Oops, sorry if you got an incomplete ‘My Life in Books’ post in your inbox – I pressed publish before I’d written it – but it is a sneak preview that the series will be coming back next week! More information on that soon… I want to make sure the My Life in Books archives are up to date before I write too much about it.
Isn’t that all mysterious? If you were reading Stuck in a Book in 2014 or earlier, you might remember what it is. If not, then watch this space.
I’ve had a fairly frustrating week, book-wise. Or, rather, bookcase-wise. Argos have stopped making the bookcase that I have in my living room (I have five of them in here at the moment). I’ve shunted some furniture around to make room for one more, and now I have to get one that doesn’t match. Frustrating. So I thought I’d try on ebay. Success! I had to pay a bit extra, but could get the colour I wanted.
Only, when it turned up, it was the wrong colour and the wrong depth. I contacted the seller, and they very quickly responded, apologising for the mistake. They sent me another… that was the wrong colour (and the correct depth, at least). I contacted them again… and they said that Argos weren’t making that colour anymore.
So, essentially, this ebay seller was waiting for people to buy things, then just going to Argos and sending the product out – pocketing the difference. If I’d wanted that colour, I’d have bought it from Argos myself for less!
Anyway. Argos Man came and collected the two wrong bookcases, and I’m left with piles of books on the floor. If you know how I can get my hands on a Maine Tall Wide Bookcase – Putty (standard depth), then let me know…
But, other than that, it’s been a nice week for books. Quite a few long-awaited review books coming to the house – and a few that I just buckled and bought, truly having given up on my book-buying ban. And I guess they’ll just have to pile up on the floor until a new bookcase arrives…
Sometimes buying on line isn’t all its cracked up to be. I had to complain to one supplier when they just sent me a message that my item would be late arriving – that was six weeks ago and nothing heard since.
Count your blessings that it’s just a bookshelf!
This week we’ve had to replace our kitchen sink taps with horrible modern ones that don’t match our art deco style, and the replacement gizmo inside the cistern of the loo is the wrong size so the cover doesn’t fit over it any more. The plumber claims to be able to remedy this by ordering more new bits but no doubt they won’t match the art deco either and in the meantime the innards of the cistern are on display for every passing child to splash around. (We are having a welcome gathering for new neighbours in the street this weekend, so there will be *yikes!* children in the house!)
These days. we can’t buy replacements for anything, and the substitutes are cheap imports designed to fail in five minutes so that we have to buy more of them.
Oh well, at least we can still buy real books, most of the time…
Oh that sounds nightmarish, Lisa!
Any chance you could get an Argos bookcase spray painted to match the others? If the shelves are removable, you could take one along to a DIY store which has a colour scanning/mixing machine. Good luck!
Further thought. What about one black one with two either side? For “special” books, TBRs whatever’s…..
I might try painting/spraying, but I think black would be a bit too dramatic in my living room. I should have invested when they were available!
Aargh! Where did that random apostrophe come from in my previous comment? Apologies.
What an ebay scam that is! Loving forward to the new series of My Life in Books.
Sympathies with the bookshelf hunting – that really is a *pig*. And what a cheek of the person! Good luck in finding a substitute or something that co-ordinates with the ones you have!
Have you tried gumtree Simon? I’ve generally had really positive experiences buying from there. Admittedly I mainly buy plants from people emigrating who post adverts saying things like ‘Please care for my babies!’ :-) The only problem might be that you have to collect the shelves yourself.
I think that Gumtree is probably your best bet too. I’ve had several good purchasing experiences there, including furniture.
I’ve had a look without luck, but maybe if I keep checking…
Good luck in getting the shelf. I agree with BlasR: why not get the wrong color and paint it?
But either way, let me use this as a shameless excuse to ask you to give us a book shelf tour once you get it sussed. Just pictures with a general explanation of what’s on them. I understand it’s a lot of work to give detail. I LOVE looking at other people’s bookshelves.
You’re in luck – I’ve done one! https://www.stuckinabook.com/a-tour-of-my-books/
WOT????? How did I miss that? THANK YOU SIMON. :D
Aw, this is sad news about the bookshelves! I have an array of very mismatched shelves because I have been acquiring them piecemeal over many years, but I would be crushed if I had mostly matching bookshelves and then one that’s wrong. Booooooo.
ZOMG, that guy on eBay – what a nong! Got my fingers crossed you can track down the one you need. ;) And really looking forward to the My Life In Books series…!