Which books have you reserved from the library?

[MarshadeMallow]

I rarely put books on hold as I'm rarely in a hurry to read a particular book and all the request fees would soon add up if I did ,as I'm a fast reader but this week I've requested Melmoth by Sarah Perry, The RavenMaster by Christopher Skaife and I'll Be Gone In the Dark by Michelle McNamara.

What were the last books that you place on hold?

Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders . Free but it took nearly 3 months. Well worth the wait.

Luckily requests are now free at my library, which saves me a few quid a year! I've currently got Circe, Dear Madam President, and Milkman on hold.

I'm in London so have used several boroughs' libraries for years. My partner works in the central library building (not in the library) in a neighbouring borough where reservations are free so I place all my reservations there - where I live they are £1.10 except on kids' books. I do use local reservations for books DS1 wants to read, on his card, but I am still sort of running the account (checking online, requesting reservations etc) - at his age (11) I had all the family library tickets (individual cardboard tickets and I could borrow a total of 14 books, using my mum and stepdad and baby brother's tickets. I can't remember if I exploited my baby sister's birth when I was nearly 11 to borrow more books.

I have lots of books reserved at the moment - reserved the books I fancied reading from the Booker longlist, a few latest in series crime novels and latest books by favourite authors (a couple of books in both categories here) and they are all coming through and in queues. We can now reserve books when they're still on order.

Recent reservations

Read and returned
Patrick Gale, Take Nothing With You
Peter Robinson, Careless Love
Val McDermid, Broken Ground
Claire Fuller, Bitter Orange
Salley Vickers, The Librarian
Meg Wolitzer, The Female Persuasion
Sally Rooney, Conversations with Friends

On loan, hopefully about to read
Sally Rooney, Normal People
Anne Tyler, Clock Dance
Rachel Kushner, The Mars Room
Kate Thompson, The Stepney Doorstep Society

Awaiting collection
Daisy Johnson, Everything Under
Sophie Mackintosh, The Water Cure
Anna Burns, Milkman

In queue
Pat Barker, The Silence of the Girls (#2)
Kate Atkinson, Transcription (#16)
Ian Rankin, In a House of Lies (#2)
Cressida Connolly, After the Party (#2)
Barbara Kingsolver, Unsheltered (#11)

Books still on order, in queue
Esi Edugyan, Washington Black (#9)
Sarah Perry, Melmoth (#6)

Someone has reserved a biography of George Orwell which I've had out for ages and it's due on Thursday - I have borrowed quite a few biographies and memoirs and some other non fiction. I may have to give back some of these to the next person in the queue and ask for them again

I just collected Kate Atkinson's Transcription yesterday, which I reserved a few weeks ago. Another I'm waiting for is Barbara Kingsolver's new book, Unsheltered, but I think I'll be waiting until the new year for that one.

I read a Tana French book on the recommendation of someone on here so have been working my way through her others.
I picked up The Handmaids Tale on Friday and am just about to start that.

Libraries are great. Our library will also buy new books for you if you request them at the desk, years ago when the Girl with a Dragon Tattoo books came out, they ordered the third one for me and I was the first to read it.

I reserved the whole booker shortlist this year, because I wanted to read them before the winner was announced. It was well worth it. (50p a reservation).
I have decided to do this a lot more often. The amount of times I’ve picked up a book from the shelves thinking ‘this looks all right’ only to be disappointed.
I’m going off my ‘want to read’ list now and making sure I get what I really want. I get a lot of ideas from the Radio 4: Open Book programme.

I have not got any reservations in atm as am going to be away for a few weeks.

But at 60p per book I think it is a bargain. There is not much else I can get for 60p that will keep me entertained for 2/3/4 hours.

Reservations are free at our library. I’m picking up 4 tomorrow.
The Spirit Level - Richard Wilkinson
Delight - JB Priestley
The humans - Matt Haig
Ma’am Darling 99 Glimpses of Princess Margaret - Craig Brown

Had a huge clear out of my books a few years ago as every room was overwhelmed by them and I would often buy multiple copies of the same book as I’d forget I already had it. Clearing out my mil’s house after her death made me realise that my house would be a nightmare for my kids so that was another factor. I have managed to halve the number of books to a couple of thousand. So it’s the library all the way now so I’m not back where I started but if it’s 99p on kindle, I allow myself that indulgence.

Hi, did everybody see the 'Please sign' thread? It has a link to a petition to support funding for libraries.

The Wife between Us
Moon over Soho (2nd In Rivers of London series)

Costs 75p per reservation I've used it a lot over the years as I haven't got room for more books, most I'll probably only read once and I love supporting my local library (under threat yet again).

Dottie I have just signed the petition & here is a link to the thread:

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/what_were_reading/3412324-Please-sign

It’s not just as simple as funding for libraries but footfall- libraries will decrease hours if people don’t walk in, footfall is counted and without it they will disappear

I've just finished the tattooist of auschwitz which I'd waited a couple of weeks for. Currently have the light we cannot see and schindler's Ark on reserve by recommendation of the tattooist thread on here, should both be available this week. Used to be 50p per book to reserve but now it's free. I love it as I live on the outskirts of a big city, so a book may be available at a library 45 minutes away but I can reserve it and collect it from my local one in a couple of days. Ds has swimming lessons weekly at a leisure centre behind the library so I'm able to pop in every Monday if there's something I'm after.

Apologies for the late reply. It's interesting to hear what others have on hold, though I somewhat regret starting it as now I have a list of books I've added to my already lengthy Amazon and library wishlists.

I've received three of my books now, just waiting on Bookworm.

I picked up my reservation of Love is Blind by William Boyd today.

Waiting on Transcription by Kate Atkinson and A Ladder to the Sky by John Boyne.

Reservations are £1:30 in my county so I normally wait till books are 99p on kindle and buy them instead. I have Melmoth and Milkman ebooks reserved on BorrowBox the digital library app. That’s free.

I’ve reserved countless books over the years, but I do get frustrated at how long it takes for them to reach my library. We only get a delivery one day a week, and often that arrives after the library has closed for the day. The following day it isn’t open, so it’s usually two days after receiving the book that it actually gets flagged up as ready for collection - that’s not withstanding the often two weeks it takes to actually arrive!

It costs £1.00 per hold at my library, and sometimes I begrudge paying even that when it’s quicker and easier to order a second hand paperback from an online seller.

Having said all that, at the moment I have The Forbidden Door by Dean Koontz on hold, and it isn’t published until next month.... I’m currently 5th in the queue at my library, but there are about 17 other holds already placed at other libraries in the county, so it will probably be next year before I see it.

Oh, perhaps I should add that I help out at my local library, as it was threatened with closure and is now a community run library. Doesn’t stop me voicing my opinion though!