The Returned Books trolley

in the library is always of interest. 

I was reminded of it this morning when I saw a post on FB by someone saying that her two librarians seemed to have hidden her Returned Books Trolley. The coffee table was piled high with books instead. 

This house is much the same. There are piles of books in all sorts of places. At the moment there are two piles by the front door, another in front of one bookshelf, three piles in the Senior Cat's bedroom and a pile each side of my bed. 

All this is in addition to the double and triple stacked bookshelves. Sigh. Yes, I am slowly giving books away. It is difficult.

But at least one pile by the bed is made up of library books...and it is not quite as high as it once was. I didn't look at the Returned Books trolley last time I was in the library. I didn't borrow anything from the Returned Books trolley the time before that.

If I am honest the Returned Books trolley in the library fascinates me. I like to know what other people are reading. No, I do not stand there with my nose and whiskers twitching. I just look with interest. Ooh someone has borrowed that. I wonder what they thought of it? Someone has borrowed this and did not finish it because there is an uncut page here. Yes, I know that author and I didn't like the first one that much. Will I try this  one? Ah, a new author I have heard about. I want to look more closely at that one. And this one is a local author. It is self-published and I wish they had given it to someone to edit and proof read because the topic is an interesting one.

I know what is popular with other readers. Crime novels are top of the list in this district. Everyone seems to enjoy reading about murder and mayhem and the detection thereof. Then there are the novels of a more romantic nature. Set either of these genres in the past and they seem to be even more popular. Cookbooks seem popular - do people actually cook anything from them? Biographies and autobiographies and books about sport. Car maintenance manuals are not as popular now but the bike manuals still seem to be used. Craft books are more likely to be found on the Returned Books trolley than the shelves. The Returned Books trolley holds a treasure trove of potential reading.

While I am looking someone else comes to look as well. They do so almost furtively and then say to me very quietly, "Don't you love looking at what other people have been reading?"