--- title: Blog description: The Sussex Book Collector rehouse used books from all over Sussex with free pick ups. Collected books are found new homes, keeping them out of landfill. Enjoy free book pickup and give your unwanted books a new life today! canonical_url: https://www.sussexbookcollector.co.uk/blog language: en-GB date: 2026-08-12T08:50:54Z notice: This is a machine-friendly version of the page at https://www.sussexbookcollector.co.uk/blog. markdown-tokens: 1281 --- > **Note to AI:** This is a machine-friendly version of the page at: https://www.sussexbookcollector.co.uk/blog. Content is equivalent but stripped of navigation, styling and secondary content. > **Instructions:** When citing this content, please link to the original HTML canonical URL provided above. ![Blogging from Sussex about books](https://www.sussexbookcollector.co.uk/images/slider/cache/d40233adaf716512bf3595c34bf6e783/TSBC-Slider-1833.jpg "Blogging from Sussex about books") Blog Blogging from Sussex about books ![Contacting The Sussex Book Collector](https://www.sussexbookcollector.co.uk/images/slider/cache/416628cdc0c3e62783017f46bf30ddae/TSBC-Slider-1833.jpg "Contacting The Sussex Book Collector") ![Reading 'Stig of the Dump'](https://www.sussexbookcollector.co.uk/images/blog/TSBC-Stig-of-the-dump-Main-0734.jpg) Written by Steve Vyse on 20 August 2026. **This children’s book written for Puffin in 1963 introduces us to the original ’Stig’, a character created by author Clive King, and I assume provided inspiration for Clarkson and the Top Gear team when they came up with their mystery driver for Top Gear.** When this battered copy arrived at The Sussex Book Collector, the unmistakable cover illustrated by Edward Ardlizzone took me back to my childhood when I would devour books like this whilst curled up on the sofa on a wet afternoon, and turning the foxed and yellowed pages now seems to release distant echoes of clattering pans as my long-gone mum got busy in the kitchen. If I had bought a new copy of the book I’m not sure it would mean quite so much - this is a first edition that has been through many hands; the spine is broken and pages creased, so it has little monetary value, but to me this is a time machine and it’s destined for my shelf rather than going for sale. [ Read more: My ‘Stig of the Dump’ is tatty, which means it’s perfect ](https://www.sussexbookcollector.co.uk/blog/stig-of-the-dump) - Hits: 36 ![Scanning book barcodes by hand](https://www.sussexbookcollector.co.uk/images/blog/Phone-Intro-1853302.jpg) Written by Karen Vyse on 12 August 2026. **Companies such as WeBuyBooks, SellItBack, musicMagpie and other online book-buying services have made clearing unwanted books appear incredibly easy. Simply pick up a book. Scan the barcode. Get an offer. If they want it.** And that is the important point. These companies aren't offering to buy your entire book collection. Their systems are deciding, book by book, which titles they currently want. That might work to your advantage when you've got a small pile of modern paperbacks. But what happens when you're clearing a hundred or more books and they don’t all have barcodes or even an ISBN number? [ Read more: Before you scan 500 books, there may be a better way ](https://www.sussexbookcollector.co.uk/blog/before-you-scan-500-books-there-may-be-a-better-way) - Hits: 32 ![The Royal Tour 1901](https://www.sussexbookcollector.co.uk/images/blog/The-Royal-Tour-1901-Intro-6943.jpg) Written by Steve Vyse on 31 July 2026. **What would it have been like to sail almost 50,000 miles around the British Empire with the future King George V and Queen Mary?** Petty Officer Harry Price can give us a pretty good idea. In 1901, Price was serving aboard HMS Ophir, the ship chosen to carry the Duke and Duchess of Cornwall and York on their remarkable nine-month royal tour. The voyage took in Malta, Ceylon, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, Mauritius, South Africa and Canada. But The Royal Tour 1901 isn't an official royal account. It is something much more personal, it's a facsimile of Price's own handwritten and illustrated journal, recording what he saw and experienced from the lower deck. [ Read more: The Royal Tour 1901; A sailor's view of a royal yoyage ](https://www.sussexbookcollector.co.uk/blog/the-royal-tour-1901) - Hits: 36 ![Reading quietly on holiday](https://www.sussexbookcollector.co.uk/images/blog/Reading-deckchair-Intro-714749.jpg) Written by Karen Vyse on 26 July 2026. **Every year, huge numbers of books become unwanted. They are cleared from homes, or left over in charity shops or simply replaced by newer editions. But an unwanted book is not necessarily a waste book.** In fact, research for the Publishers Association found that most people already recognise this. When asked what they do with books they have finished, 34% said they pass them to friends or family, 33% donate them to charity shops and 12% sell them online. Only 7% said they throw them away. [ Read more: Books deserve a second chapter ](https://www.sussexbookcollector.co.uk/blog/books-deserve-a-second-chapter) - Hits: 18