Has anyone lost some books?

[emerald-happy.livejournal.com]

It's been a heck of a long time since I posted on here. Apologies for what is going to sound like a really weird post.

Has anyone in the Midlands region of the UK lost their copies of The Queen of Attolia and The King of Attolia? I ask because I found both (UK David Wyatt covers) in a pokey little charity shop. I bought them because I figured spare lending copies would be useful but then it dawned on me, maybe someone lost them or a family member accidentally cleared them out. They seem too good books to end up given away...

The Thief was missing (I asked in the shop if they'd seen it being sold or donated and they said no) and The King of Attolia is a hardback so whoever bought them must have wanted to know what happened next fairly soon to buy the hardback. If Gen's hand getting cut off was an issue with the reader (thus explaining why they kept The Thief), then why would they have bought KoA?

Or maybe they simply had extra copies themselves or just don't like the books and my theories are moot.

*offers cookies* 

Comments

[booksrgood4u.livejournal.com]

*gasp* That's awful! I always keep my eyes open for QT in used book stores and *it's never there.* That's becuase it's so awesome, naturally! So I concur with your theory that in order for those books to turn up in a shop like that must be a terrible mistake XD

*see icon* they must not have looked hard enough....

[qwentoozla]

Before I got my own copies of QoA and KoA (I had got them from the library originally... more than once) I used to always keep my eyes open for them in used bookstores and I never saw them either. I always figured they were too good for anyone to want to give away!

[emerald-happy.livejournal.com]

What's weird is you can't get them in a not-used-bookstore for love or money here in the UK so someone had gone to the trouble of ordering them online.

kate_coombs thinks their owner died and their heirs boxed them up and gave them away :(

[emerald-happy.livejournal.com]

What's weird is you can't get them in a not-used-bookstore for love or money here in the UK so someone had gone to the trouble of ordering them online.

kate_coombs thinks their owner died and their heirs boxed them up and gave them away :(

Hah love the icon!

[agentmaly.livejournal.com]

I found two copies of The Thief on the free shelf at my local used bookstore last fall. I was affronted: not only did two people think The Thief not worth keeping, but the bookstore thought it not worth selling. These were in normal used book condition, not terrible, and even if they had been consigned to the free shelf simply because the store was getting in too many copies of The Thief, that was bad too: even more people were discarding it!

I was able to find these two good homes, and they were much appreciated, so it turned out for good, but I'm afraid some people do remove Megan Whalen Turner books from their collections.

[emerald-happy.livejournal.com]

Aww at least they have good homes now. :-)

It's just that to buy Megan's books in the UK you have to order them online as they're not available in bookstores so it's not like they're randomly picked them up in a bookstore whilst browsing and then the buyer decides it's not their type of book.

[lizzyazula.livejournal.com]

In a lot of these situations the previous owners had probably never read The Thief, never even knew it was one their bookshelf, and were simply trying to clean out their space. It's usually not because they read the book and thought it worthless. That has to count for something, right? And you did find them good homes...so maybe it was meant to be, the will of the Gods! It's not so bad a situation!

[freenarnian.livejournal.com]

I occasionally find the books at my local library sales or used book stores (both of which are huge and high-traffic), but if I don't grab 'em right away, they're gone. So I'm not the only one hunting them down!

One of these days I'm going to put a note in the front cover: "Hi, Person Snatching Up These Incredible Books! I think we should be friends!" Too creepy?

Sometimes I feel like Mel Gibson in Conspiracy Theory, always frantically hunting down the same books. ^_^ Yes, I do have multiple copies, but never for long - they're constantly relocating into the hands of young friends and acquaintances (and some not-so-young ones, too)!

[emerald-happy.livejournal.com]

Hah or like the film Whisper of the Heart where they're looking at who's borrowed library books before them!

When I used to work in a library, I donated copies of all the books and wrote "If you like these books the MWT fansite is sounis.livejournal.com" at the end of each one. I left shortly after and I've not heard anything via sounis since.

[hazelwillow.livejournal.com]

I work at a library, and I did a similar thing! One of my jobs is finding the books on the shelves that people have put holds on, so we can send them to the branch the person wants them at. Once The Queen of Attolia showed up on my request list so when I got it off the shelf I put a note in the back saying "Megan Whalen Turner fansite: ..." and the url of Sounis.

I wonder if they got it.

[kate-coombs.livejournal.com]

My theory is that someone died and their heirs didn't know better. Probably just threw all the books in a box. So sad.

[emerald-happy.livejournal.com]

That would make sense given I also got a copy of Robin McKinley's Beauty from the same shop. :(

I've had a detailed informal will written for all my books for years. Morbid and obsessive, hah but they must go to good homes.

[freenarnian.livejournal.com]

Beauty is one of my favoritest books of all time. *happy sigh* Once upon a time my friends and I traded McKinley's books like currency, they were so in demand. Unfortunately I've been less impressed with her newer stuff. It's so... boring. =/

[kate-coombs.livejournal.com]

EH: That's funny--someone told me I should write my will several years ago, and all I could think about was my library (16 bookshelves even after I moved out of state and let go of boxes and boxes of books). I figure an inner-city school or struggling library would be ideal.

[sandtree.livejournal.com]

Guys, consider this: maybe some people love these books so much that they want to share the love with others. Thus they donate them to a used bookstore or library to let others enjoy them. Instead of buying them yourselves, why not leave them there and let someone who hasn't read them yet discover them. :)

[dannybailey.livejournal.com]

I lost a copy of QOA in my high school some years ago. I left it on top of the towel dispenser in the locker room, and when I went back the next day to look for it it was gone. I like to think that whoever found it enjoyed it thoroughly and went on to read the rest of the series. :)

[willow-41z.livejournal.com]

Maybe they simply had extra copies. I have eight copies of Thief, QoA and KoA altogether!