The bit from Patrick O'Brian I quoted just before the turn of the year came from The Ionian Mission. I read this part of the Aubrey/Maturin saga with great pleasure at the end of the holidays as a result of finding a discarded copy in a bin - on top of a few other less enticing paperbacks. Now this all might sound a tad unhygienic (though I should explain that the tome looked in good nick), and I could easily be insulted as being more than just a little bit of a miserly scavenger, but in self defence I'll plead that it just seemed so sad to see a great read in very reasonable condition carelessly tossed away. I felt obliged to save it and recycle. (I'm happy to pass it on now to whoever is in search of a rip-roaringly intelligent read, by the way.)
Now I come to think of it, there's a significant number of second hand books on my shelves and I'm pleased about that. It's absurd, I know, but I have a sense of having saved them somehow, of having given them new life.
Funnily enough I felt the same way as a kid when given presents of cast-off clothes. I remember getting a load of socks from my Uncle Fred and feeling delighted at the chance to give them new life. When they were finally worn out and thrown away I think they understood they'd served their purpose to the maximum degree. I'm not sure that youngsters today are the recipients of such hand-me-downs. A pity - something else they are missing out on in a world of plenty.
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