Purchasing books

I read so much I'd be living like a hoarder, and very very broke, if I bought all my books I read. To make up for it, I try to always give books as a gift for birthdays and winter holiday time. And I pride myself on always picking out the perfect book! Other than that, I only buy stuff I really really love, or urban fantasy (which my library oddly hates).

Imzadi Forever and the first four in the Game of Thrones series are my most recent purchases. Before that, I think it was Clockwork Angel.

I buy most of my books - the rest are usually given to me. I trade books with my friends every so often and my sister likes to raid my collection (she has most of my Women of the Otherworld books, the first three Mortal Instruments plus a few others) so I like having a big selection for people to choose from. I buy used when I can, except when the newest book from my favorite author comes out, then I buy it as soon as I realize it's available.

A couple of days ago I ordered The Hunger Games (read it last year but don't own it yet) and Paranormalcy from TBD. I never go to the library, I just buy whatever books I want next.

Everytime we move I have to get rid of all my books and start all over again. It breaks my heart. I've had people dropping in for the last few weeks to take some away - but I've got about a thousand still to ditch. If anyone wants one, check out my librarything listing and if I still have it on shelf, I'll send it to you - unless it's in my collection of Books To Be Buried With...

Let's see...I last bought The Tale of the Wicked, a short story by John Scalzi. As far as books go, the last I purchased were Start-Up Nation by Dan Senor and Saul Singer and The Heroes by Joe Abercrombie.

I'm going to try and read some of the books I have and haven't read yet before buying any more, though.

I buy books because I want to support authors (I try to buy debut novels for the same reason, even though I cry a little at $30 for a hardcover). However, I share books with my husband, sister, and my parents, so we're always swapping.

mccardey said:

Everytime we move I have to get rid of all my books and start all over again. It breaks my heart. I've had people dropping in for the last few weeks to take some away - but I've got about a thousand still to ditch. If anyone wants one, check out my librarything listing and if I still have it on shelf, I'll send it to you - unless it's in my collection of Books To Be Buried With...

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Ooooo! I just started one of these in the hopes that I can use it to find books from other readers with similar taste (why hasn't Amazon developed a decent recommendation system yet GRRRRR). Is this a good way to do that?

ETA - Nevermind. This is awesome, dude, I wish I could give you a hero cookie, seriously. This is exactly what I've been looking for. SWEET.

I do by all my books, but I buy the used copies online. Most of the paperbacks cost no more than 8 or 9 bucks, it's a pretty good deal. This may sounds silly, but whenever I take out a book from the library with a due date on it, I get the feeling of a "deadline" that I have to make. I know I can always renew it and it's totally irrational, but hey, to me it's worth 8 or 9 bucks.

Since I am a broke college student with lots and lots of bills I'm at the library first, besides I'd rather not have a book unless I love it to itty bitty pieces, I've never been a collector for collectors sake you know? I'll buy it if I love it.

Abundance: The Future Is Better Than You Think:
http://www.abundancethebook.com/
I got the free first chapter before it went on sale and found several things that seem to me to be lapses in editing, but I'm interested enough in the topic I went ahead and bought it. This was last Saturday, and it was already the second printing, only a week or two after it was released. The cover is "ordinary" with a picture of an aluminum cover, and I presume the first edition was real aluminum as the first chapter claims.

It's been a couple months since I bought some books that weren't school related. The last books I bought were Odd Thomas and Keeper of the House - both recommended by friends. I kind of feel bad because I finished Odd Thomas but not Keeper of the House (I have trouble enjoying reading broken English).

Per my intro thread, I took reading back up not even a year ago and have loved it ever since. I finally got tired of carrying books everywhere with me. I purchased a Kindle Touch last weekend and I looooove it. Makes it so easy to get books now

I originally bought the collection of the first four Game of Thrones books- but I had to return it. It was really buggy for me. It read all four books as one book, and the page count stopped after the first book and that bothered me. So I returned it and will just buy them individually. I purchased Clash of Kings, since I am about 85% through it now.

Oh and I purchased the unabridged version of Les Miserables for $0.00 last night and started reading that as well. I have only seen the Liam Neeson movie and I loved it, so many people recommend I actually read the book.

I have an eReader both for storage and because I read so fast going to the bookstore can be a hassle. I know I said I wasn't going to buy any more (famous last words ) but I've been buying and reading Jackie Kessler's Riders of the Apocalypse series. I'm on book two, Rage, now.

I'm very bad about buying books. I try to only buy the ones that I've read and loved, but I love wandering into book stores and always end up leaving with something.

Darkshore said:

I'm very bad about buying books. I try to only buy the ones that I've read and loved, but I love wandering into book stores and always end up leaving with something.

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This is me as well. I can't walk out of a B&N empty-handed. Can't do it.

That said, I try to check things out of the library first, so that when I walk into a B&N I have some idea of which authors I actually know I like and want to support.

Last books bought: Discount Armageddon, by Seanan McGuire; and Blood and Other Cravings, a horror anthology edited by Ellen Datlow. The first author is a LiveJournal "friend" and my favorite urban fantasy writer; the second is put together by my favorite horror anthologist, and includes a story by AW's own Nicole LeBeouf.

So that's how I rein in my purchases. If I see something that looks interesting but I haven't either read it already or don't know the author either from here or elsewhere, I'll check it out from the library first. Then I come back and buy it later.

Due to budget constraints, I very rarely purchase new books (maybe once in five to ten years). I think the last new book I purchased for myself would have been Deathly Hallows, the last of the Potter series. But I'm at the used bookshop easily once a week and never walk out empty handed. I love used books and support used bookshop owners as my brother owns a shop in San Diego.

I do visit the library but not as often as, with my schedule of kids and a sick parent, I can't get over there often enough to turn things in on time. Otherwise, I'd be there more often.

I hesitate to admit this, but I generally don't buy new books unless they're newly published (such as the book in post #10). There's too many sources for cheap used copies after a book has been out a while. Here's a blogpost I wrote years ago on getting books cheap:
http://ben-bradley.blogspot.com/2007/08/how-and-where-i-buyget-books.html
I'm still on paperbackswap (though it seems the Janet Evanovich novels aren't as in demand as they were years ago) and still buy at thrift stores, but I'm trying to cut down, and last year I did give a few boxes of books-I'll-never-read to the library for their book sale, and I need to pack up and donate a few more boxes.

I've mentioned that I've made bookshelves/bookcases narrow and sturdy enough to be moved around while fully loaded with books so whenver I move I don't have to box up the books. I've threatened to write a blogpost with how to make them, but I haven't so far...

You can find a copy of almost any book used on bn.com for under $6, so that's what I usually do. It's easy, it's cheap, and there's something ineffably different about a copy being yours as opposed to borrowing a book from the library. Although, when I have a little extra spending money, I like to spend a day at the bookstore and buy a few new books.

Recently, I bought This Is Where I Leave You by Jonathan Tropper and More Notes From A Dirty Old Man by Charles Bukowski.