Sometimes I'm a sucker

[theworm[$]]

I have this "thing". I could go to the library and borrow books, but I like buying them. I like to have them. I like them to me MINE, so I buy. Lately I've been buying on-line as discount sites or used book sites and saving a lot of money.

So.... I have a few books at home, but not what I'm in the mood for. I figured that if the storm hits this weekend, I'll need a good book or two, so I drove at lunch to the bookstore and selected two books. The lady told me that if I buy 4, I get the 5th for free. Sucker! Yes, I went back and got 3 more. So, for the price of 4 full price books, I got an $8 paper back for free. Didn't occur to me that I just wasted a lot of money till I got back in the car. Of course, books are never a waste of money, but I'm trying to cut back on my cash outflow, and this was not a moment of brilliance.

[Redlass]

Oh, Delia, I'm so bad about things like that it isn't even funny. It's why we don't answer our phone to telemarketers--we'll say yes to whatever they're selling even though we don't need it.

But at least a book is a useful thing!

So, um, what did you get? What did you get?

[theworm[$]]

I'm embarrassed to post because I bought easy reads - not novels of substance.

I got two Alice Hoffman novels, two Elizabeth Berg novels, and Kane and Able by Jeffrey Archer.

[mjfrombuffalo[$]]

Hey, it's not like they're going to spoil or anything. Just don't buy any more books until you're done with these. Then find a used book bookstore in your area that will give you credit for books submitted, take your used books in, get your new used books cheap.

[ms_n]

I'm glad you have something to read. :thumbs: I have vowed to end my book-buying habit to save cash (can't take money from my babies!). Luckily, the library has books of great substance and of little substance. Whatever that means.

[theworm[$]]

please don't ask me how many novels I have still unread in my pile......

[CurtisEdmonds]

booksfree.com

Learn it, live it, love it.

[theworm[$]]

Wow Curtis! That looks great!!! I'm assuming you use them often. Cool!!!

[CurtisEdmonds]

I do. It's 12 bucks a month to check out four books at a time. The books are not always in great shape (some are better than others) and their selection is very narrow at times. But it's a good way to introduce yourselves to different authors, and you don't have to clutter up your house.

[soxfan[$]]

That's pretty cool. If I didn't have such a backlog already, I'd seriously consider joining.

[Redlass]

Don't be embarrassed! Reading is supposed to be a fun, leisure activity. Who cares if they aren't tough-stuff novels!

I've been gorging lately on books that meld the fantasy and romance genres. Good stuff, but definitely brain candy. And I drive my husband batty with how much juvenile fiction I read.

There's no room for snobbery when it comes to books. Television on the other hand... *running and ducking*

[rmthunter]

I'm a semi-reformed book buyer. I'm a real impulse-reader, too -- I just want to browse and pick something that looks interesting, which in the smaller branch libraries here is possible, but the selections are usually very limited. In the main library, there are no longer any open stacks.

And, just to add another neurosis, when it's something I have to read (i.e., review stuff), I don't want to read it.

Actually, it's getting harder and harder here to unload books at used bookstores -- they seem to be getting very selective, although there is one in the neighborhood that will take almost anything. Even the ones with extensive sections of brain candy don't want to buy any more. I've started making up lists of what I want to get rid of, rather than trotting around with bags full of books. The dealers actually like that. And if you take a store credit, that means you can get books for "free." (It's sort of interesting that within a ten-minute walk of my place, there are three retail bookstores and four used bookstores. Although, sadly, not so long ago it was 5 and 4.)

Bob

[emeleel]

In the main library, there are no longer any open stacks.

No open stacks? Heresy!

[murasaki]

I never feel guilty about reading (even if it is what some book snobs would label "trash"; I wrote a thesis on "trash" that had quite a lot of literary and philosophical merit). I never feel guilty about buying books because it supports the authors' work.

I do feel guilty (sometimes) about keeping all the books we buy. We just can't let go and we are so out of space. We moved here with over 70 boxes of books. I donated our double copies but nothing else has left the house (except that horrid What to Expect When You're Expecting piece of crap that I refuse to read or to take seriously). We have very, very little shelf space. Our next home purchase will weigh heavily on built in bookcases.

[theworm[$]]

Thanks, Naomi!
I hadn't actually thought about my purchases supporting the authors. When I buy full price books by authors I love, I'm helping them to write more so that I have more to read. This is a good thing! I suddenly feel so virtuous!

[thinkerlady[$]]

I am very bad about buying books too. I buy and buy, and read and read, but keep everything I buy.

Our library charges an annual fee for membership. It is per person, not family, and is quite steep. I boycot the library because I believe it should be included in our local taxes, which also are quite steep. This is how I justify buying books!!!

[emeleel]

thinkerlady said

Our library charges an annual fee for membership. It is per person, not family, and is quite steep. I boycot the library because I believe it should be included in our local taxes, which also are quite steep. This is how I justify buying books!!!

I have never, ever heard of an American library that charges for membership! I can maybe see a membership for some sort of special privileges (extra time to borrow, ability to check out more than X number of media items, etc.) but I would NEVER pay to be a member of a library!

[thinkerlady[$]]

Melanie that is exactly how I feel. I was floored when I went to get a card. Then when I found out that I had to pay for each family member--that infuriated me.

The library is small, and is in need of funding. They want to join ACESS--I think that is how it is spelled, which will enable them to access the collections in other libraries that are part of the network. The state has a some part in this too, and if they join then the state says they can no longer charge a membership fee. They haven't joined yet, because they want that membership fee. I won't pay it.

[theworm[$]]

Public libraries should not charge for membership. I would boycott too!

[thinkerlady[$]]

Although, in the almost 10 years that I have lived here, I have probably spend more buying books annually than the cost of membership. I don't know how much $$ it is now, but back when I moved here it was $35. per person.

[soxfan[$]]

A public library charging people to borrow books? That's just not right.

[phoenixx]

When you buy books you support th author AND the bookstore, and if you shop at an independent booksellar that is a doubly good thing.