Books

"You mention refusing to feel guilty about buying books. Do you value books over, say, DVDs? Is this because you personally prefer them, or because books are cheaper, or because you feel books are inherently more valuable?"

I'll admit I was being a bit silly when I mentioned the whole "feeling guilty about buying books" but it is something I'm aware of, if whenever I'm in somewhere like Waterstones. There have been times when I've spent hours browsing for a new book, nothing has immediately inspired me so I've walked out happier not having bought anything. I go through periods of being very frivolous about spending and periods of extreme thriftiness. My mother once said, (in response to me saying something along the lines of: "Mam, we've got too many books,"), "You can never have too many books." I must admit I've taken that little saying to heart. In terms of DVDs and CDs I feel a bit more cheap. I love films and I love music, but not as much as I like books.

Without books at camp I'd probably have enjoyed it far less. There's a lot of down time which can get spent in a variety of ways. The American staff have their laptops - I don't have one ergo I need something to keep me going. I brought a small library of books with me, which on several occasions the international and American staff dipped into because there wasn't much of the way of books at camp. I'd anticipated not having access to a decent bookstore so I brought things that I'd intended to read for a while, for example the Ian Fleming tripe bill of From Russia with Love, Doctor No and Goldfinger; or things I knew I wouldn't be able to get with ease. I think I chunked through six or seven novels while I was out there, which is pretty good going really.