entertaining. I buy loads of 2nd books on the net. They tell you the condition of them so you know what you're getting. They often look brand new
    Happy reading

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    1. Ps the books I buy were usually around 6 euros including postage. After Brexit I've noticed the price has gone up to 8 or 9. I buy from Alibris. I'll pop over to Amazon and check their second hand books

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  6. You are so romantic and so generous too - buying your beloved wife a second-hand book! This sets a high bar for other husbands.

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    1. I didn't tell her it was second hand... I try to keep the romance going.

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    2. Thanks for a genuine laugh, YP. Cro loves a bargain. In the motherland it's considered vulgar to brag about it. Not that that stops my country(wo)men. Ask Meike about Schnaeppchen.

      Your comment reminded me of FOS (father-of-son). Once upon a time he forked out (bookshop, full price) for "The New Shorter Oxford English Dictionary". Birthday present for me. Two heavy tomes (A-M, N-Z), doorstoppers, I'd say each weighing at least 3 kg each. The day he purchased them I had the car and was out of town. So he lugged his bounty on foot, at considerable distance and after a hard and long day's work, all the way home. Now, THAT is what I call a labour of love.

      U

      PS To this day I don't know why the dictionary is called "shorter". That it ain't.

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    3. And the 'Complete' is always miniscule.

      Don't forget, those who brag about spending a fortune on 'trainers' or handbags, are usually not the brightest or the richest around. Those who show some restraint in their spending are more likely to have savings and an IQ over 120.

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  7. Amazon is great for helping to source out-of-print books. I didn't get on with the only book I've read of McCall Smith's but I'd like to give the radio reading a try.

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    1. It may still be available on BBC Radio 4 'catch-up'. It's worth listening to.

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  8. I bought one secondhand book via Abe books. It felt extremely weird and disappointing to be unwrapping a lovely parcel for only to emerge a book that had once been somebody else's. I don't mind books I have chosen from a charity shop and books from the library, but to order and buy a secondhand book in the same way as a new one for me was alien. Never again. I like a book in a parcel to be new, smell new and look new, always, not just by chance.

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    1. That really is what surprised me about this purchase, it was brand new; I presume an unwanted present.

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  9. I belong a book group and so always buy the book group book every month. The rule is we must always chose a paperback and I almost always buy from either World Books or Amazon. I always choose used if available and condition good. I have never had a problem and I rather like the idea that someone else has read the copy first. I don't personally enjoy McCall Smith but hope Lady M does.

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    1. She hasn't actually started it yet, I think it's about No 4 in a queue.

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  10. Here, I buy most of my books online. I keep an eye on what others are reading and choose from those titles. I have a list. I get my books used as well. I generally pay no more than a couple dollars for my book and usually the shipping is free. Can't be beat. Only once did I get what I considered to be a 'bad' book. The pages were loose from the binding.

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    1. I would be very annoyed if a book was falling to bits. I was lucky with the above.

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  11. Bad books are the exception, in my experience anyway. I complained about the book and do not do business with that particular seller.

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  12. These Scotland Street books are adorable reads. I buy plenty of second hand books online as I read many old books that are out of print. My local secondhand bookshops don't always come up with the goods! Some of these old books can be in pristine condition.

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    1. This one certainly was, I don't think it had been opened. Maybe the seller had two copies.

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  13. I have read Alexander McCall Smith books... mostly The No.1 Ladies Detective Agency series. But I may have read one of the 44 Scotland Street series as it sounds familiar. Hope Lady M likes it.

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