I keep hearing and seeing anecdotal evidence that people around the world are reading Prince Harry’s Spare, or they’re planning on picking up a copy, or they’re waiting on a copy at their local library. The library stories are making me so happy, because it feels like… okay, people still use their local libraries and they actually take the time to put books on hold. The LA Times even had a story about the waitlist for Spare in California libraries:
How long are you willing to wait for a copy of Prince Harry’s new memoir, “Spare,” at your local public library? Several weeks, or maybe a few months? Try an entire year.
That’s the estimated wait time for the lucky library card holder at the back of the line at Orange County’s public library system, whose estimated wait time for a copy is 55 weeks, as more than 700 people are on hold for its 100 or so copies.
Since the Tuesday release of “Spare,” public libraries across California have been struggling to meet the surging demand for the duke of Sussex’s 400-page tell-all tale of the British royal family’s drama. Their shelves have been cleared of the memoir’s physical copies, along with e-books and audio books narrated by Harry himself.
“The holds went up over the weekend like wildfire and we had to place another order this week to catch up,” said Shellie Cocking, who heads collections at the San Francisco Public Library, where wait times are at about six weeks with more than 600 people in line for its 100 or so copies.
Across its 72 branches, members of the Los Angeles Public Library’s system initially saw a wait time of nearly six months on Tuesday, said Justin Pearson, a spokesperson for the library. But as the system has acquired more copies, that’s come down to a modest seven or eight weeks. The LAPL waiting list for “Spare” is roughly 5,500 people long.
Long Beach’s public library system already exceeded its budget when trying to supplement its small collection of 18 copies of “Spare” as a couple hundred would-be borrowers placed holds, librarian Susan Jones said. The system plans on expanding its budget to buy at least one more copy for each of its 12 libraries.
As I said, this is happening all over the country. I’ve seen stuff about how Canadian libraries have crazy-long waitlists too, and libraries are trying to reallocate money to buy extra copies. As for actual sales, Spare is clearly flying off the shelf too – one-day English-language sales were more than 1.43 million, and the Guiness Book of World Records has now recorded Spare as “the fast-selling non-fiction book ever.” Take that, Twihards. Take that, “industry insiders” and their pearl-clutching over the Sussexes’ “pity party.” Everyone wants to read Harry’s story.
The amount of people at Heathrow reading #Spare is unreal 🤯😂
— Lucy Rees 🐝 (@ChangeTheOvers) January 13, 2023
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.
-
- A general view of Prince Harry’s memoir ‘Spare’ on sale at Waterstones bookshop at Piccadilly, London, England, UK on Tuesday 10 January, 2023. The retailer opened its doors early at 8am for customers to purchase the book.,Image: 748668805, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: Please credit photographer and agency when publishing as Justin Ng/UPPA/Avalon., Model Release: no, Credit line: Justin Ng / Avalon
-
- A stock image of Prince Harry’s memoir ‘Spare’ in front of Buckingham Palace, London, England, UK on Tuesday 10 January, 2023, which went on sale today.,Image: 748708660, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: Please credit photographer and agency when publishing as Justin Ng/UPPA/Avalon., Model Release: no, Credit line: Justin Ng / Avalon
-
- Prince Harry’s Book ‘Spare’ Released In The UK Following months of speculation the Duke of Sussex’s long-awaited personal and emotional tell-all book, entitled Spare, goes on sale today in 16 different languages, plus an audiobook read by the prince himself, published by Penguin Random House. Featuring: General View (Prince Harry’s Book ‘Spare’ Released In The UK) Where: Harleston, Norfolk, United Kingdom When: 10 Jan 2023 Credit: Nils Jorgensen/INSTARimages.com/Cover Images
-
- Prince Harry’s Book ‘Spare’ Released In The UK Following months of speculation the Duke of Sussex’s long-awaited personal and emotional tell-all book, entitled Spare, goes on sale today in 16 different languages, plus an audiobook read by the prince himself, published by Penguin Random House. Featuring: General View (Prince Harry’s Book ‘Spare’ Released In The UK) Where: Harleston, Norfolk, United Kingdom When: 10 Jan 2023 Credit: Nils Jorgensen/INSTARimages.com/Cover Images
I’m 200 and something down the wait list at my library in the small city of Guelph Ontario – when I put the request in, I could have gotten the large print edition fairly quickly
Canadian here! I was 189 on 86 copies in the end of December but I signed up super early and today I am number 82. I just went to check and if I placed a hold today I would be number 789 out of 172 copies! Seems like the interest def grew by hundreds recently in Hamilton, Ontario and that they had to buy huge amounts of copies to meet demand! Also long wait for the audible CD, electronic version, and large print
My mother in law bought a copy though and I’m debating getting an audible copy just to hear his words in his own voice and get it sooner
Hi fellow Hamiltonian! I placed holds on HPL very early but ended up buying the ebook so I cancelled my holds on the physical and digital versions. I just got notified Friday that I can download the audio book!
I’d definitely recommend the audiobook, he narrates it beautifully. I listen to a lot of audiobooks and very good narrators are quite rare. He has a natural talent for it (is there anything he can’t do!). I’ve bought the hardback but wanted to listen to him reading it too, so glad I did as it brought his stories to life for me. Also I think (not 100% sure so check) that if you are a new customer to audible via Amazon you get free download for a trial month so you could maybe listen to it for nothing.
Eh fellow Guelphite here!! ❤️🇨🇦
I still have my membership for the Mississauga library and managed to join the waitlist in November (they set it up early) and got one of their 30 audiobook copies. On the day of release, they had 30 audiobook copies for almost 400 people waiting and 50 ebook copies for over 600 people waiting. I’m sure the list is even longer now.
I just tried the ebook version in a large Canadian city:
Your holds position: #544 on 30 copies
Two things will happen. The libraries will buy more copies, and some will get tired of waiting, and will just buy it.
I was number 8 at my library on Holds, and now the number has exceeded 145 holds. We are a tiny town. They added 3 more copies and also have the audio and ebook versions. I will happily wait, but ohmyword!!!
I currently live in a small town & have lived in small towns in other states. In each case, the libraries within your own county & other counties throughout the state share with each other so you can request a book from a larger town’s library. It works nicely. You can return the book to your own library & it will make its way back to its home library.
I work for a Canadian library and we have never had this demand for a non-fiction book. We had to order more copies, but the wait is still hovering around a year. We ordered around a dozen copies, but we have approx. 200 holds on them (this is print only, the ebook and audiobook have very long waitlists as well). Currently deciding whether we should buy more.
8@Wendy and Tina American living in Toronto 10 years. Went to Guleph for the first time this summer and I adore it! I went into your local book store and bought a book(Sea of Tranquility).
I decided to buy the ebook because of the craze and I am glad I did. I am using the library for other books. I am in a deep queue for Fayne and Fairy Tale atm.
I like those large print editions, I’d’ve gone for that! Sometimes my eyes just get really tired.
This is one of the good things about e-books. You can change the size of the print to suit your vision.
I checked the wait list for the library in toronto and on the release date it was a 22 week wait list for the e book. I don’t think I have ever seen a wait list that long.
There are people who have read this book who call Harry vulgar. There’s no need to read it – it’s discussed widely.
Noblesse oblige. He chose money.
I use a library app called Libby to read library ebooks once I retired. Cause that’s what old folks do. I looked up Spare…. There were 26 copies to loan, and there were 448 people on the list before me. You can keep a book for 6 weeks. I just bought the Kindle version.
I was extremely fortunate to jump on the holds list as soon as the title hit the catalog in the NY library system so I was number three for hardcover. I just read it this week and I’m expecting the audiobook in another week. The holds for hardcover and audiobook are insane, they shot up when Harry did his interviews.
Fantastic!
I was advised that while my local shire libraries have 27 copies of Spare across all of them that. If I want to reserve a copy I will be 131 in the queue sat my big city library !
I was having a problem downloading it on audible due to high traffic. This is crazy. That’s why the royal family and royal reporters are weeping. Roya Nikka can never write another article again without people laughing. I know she was embarrassed at the number of people coming at her asking to explain the lie she told about not being briefed or leaked by anyone in the royal family or adjacent to the Palace, but here she is with a whole article based on leaks and briefing.
I really wonder if roya nikkah or any of the other royal reporters have any sense of shame. I would be so embarrassed.
Doubtful they have any shame. They’re all too busy defending themselves against the shade Harry threw at them in Spare. I think Tominy is on her 2nd or 3rd article defending herself.🤣😂
Wait, what happened with Roya? I’m out of the loop, apparently!
People have been going in on her lie. Since the book’s release and the docu-series, it made their jobs harder to sell their lies to the public. Before, people used to take what she wrote at face value, meaning those who didn’t follow the royals closely or were unaware of how they got their information. For the first time in a long time, she is being challenged, by non-squaddies on not being briefed while writing articles based on briefs.
It’s the main reason we hear Charles now wants to reconcile with Harry. They had never expected the book to do this well.
Harry has sold more books than all the royal books put together. That has to hurt.
I mean she told gayle king that she personally has never received leaks or info from the place. Gayle disappointingly did not counter back to that statement. But I think there’s another clip of roya in the past talking about getting info from palace sources. Robert Jobsen has also talked on an Australian news show about the amount of leaking happening at KP but now he also is denying it and being like where’s the evidence?
Amazing!
As happily as I am that Harry’s book is shattering records, I must admit I am feeling quite giddy that the likes of Tominey and Nikkah are feeling the heat for how they have shamelessly reported on H&M!!! If you want to be considered an actual journalists, stop printing lies that are fed to you blindly as you have lost any and all respect from your profession.
Wait… What do Twilight fans have to do with this?! 😂
Waiting on a digital copy from my library. 5 weeks for audio, 2 weeks for ebook. That’s going down quickly though. It seems ppl are returning them as soon as they’re done reading them instead of holding them for the entire lend period.
It also means that the library is buying more licenses.
Ah! I forgot about that. I’m going to watch the copies too
So there are 255 audio titles and 473 ebook titles
Don’t let the wait times stop you! Most libraries will buy more, no matter what book it is, when so many are waiting. You really can’t predict your actual wait time.
Definitely this, there were 186 people waiting on my copy the first day down to 7 people waiting the next day. They’ll add copies based on demand.
Absolutely, my city library has already acquired over a hundred new ebooks and audiobooks since I put my copy on hold!
I have an extra copy that I’ll take over to my local library on Tuesday. I’m really loving this for Harry, it must be quite thrilling and vindicating for him to see that so many are so interested in his story. Nobody puts Harry in a corner!
Yesterday l went to visit my son, l brought food and goodies he likes, then he put in front of me “Spare!” I was so happy l was jumping up and down! I am still reading the book l cried reading it, no lie.
Wonderful!
One of my daughters sent me the book with a note that read:
“So you can keep up with the comments on Celebitchy”
Aw that is really cute. Y’all got some good kids.
Beautiful! Sounds like you raised your son right.
I put a hold on the book in October and am number 48! I have a gift card for a book store so I think I’m going to buy a copy, and donate it to the library as well.
I love the donation idea.
The British press thought leaking excerpts would discourage people from buying the book but as with the docuseries it had the opposite effect. If I was on one of those library lists I would have given up and bought the book instead. I’m sure some of those people will end up doing just that.
Unfortunately, not everyone can afford to do that. If anyone has a “spare” copy, by all means, donate to your local library or give it to someone who wants to read it but maybe doesn’t have the money right now.
@Brassy rebel: That’s why I said some people and I was speaking for myself. Did you get your copy on Tuesday? I’m still waiting for mine because where I live I’m not privileged to have Amazon do same day delivery.
My copy arrived Tuesday. Sorry to hear you’re still waiting. That sucks.
I mean it worked for me, lol. meaning that I was always going to read this book, but the leaked excerpts had me DYING to read the book once we realized Harry was going to actually reveal what happened behind many of the tabloid stories.
Ordered and received my own copy too! Thought I could wait (am very active at my local libraries) but was like, nah—this is historic/history in the making. I’m keeping my copy for posterity’s sake as I am a major re-reader of books I love; so far (Chapter25), I think this one’s worth it.
I think they really hoped that would be the case, they even wrote articles saying things like ‘will Harry’s book even sell now that we know the contents’? Yes, yes it would!
So I was checking the Libby app like every hour on Tuesday and it finally came out around 2:30 pm. I grabbed the ebook and the audiobook at the same time and I couldn’t believe my luck! Within a few hours there were 205 people waiting on my copy of the audiobook and 186 waiting on my copy of the ebook.
I returned the audiobook the next day so someone else could have it because I prefer reading it. By Thursday it was down to 7 people waiting on my copy of the book so I guess my library acquired a lot of new copies. I’m in Houston.
My mom is reading it through my kindle login and then I’m going to return it. She’s loving it and she’s not all that interested in royals, but she liked the documentary too.
Ina Garden posted on IG last night, sitting by the 🔥 reading Spare. Harry is singlehandedly bringing us together as we all read Spare. 😉
Lol I just posted this too before I saw your comment
The nutters are going crazy on her Instagram, like Ina is going to care, fire on, glass of vino, reading SPARE and Jeffery next to her.
I didn’t read the comments. As a veteran of the Sussex wars, I know better by now. 🫣
Brilliantly put, Brassy Rebel. Don’t read the comments.
I saw Ina’s post last night and hoo boy the derangers. I have always loved Ina, but I love her even more now. She’s loving the book and actually replied to some of the haters. Plenty of people defending her last I saw as well.
Not that she needs me, but I defended her, hah. Of course, none of these nutters are saying they actually read the book. NYT also continues to generate pearl-clutching stories about sharing lipgloss (never mentioning M just squeezing some out…) and that the future Queen of England is too poor to just say, “No worries, keep it.” Everything they write is swarmed by derangers.
Who is Ina Garten?
google is your friend, princess!
she’s a very well known and well loved celebrity chef and cookbook author.
it’s funny to me that you had the correct spelling of her name, despite the comment you replied to having it wrong. lol.
I just saw that! I know how to spell Garten. Unfortunately, my phone doesn’t. It just did it again!
In my small city (Waterloo, Ontario) I’m at 16 of 206 holds. The library started with 10 copies but are now up to 25. Also long lists of holds for the e-book and audio copies.
Ina Garten posted on her Instagram that she was reading Spare by the fire and she was loving it. Predictably there were a lot of people making negative comments but she didn’t seem to care and only responded to positive comments.
Lots of people supporting Ina on her feed and (importantly) pointing out that (1) don’t tell an accomplished adult woman what to read or not (2) No one but Harry can tell his story. It’s not ok for the royal reporters to write about him and he can’t write his own story. The best comment was by someone who gave the laundry list of bad behavior by the royal family (Andrew, PC III’s own behavior, his book that he wrote that blasted his parents etc).
Some of the Sussex Squad were on Twitter setting up a donation system for those who want to read it but can’t get/afford a copy. I hope they get it formalized; I would love to donate a few copies. I finished the eBook the same day my hard copy arrived. I’ll start the audiobook next week. Outside of being utterly fascinating, JR Moehringer earned every penny he received (and proved why he is a Pulitzer Prize winner); it is beautifully written!
Is that the ghostwriter? He did a fantastic job.
Yes, he wrote Andre Agassi’s memoir Open, and the found of Nike’s book, Phil Knight’s Shoe Dog. His own memoir, The Tender Bar, was turned into a movie in 2021. All three are really good.
I will be donating a few books to veterans hospitals as soon as Sussexsquard post the information
Ooh, thank you for this idea, I am going to do this!
omg I love this!
@UncDancer, if you find a link, please post. Bought copies for myself and my sister. Would be willing to make donations so that others can receive a copy.
I highly recommend the Libby app if you like reading ebooks. It took some adjustment because I always preferred reading a physical book but I’ve been able to read so many great new books for free. You just need a library card number and you can borrow anything. I just place holds on all the new books I want and then you get two weeks to read them. If you’re in the middle of another book you can have them deliver it later as well. And you can read paywalled magazines and newspapers too.
I read/listen to 99% of the books I get through Libby–I send the e-books to my kindle. It’s my favorite phone app by FAR.
I love Libby, I get a lot of e-books very quickly on that app and it’s so easy to use. I download directly to my iPad. I got the audiobook on Libby as well, but deferred my hold because I wanted to read the book first. I never listen to audiobooks, but since he’s narrating it and I’ve heard examples of his dulcet tones, I made an exception and put myself on hold very quickly for that.
I love my Libby app, I have it on my phone; but prefer to use it on my iPad to read/ listen
My library system is switching over to Libby, we had a different app that’s just fine, but Libby seems good too. My library is pretty great, I use it often, both for physical books and downloading audiobooks. At the end of the year they will tell you how much money you saved by using the library system!
I think I’m number 270 of about 400 requests. I’ve never seen such high numbers for any book.
In the NY library system, it’s nearly 2,000 holds on print and over 2,000 on audio and ebook. Never saw the like even when I worked as a librarian in the system.
My Libby app says it’s over 3.2k people waiting for the the Ebook. We have 838 copies.
I wish I could lend all of you my Audible copy. I listened to it non stop for 14 hours. I’ll buy the hard copy at some point just to own it. The book is an instant classic.
Luckily I had an old phone banging around – no phone service, but the apps were there. I deleted my email and message apps, and then lent the phone to my neighbor, so she could start listening right away on audible!
Same same same. I don’t normally buy books, but I bought this one on kindle before I realized HE was the narrator for the audiobook. Thank you husband’s Audible account! But I will most likely buy the hard copy just to have. It is iconic already.
I’m #1343 on 217 copies here in Chicago. Looks like they went back & doubled their order after seeing how many people were on the waitlist! Was originally 86 copies.
I am now only 1,821in line on Libby. There’s a message that the library acquired 36 more copies.
I am away from home and have not yet got my copy, so I block my ears when I hear people talking about the book and try to avoid stories in the media but it is difficult.
Libraries rule!
I treat myself to new hardback books and once I’ve read them, I donate them to my local library.
The Libby app for library use is so good, eBooks at will.
I recall Diana: Her own story was a big seller at the time too.
I think Tominney is crying tears because someone on Twitter stated there was an eyewitness to Kate’s apology to Meghan over dress gate: Meghan’s college friend Lindsey. Lindsey was apparently in the room when Kate brought the flowers to Meghan. I know CT is mad KP played her for a chump; but she chose to push that lie without thoroughly checking out (meaning using non KP sources). If CT’s professional reputation has taken a massive hit that’s on CT.
I dont think since Twilight have I read a book at the same time as the world, it’s wild. I’m about 3/4 of the way through the audiobook. I wish that I could donate my Kindle copy and audiobook to the library to share, it is so good! A friend of mine is number 467 on the waitlist on the Libby app for our library system. It was like this with Michelle Obama’s book, but this is much worse. I’m really happy for the Sussexes.
This book has been such an enjoyable read, I’ll be sad when it’s done because I don’t know that we’ll ever get behind the scenes info about their family to this degree again. Nor should we. I dont think I will ever believe the media stories about them again either. Unless it comes straight from Meghan or Harry, I will not believe it. And I’ll think twice about clicking on stories from the tabloids because I really do think I’ll be feeding into a machine that has caused him and his loved ones real harm.
@Abby
THANK! YOU!
This is exactly what H means when he talks about a digital diet:……..it just means being very conscious and aware of what you choose to consume on the internet, knowing that the algorithm is there silently taking in your spoken and unspoken desires and feeding you with recommendations that in the final analysis, are of ZERO value and of ZERO benefit to you.
I’ve become pretty good at avoiding ALL british media and most american media. I became a voracious netizen back in ’04/’05 leading up Pres Obama’s entry into US presidential politics, then stayed throughout his admin and up to the 2016 elections. I cant forget when Les Mooves of CBS uttered the words: trump is bad for america but good for cbs.
Thats when it really struck me that SM is deliberately set up by its amoral creators to benefit their fellow oligarchs in every economic field, using ordinary citizens as their pawns. I’m reminded of that scene in the first Matrix, where fields upon fields of synthetically grown human embryos are used like a power plant to power the matrix.
Sci-fi has always foreshadowed whats in store for us as humans.
FWIW there is a way to loan your kindle books to specific people. so if you have a friend who is interested, you can totally set them up with it!
I hope everyone waiting on a copy gets to read it soon! I finished last night and wow. It’s so good. I love that it’s bringing everyone together- we’ve had this type of mania with television shows but since HP, have we had it with a book? Go Harry, getting people to read again!
I’m on my library’s waitlist. Jumped on the day the book was announced, so hopefully won’t take too long.
Had a conversation with one of the librarians a while ago. She said they hate books like this. She was talking about a different political memoir. Everyone wants to read it when it comes out, so they end up having to order several copies because the waitlist is so long, but it means each copy they are paying for doesn’t circulate very many times, so the return on investment is low.
I guess if you’ve bought it and read it and are someone who doesn’t hold onto books, call your local library to see if they want it. Also, if you want to own it, but can’t afford it now, there will probably be lots of used copies for sale in a few months.
@Concern Fae – It will be interesting to see how many used copies end up in charity shops and second hand books stores. The only other book I’ve pre-ordered was “Promised Land” and I’ve yet to see it on my charity shop treks. The same with “Becoming” I did see one copy but, apart from that the “donate” shelves are nothing like I would expect the number of books in circulation. It could be that Harry and the Obamas are loved and people don’t want to part with their books once they’ve read them. I could be wrong of course but, it was just something I noticed in the shops by me. Case in point: I managed to pick up a hardback copy of “Rage” for 20p around six weeks after it came out! 😆
I wondered the same thing, they are publishing so many, I hope it is not filling the bargain sections soon.
I just switched my hold to the audiobook, not as many in line, plus it’s digital.
That’s interesting, but I think this book may end up being different–as in, a book people will be interested in the years to come. In a historical sense, it’s very important because it’s a prince of the realm writing his own story. This is not filtered through a biographer, does not rely on sources, but comes from the man himself. He is telling the inside story. In the future, any book written about the BRF or even English history in general, is going to reference this book.
I’m No. 46 and am at 10 weeks at my library. I get books all the time and I do have to say that the waiting time is usually less than the estimate. They base it on people keeping it for the whole 21 days.
I hope some people can donate their copies when they are done to libraries. Libraries are awesome! I don’t know if I’m gonna read the book yet (got a baby and toddler so not a lot of time) but I’m enjoying all the updates and commentary here!
Harry really is the gift that keeps on giving. So much focus on libraries which is all for the good and a big in your face to all the rota rats who have been happily spreading the BRF (and their own) lies and nonsense for all these years. Not its out in the open. Marvellous.
In the meantime my in-laws have been here since Thursday and they finally left so I need to get the house in order and I can settle down with my copt. Bliss.
The writing is so great. And Harry’s candor and self-reflection make it clear how much more evolved he is than the rest of his family.
What’s with all the photos Harry’s book at half-price? Somebody trying to make a statement? Particularly that one propped up in the rain on a railing in front of BP–I don’t get it, particularly in light of these sale numbers. I recently traveled back from Europe, and every airport I moved through had Harry’s book in their bookstores–although one had a blank spot because it had sold out & they hadn’t restocked yet. People were buying it everywhere.
This article reminds me, I need to get a library card! I just moved & I need to do that now that I got my new driver’s license.
yeah I saw that too, BeanieBean. it is totally on purpose! it was being offered at a discount before it even hit the stores. that’s the bookselling industry, no reflection on the book itself. the trash press is doing all it can to denigrate and discredit the book. too bad for them.
The UK, UK Canada we’re specified in that 1.43m copies, not all englash language countries (like Australia and NZ) Or other countries which still have English as an official language 59 sovereign countries and 27 territories according to wiki who likely also sell copies in English. It’s an impressive number for 3 countries. Id like to know the Australia/NZ numbers
I belong to 3 libraries as I rarely buy books. Retiree budget. These aren’t population dense areas. One has 90 reserves 2 copies on order.. One has 11 copies now loaned out or reserved and a wait list of about 100
I’m in a mid-sized city in VA and #162 on the library waitlist for one of the 18 copies. Totally goofed not putting it on hold prior to it’s release.
Just checked my library’s app and for a digital copy, the wait time is an estimated 4 months.
(for comparison, I was on the wait-list for Kindred by Octavia Butler and it was estimated as 2 months but I think it was actually about 3 weeks)
And this book is 400+ pages and most people are slow readers…good luck, people!
That’s the beauty of e-book in my library system, you check it out for two weeks and whether you’re done reading or not, it gets automatically returned and sent to the next person on the holds list. Unlike hardcover where new books are also checked out for two weeks, but the elimination of late fees is no longer an incentive to get it back on time.
Another way of getting it quicker – have a very old car like mine, which has an 18-year-old CD player in it. Relatively few people are waiting for the audio version on CD from the library!
I love this for Harry and Meghan so much! Well done, and keep up the good work!
I was #112 on the waitlist and my hold just went through today! My library started out with 50 copies
As of 4:02pm on January 15 there are: 3839 holds for the physical book, 4273 holds for the ebook, and 4545 holds for the audiobook of Spare at the Toronto Public Library (plus an additional 554 holds for the audiobook CD set). This is with between 300 and 350 copies already available in the system for each format (with the exception of the CD set).
I have never seen hold lists like this for any book before, this is WILD and I am so happy for Harry (and so glad I’d preordered my own copy months ago lol)!
That’s crazy. There were copies at our Target today!
I ended up buying my own hardback copy so I can always have it and share it with friends if they are interested.
Harry-number one is a human being living/breathing-he has every right to tell about his life instead of being an echo chamber for the tabloid media royal sources-his explaining how the UK media and the royal family work together about stories related to the family or members of the family-very petty backbiting people with some evilness and hatred in their hearts-to deliberately try to harm Harry and his family is the worst behavior of any family-I have family members I don’t particularly like to see or hear from-I don’t beef against them to others in the family to cause an upset-I plan my visits when I don’t have to see them-the royal family has massive media outlets to harm people and in this case one of their own family members-God bless and keep the Sussex family safe.
My library system has over 1300 holds on 112 copies of the book. Plus waitlists on the audio and ebooks versions. It’s definitely not being ignored lol.
I have an extra copy. I pre-ordered two months ago. I was going to put it in the little free library box in the park by me, but maybe I should give it to the actual physical neighborhood library?
I am open to suggestions. I don’t need two copies. I thought my mother might want one but she can just read mine when I’m finished. She’s got a stack of books by her bed already.
I was able to obtain for free. If you walk around your neighborhood, check out the little library. It’s the boxes were people can leave a book, take a book. Once done, I will leave it in a little library for a fellow potential wait lister or person who is interested.
I’m number 101 on a list of 1605 of people waiting on Spare with Auckland (New Zealand) Libraries. I went on the holds list on the day it was announced at midday and there was already 100 people ahead of me. I’m thinking that the books have only just had the protective covers added and are in the process of being sent out to the libraries this week as this is the first full week of work back after the Christmas holiday and summer break for many. Hoping to see that number go down soon as Auckland Libraries bought 60 copies.
If I don’t answer the phone or any emails in about a month you know what I’ll be doing 😁
I love that people as still using libraries! My favourite thing is seeing kids walking out with arms full of books.
LAPL patron, here: I hit the library jackpot. Initially was placed on several months’ wait list for both audiobook and ebook—but the next day, they both became available, to my delight. Support your local public library!
I signed up early at my library early to get his book, like sometime in the Fall when word came on when it would be published. As a result, I got it the day after it was released on audiobook! I had also purchased the audiobook Anna’s hard copy because I didn’t know where I was in the library’s queue. It is a wonderful book and hearing it in his voice just makes it better. I empathized when he spoke of believing his mother was hiding and she would show up and take him and William away. He was a child, and that’s how children think. Hell, as an adult, I sometimes think I see women who look like my own mother in random places. The hope he had was painful to hear and got me crying.