During this time of avoiding other people for very good health reasons, many of the pleasures of normal life have become temporarily unavailable. Theatres, museums, pubs, restaurants, and travel (foreign or local), are things we will only be able to enjoy again in some distant future.
Even though I am surrounded by, nay drowning in, more than enough unread books for several long lifetimes, I miss browsing in the local second-hand bookshops. I do not actually need to buy another book, but I know I will be purchasing many more, most of which might never be read for many years to come.
I have an urge to browse regularly in bookshops. It does not matter if I come out of a shop empty-handed, because running my eyes along the shelf gives me an enormous amount of satisfaction. Yes, I need my regular fix of bookshelf browsing. Let it not be long before I can resume this enjoyable activity.
Simply set up a corner of your library to look like a bookshop, ask your delightful wife to act as bookseller, and have a happy hour or two browsing, perhaps even ‘purchasing’ a couple of books. To increase realism use actual money, and have a small coffee and cake bar to one side. Several bookshops have such cafe facilities nowadays, I think of Oxford Bookshop in Park Street, Kolkata, and the London Review of Books shop in Bloomsbury, London. Good luck.
Brilliant. Can I use a book token in our shop?
Yes, certainly you may use a book token in your shop. The trickier question is: May I use a book token in your shop?
Provided you remain two metres away from the books!