Hello Friend!
Hope all is well with you 😊 Only one week left of the summer holidays… Where has the time gone?
Anyhoo.
If you’re a book-lover like me and my brood, you’ll want to know all about our visit to a book warehouse called 66 Books.
OM saw a video about it last year but we weren’t able to go. I said this was the year we’d make it happen. So, we planned our trip for last weekend. We were leaving at 0800 hrs for our two hour drive to Hemel Hempstead.
I know what you’re thinking: two hours? For books?
Not just any books. 70% off books!
Mr E drove, the journey ended up being around an hour and a half rather than two hours and Bubs only asked twice how long it’d be before we got there so, a success in my eyes.
When we arrived, we joined a queue of cars. A queue of cars that wasn’t moving. OM offered to get out and see what was going on but Mr E decided to go himself. He eventually made it back to the car and told us we were in the queue for the recycling centre… The place we wanted was actually further down the road.
He parked on the verge as we’d noticed several other had and we made the walk down the road to the warehouse.
As we were walking, a group of girls meandered along ahead of us. When I say ‘us’, I mean the children as they’d sped ahead leaving me and Mr E some distance behind. There’s little OM dislikes more than a slow walker, especially when she’s got somewhere to be. I saw her leading the charge, powering ahead of the snail-paced crew, arriving at the back of the queue minutes before them. Mr E and I slotted in next to the children when we eventually caught up.
According to OM, the snail-crew were giving us evils the whole time. I was blissfully unaware of this as my focus was on the mature gentleman in the striped polo shirt and khakis who walked down the line telling us it was a 3hr wait from the point we were at.
3 HOURS??
Mr E duly disappeared to sit in the car.
The children and I decided to tough it out, chatting, playing games and questioning the accuracy of the man’s three hour prediction.
The queue moved forwards in bursts. The sun broke through the clouds and the sunshine warmed our skin. Mr E spent an exorbitant amount on croissants for us before heading back to the car.
Every so often, people would walk past us with boxes of their purchases. They stared at the queue, extremely smug that they were leaving while we were still waiting to get in. One even had the cheek to take a picture, no doubt to post on her socials…
Striped shirt guy came back to tell us two hours.
We edged forwards some more and I got chatting to the woman in front of us who was with her daughter. She told me she was retired and her daughter is training to be a teacher. The mum suggested the daughter get some books for the children in her class. Her response was, ‘No way. They’d destroy them.’ And from there led into a conversation on the apathy of students and parents and how teachers have no powers to discipline children anymore.
I wholeheartedly agree, but that’s a conversation for another post.
We finally reached the main entrance – two and a half hours from when we first joined the queue.
The man in the striped shirt reappeared and counted a group of us into the foyer. We were the last of that group so snail-crew were left narrowing their eyes at us as we were given the ‘talk’:
If posting on social media, be sure to tell people they’re open to the public on select days of the year (check their Facebook page); don’t ask them for specific titles – what you see is what you get; and finally, put books back where you found them if you change your mind.
We were pointed to the baskets and the stairs and off we went.
The first thing I noticed was the smell. A whole warehouse full of that new-book smell. I’d quite happily sit and breathe it in but there was no time for that.
The children’s section was right at the front and took up approximately half of the top floor. Rows and rows of books, puzzles, posters – so much choice! I wondered how Bubs would stay within budget but he made his selections fairly quickly and we found him a comfy seat while we walked the aisles.
Don’t expect to find any hot-off-the-press books but I promise, if you make the trip, you will not be disappointed.
Adult fiction covers a large section of the top floor, along with travel guides, notebooks, and posters. Once you head downstairs, there is a large cookbook section and mostly non-fiction titles as well as more children’s books.
When we finally got to the till (two hours later!), we were amazed that everyone was within budget. OM got the most value for money, I think, with ten books and a poster for £28 – bargain!
We also ended up being directly in front of snail-crew in the queue to pay which I imagine they were overjoyed about 😊
Overall, it was well worth the journey (and the wait) and we were all smiles sitting in the car, satisfied with our new purchases. A stop off at a drive-thru MacDonald’s rounded off a great family day out.
If you’re interested in visiting, check out the 66 Books Facebook page for a list of dates when they’re open to the public.
Speak soon xx
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