Books and bronzes

My new course books have arrived, and I've got that feeling, the one I get at the start of each course: I chose the wrong course and don't know how on earth I'm going to get a decent mark. I thought I would get ahead with the reading, but I'm going to need a new dictionary first. The study guide recommends a couple - one on sociolinguistics and the other on stylistics. They're £50 from Amazon and I've already spent £50 on the two set books, so that's not going to happen. Oh well, I muddled through Children's Literature okay, so hopefully I'll pick things up as I go along. 

Help!

I have spent a fair amount on extra Uni books over the past couple of years, but that's because the subjects appealed. The History of Childhood? That would be an interesting read anyway. The Art of Benin? I really didn't need that book, but the pictures were sooooo gorgeous. Don't tell The Husband...

The Benin Bronzes: the only bit of 'The Arts Past and 

Present' that I actually remember. Oh, apart

from the fact that Milton Keynes is meant to 

be the spiritual centre of the UK. Hmmm...

If I did have a spare £50, I'd begrudge spending it on dictionaries. I'd use them a handful of times, then they'd sit on a shelf or be donated to a charity shop. I buy books that I'll use for years. It's one of the reasons that I don't get books from libraries - I want to keep them to read again. Maybe I won't re-read them for several years, but they'll be there for when I'm in the mood for a particular story or author. A book has to be truly dreadful for me to get rid of it after the first read. 

I've just started reading a Young Adult series which I'm ashamed to say I'd never heard of until recently. Tomorrow, When the War Began was a film I accidentally caught on Sky a while ago, then Son Number One accidentally ordered the book instead of the DVD. Unable to find something I felt like reading, I stole it from him and then had to order the rest of the series from a guy on ebay. Apparently it's mandatory school reading material in Australia - a bit like Lord of the Flies is here, I suppose. Anyway, I'm on book four and it's not bad. 

And on the subject of books, on my 'About Me' page on the blog, I wrote how I'd really love a signed copy of Neverwhere, by Neil Gaiman. I'm going to get one. He's doing a reading from his new book, The Ocean at the End of the Lane, at Ely Cathedral later this month, and Ms Fab and I have tickets. He's also going to do a massive book-signing so, my quandary is: do I get him to sign my tatty, well loved, falling apart paperback, or do I buy a brand new one for the occasion?