Serendipity

Internet booksellers like Amazon are very good at offering books at competitive prices and making recommendations based on your buying record. But as a friend pointed out to me yesterday such recommendations take away the opportunity to browse in a book shop and perhaps pick up something out of the usual range.

The book on the left is the one I wanted to buy to complete my set of Sandbrook's history of Britain since 1956. The book on the left was one I picked up after having a good browse. The periodic table has always been a mystery to me since Chemistry classes at school though I have been much amused by Tom Lehrer's ditty on the subject.

An added incentive was the half price offer. Being a canny Scot I couldn't leave with just one when I could get another half price.