There is nothing quite like the swimming head and blinky eyes you get having speed read half a paperback in a bookshop and suddenly realising you have cramp in your leg.

Stretching your toes out and grunting, it is usually at this point that you decide whether to buy the book or furtively put it back on the shelf.

The offline bookshop browsing experience is not one to be missed, and many an afternoon as girl and woman has been spent submerged in the pages of a book in a friendly bookshop.

Buying books online is something I do regularly now - but only when I know exactly what I want to buy.

I use www.alphabetstreet.co.uk (low prices and no postage & packing), www.amazon.co.uk (huge selection of books), www.ottakars.co.uk (free delivery if you can pick up from your local shop), and a wide variety of other online bookshops.

I have never had a problem buying books online - all the books I have bought have arrived quickly and in good condition.

I have found a lot of textile and craft books online, whereas offline these books have been forced off the shelves of book shops by the vast numbers of cookbooks and DIY manuals/makeover guides spreading over the shelves like a rash.

When I want a big offline fix I go to Leeds.

Waterstones in Leeds (both branches) is particularly good for craft books, and other areas of personal interest to me, including film theory, gender studies, linguistics, cultural studies and computing.

Every time I am in town I pop into Just Books, which is rather conveniently on the way to the bus stop.

This is one of my favourite bookshops; I have bought many fascinating non-fiction books, often at very low prices.

Just Books is particularly good for academic books: highlights of my Just Books acquisitions are a three volume Dictionary of Women Artists, bought for £30 a couple of years ago, which sells for £190 on amazon at the moment, and many books on qu
ilts, rugs, ornament and artists.

I also bought a huge amount of pamphlets from Just Books whilst studying for my English degree around the subject area of film and literature.

Just Books are also very good for cut price computer manuals.

I have recently bought books on HTML from there at about a third to a quarter of the price they sell at in the shops.

A favourite haunt of mine when I was at the university full time was the Waterstones branch on campus, which usually had a reduced stand as well as specialist books on lingusitics, literature, gender studies, textiles .... the list goes on.

Second hand bookshops are also good, but unfortunately they seem to be dwindling in favour of discount bookshops.

In short - I buy books anywhere and everywhere - charity shops, discount bookshops, chain stores, even Morrisons, online and offline.

One word of warning - books need bookshelves, and you may find your collection growing exponentially once you discover more and more "dealers" for your habit.

We currently have six Billy bookshelves from IKEA. These are the cheapest self assembly bookshelves available and actually went down in price a couple of years ago. You can buy a large Billy bookshelf for as little as £60 these days. Ours have glass doors, making each bookshelf cost approximately £175. These are well worth it, and are very strong. The glass shelves make them look a little tidier, and most importantly keep the dust off our huge collection.

To finish - my fantasy.

A large library such as you might see in an archetypal country house, all wood panelling and deep sofas. One of those ladders on wheels and of course millions of books.....bliss.


Latest buy:
Metric Pattern Cutting by Winifred Aldrich, bought from Waterstones,