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Post by Olive on Jun 2, 2011 14:33:01 GMT -5
So, since I just failed to stop myself from buying a few from Better World Books, once again, I found myself curious.
How do you guys like to buy your books? New from a big store? Do you dig for them in tiny used book hole-in-the-wall shops? Do you get them online, or is almost everything on your e-reader?
Or are you content with not owning the books you love to read, and simply sticking to the library or other loan systems (such as your best friend's shelf)?
I love buying used mass-market paperbacks, the cheaper the better, as long as the actual text isn't marked all to hell. If it's a book that I know I love, or for some reason deem a "classic," I have to own it.
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alyoshka
Young Armadillo
Vous etes un chanteur des pommes.
Posts: 94
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Post by alyoshka on Jun 2, 2011 14:35:39 GMT -5
I buy them from used bookstores or on amazon.
Sometimes, If my parents are willing to pay, I will buy them from borders or something.
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Post by Dodger Thirteen on Jun 2, 2011 14:53:51 GMT -5
I buy new books whenever I can, however I can. I don't like used books; my OCD won't stand for it, sadly.
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Post by embonpoint on Jun 2, 2011 14:59:10 GMT -5
Most of my books are actually my dad's, because I'm pretty sure my dad owns almost all of the books in the world, so it's rarely necessary for me to buy my own.
Having said that, though, if I buy books, it's either because I've read it from the library and want my own (in which case I go new - often Amazon because it's cheaper, but if I'm in town, then I'll look in bookshops), or because I happen to see them in a shop (in which case I don't care if it's new or old; I just want it, so I buy it).
I get books from the library quite a lot, but I don't like doing it. This is mainly because my library (even though it's the city one) almost never has the book(s) I want, so I have to order them in (can take two days, can take three months) at a £1 charge. It's also a pain because I rarely go into town and paying £3 for a bus ticket there and back, plus the £1 order charge... Well, I might as well have gone to Amazon; if I don't go to the city library, the only others I might go to have odd opening times, which means that a lot of the time, they're not open when I'm around.
I value the library and don't want to lose libraries, but it's incredibly frustrating going there and all the time having the book be out or unavailable or at a different branch, especially because I'm crap at reading a book in three weeks and taking it back, so I often have late fees, too. It's almost not worth my while to use the library.
D: Library rant, sorry! To the actual topic: I love to buy books, but rarely need to. I will buy a book if I've read it and love it, or if I'm particularly flush and can just buy what I see.
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Post by Marina on Jun 2, 2011 14:59:34 GMT -5
I buy mostly new books, from Borders and Barnes and Noble when I have giftcards, or the leather bound BN classics, love those. I mostly get free stuff for my kindle. And buy used books if if I have to.
I also got a few books from paperbackswap.com They're really great.
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Post by onlyaworkingtitle on Jun 2, 2011 15:33:36 GMT -5
I buy books... everywhere. As in, if I'm walking down the street and there's a used book vendor, I will inevitably stop and agonize over the selection before either buying something (generally the oldest, mustiest, most beautiful book I can find) or mourn my empty wallet and walk on (by this time late for whatever appointment I was trying to make).
Generally, though, if I have a specific book in mind, I'll use the Amazon used books marketplace. It has saved me uncountable amounts of money.
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Post by nickusp on Jun 2, 2011 15:44:42 GMT -5
I'm not too picky about where I buy my books from. If possible, I will always choose the used book store or family-owned indie shop over a corporation store any day. Since getting my Kindle, I've held off buying classics and get them for free from Amazon if they free copy isn't too horrible.
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Post by sandiek on Jun 2, 2011 15:54:26 GMT -5
Used. Always used. The last books that I brought new were 'Sunken Treasure' and 'Memories of the Future' by Wil Wheaton. Before that, though...I couldn't tell you.
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Post by tastyink on Jun 2, 2011 16:16:08 GMT -5
I bought some new books when the Borders in my town was closing, but I prefer used. I get a lot of books from thrift stores and Better World Books. There is also a independently owned used book shop around here that I am dying to visit so I can dig around!
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Post by Silva on Jun 2, 2011 16:36:22 GMT -5
I go wherever I can. If I'm desperate and need a book immediately, I go to a bookstore like Borders, which is closer than any used bookstore around me. If I can wait, I order off Amazon or Better World Books.
I did pick up some books from English teachers as I was leaving high school though...
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Post by flute88 on Jun 2, 2011 18:38:25 GMT -5
I get most of my books from the library. I read so fast and reread so rarely that it seems a waste to buy a book that I'll finish in a couple days and may only read once. Plus, I'm lucky in that our library system is FANTASTIC. It's made up of like 22 libraries and they all share a selection, and if I want a book that's at a different library I can just have it delivered to the library closest to me. There's no late fees (unless you completely lose a book, in which case you have to pay for the book), and you can have out 100 books at a time and renew them up to five times (as long as no one else has a hold on it). So I'm a big fan of our library, and I use it all the time. (I've had my card for almost 15 years and I know my card number by heart.  ) Usually, if I buy a book, it's a book I already read and loved and would reread, or a book that has some sort of sentimental value. Especially if I'm buying them new. When I do buy books, though, I usually get them used. My library has a few shelves of books for sale as you walk in - some are donated and some are books that have been removed from the library for whatever reason. Hardcovers are 50 cents and paperbacks are a quarter, so I always bring a little change with me every time I go by the library. A lot of it is bad romance novels and non-fiction (which I don't care for) but I usually come away with something (because why not?). I like it because A) it's a cheap book and B) it supports the library. I also shop at Half-Price Books a lot - because why pay full price for something when I can get it for less? It's probably going to wind up battered anyway, so who cares if someone got to it before I did? (Oh, and yes, I do use my best friend's shelf as a library as well. xD We have similar tastes in fantasy. Actually, she's bringing me by a HUGE bag of books tomorrow - I have no idea how I'm going to read them all plus the books I have out from the library, but at least I don't have to have them back by a certain time....) |
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rayyychul
Armadillo
On ne voit bien qu'avec le c?ur. L'essentiel est invisible pour les yeux.
Posts: 159
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Post by rayyychul on Jun 2, 2011 19:03:37 GMT -5
New from a book store. I try to order them online from Chapters, because it's a lot cheaper to do it that way (and I don't have to actually leave my house, hah.)!
I have issues with used books, because (let's face it) there are some people who aren't very sanitary and who knows where their hands were before they touched that book.
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Post by nickusp on Jun 2, 2011 19:12:25 GMT -5
I get most of my books from the library. I read so fast and reread so rarely that it seems a waste to buy a book that I'll finish in a couple days and may only read once. Plus, I'm lucky in that our library system is FANTASTIC. It's made up of like 22 libraries and they all share a selection, and if I want a book that's at a different library I can just have it delivered to the library closest to me. There's no late fees (unless you completely lose a book, in which case you have to pay for the book), and you can have out 100 books at a time and renew them up to five times (as long as no one else has a hold on it). So I'm a big fan of our library, and I use it all the time. (I've had my card for almost 15 years and I know my card number by heart. )
That sounds fantastic. The main reason I had to start buying books was the poor selection of our local library. For some reason, hey had every Danielle Steel, Dean Koontz, and James Patterson, but aside from that it was all books that came out twenty years ago or so. And not even that many of them. |
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Post by onlyaworkingtitle on Jun 2, 2011 20:44:21 GMT -5
I have issues with used books, because (let's face it) there are some people who aren't very sanitary and who knows where their hands were before they touched that book. AAAAAH I'm going to pretend I didn't read this. |
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Post by cyanea on Jun 2, 2011 21:46:39 GMT -5
I buy then from big stores, I buy them from used book and thrift stores and library sales, and since I got my nook, I buy them online. It's quite nice.
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