Booking Through Thursday
Today’s Booking Through Thursday question is:
All other things being equal–do you prefer used books? Or new books? (The physical speciman, that is, not the title.) Does your preference differentiate between a standard kind of used book, and a pristine, leather-bound copy?
I don’t seem to care, which means I buy too many new books.
I read library books, which are usually used by the time I get them (although I must admit I take particular pleasure when I appear to be the first reader of a library book).
I read lots of new books in paperback. My biggest block of daily reading time is an hour in the bathtub in the evening. I prefer paperbacks and not library books for that purpose for obvious reasons. I only recall dropping one book in the water, but it was a mess — readable, once it dried out, but still a mess.
Why don’t I buy my paperbacks used? Mostly it’s convenience both because there are large bookstores near me and because the newest books are prominently displayed there — this is especially helpful in keeping up with my favorite authors. Otherwise, I would need a more rigorous method for keeping track of what I want to read so that I will know what to get when they arrive on the used bookmarket. And it seems like such trouble to check used bookstores, the book fairs, and online used book outlets to make sure I don’t miss anything from my favorite authors. All of that is another way of saying that I buy new paperbacks out of habit! It would be greener and cheaper to buy them used, but I don’t see that changing any time soon.
I give my books away to the Greater St. Louis Book Fair and, since I donate new books, they sell quickly there. Which reminds me, I have a couple of boxes that I need to donate so that they can be in this year’s sale, April 28 to May 1 in the parking garage at West County Center.
Check today’s Booking Through Thursday post for more answers to this question. Many answers are as wishy-washy as mine. Margaret at BooksPlease is fussy about new books but loves to read old ones as well. iwriteinbooks doesn’t want her books too nice because, well, writing in books is counter to that. Randomize Me experienced an easy transition to digital books due to not caring much one way or another about the physical book.
A few people are more adamant. Bookish Ardour loves adopting old books as does Reading, fuelled by tea. Laurel-Rain Snow at Potpourri loves new books, but she also used this question to share her treasure of two old books that belonged to her mother. She wasn’t the only one–Ayanami Faerudo at Whatever You Can Still Betray prefers new books but loves the trove of books from grandparents.
Cool summary of the posts of the meme participants 🙂
I think it’s great that you give all your used books away. That is one thing that I can’t do with my eBooks – with the drm put in by publishers (understable, given the fear of piracy), the book is locked in to just whoever owns the account.
I dropped a book in the bath once and it was a library book – I don’t read in the bath any more!
The one thing I can never do is read in the bathtub. I am way to clumsy – my books would be ruined.
Sally.
http://theelifylop.blogspot.com/2011/02/booking-through-thursday-7.html
Wow, I love the way you spotlighted some of our posts…thanks! And thanks for visiting my blog. I loved this topic today. Great conversations….
here’s mine http://tributebooksmama.blogspot.com/2011/02/booking-through-thursday_24.html
Never read in the tub- it’ll be wet in five seconds. Here’s mine:
http://thebucketlist-gn.blogspot.com/2011/02/booking-through-thursday-and-third_24.html
Happy reading!
Y’know, I never considered the angle that it’s hard to remember what you’re looking for when you go to a second-hand retailer. Perhaps because I’m often looking for older titles and non-fiction, which aren’t spotlighted as much by new bookshops, I actually have a harder time remembering what I want in places like Waterstones. I’m a sucker for a wishlist though, and I spend ages keeping mine up-to-date on Amazon, combing through it to add and delete titles and decide what to look for next, so I find it relatively easy to spot pertinent books in a charity shop or car boot sale!
Your reasons for buying paperbacks new is very interesting, and something I didn’t think about. I have found through experience that some authors’ books never turn up in my secondhand haunts, so it is far less trouble to buy them new if I’m really desperate to read them.
It’s great that you donate your books to the fair. I try to do that too with the local Lifeline fair here (there’s also my book club’s book swap, giving away, and donating to the library so there isn’t always enough by the time I have to give them to Lifeline).
And I can see why buying new would be more convenient. I buy second hand more often because I have to buy online most of the time. If I could get to the book stores I know I would buy new more often than not. Environment really can play a roll in book buying!
Hi Joy! Thanks for visiting my blog. ^__^
Our libraries here don’t really stock that much YA books which are my preferred reading, so I do end up with buying most of them.