03/04/19: Scary story (Sue Ryder)

Sue Ryder, West Kensington.
A female member of staff points at a 1970s/1980s hardback anthology of ghost stories and asks me:
“Sir, you don’t like horror, do you?”
“No, thanks, not for me,” I reply.
The woman turns to another customer and says: “That’s terrible. Everyone is scared for horror.”

29/07/17: Charity shop hop, Finchley Central

1. North London Hospice. Bought All is Lost DVD, still shrink-wrapped, for £1. This is a tremendous film starring Robert Redford about a man whose boat sinks. Basically: Gravity at sea.

2. Cats Protection League. Joan Baez – "Silver Dagger" 7" EP was £1.99. Tempted, but didn't buy. Also on the shelves: several Duran Duran CDs.

3. Cancer Research. Several Primal Scream CDs, plus an entire shelf of guitar tutorial CDs. There was a man sneezing a bit too close to me, so I didn't hang around.

4. Sue Ryder. Seriously overpriced. A Shirley Bassey vinyl compilation was £3.50. A water-damaged paperback was £2. No, thanks.

5. All Aboard. Tiny selection of CDs virtually hidden behind the till, making for awkward browsing.

6. Oxfam – small shop, overpriced vinyl. Weary by this point. Headed back to the car in the rain.

30/12/14: Her Lover (Sue Ryder)

Sue Ryder, Golders Green. The sign stated that all paperbacks were £1, but a sticker on the actual book said £2. A confusing state of affairs. I asked the lady at the till, who confirmed the £1 rule and removed the misleading sticker. The purchase proceeded without further incident. Her Lover by Albert Cohen is 974 pages long and as such will take me a while to read. It was published in 1968, but is set in 1930s Geneva and details the lives of social climbers connected to the League of Nations. This is an English translation from the original French version (published as Belle du Seigneur).