BTT: Own or Borrow?
Today’s Booking Through Thursday question is:
All things being equal (money, space, etc), would you rather own copies of the books you read? Or borrow them?
It’s a little hard to imagine all things being equal. I’ve never had enough space for all the books I want. I would need the library from the movie Beauty and the Beast for that. Or, perhaps, I could have the Mitchell Library Reading Room moved from New South Wales, Australia, to my back yard. Besides the space, I’ve never felt willing to spend money on hardback books when I could get them from the library or wait for the paperback.
Mitchell Library Reading Room, The State Library of NSW, by >littleyiye<'s (click on photo to see more images), used under Creative Commons license
My original answer probably would have been “own.” But things have not been equal for so much of my life, that I’m used to borrowing, or owning for only a short time to clear space for new books. The older I get, the less I reread books (so many books, so little time), so there doesn’t seem to be much point in owning anymore. I guess I would have to say my answer now is “borrow.”
Definitely, borrow. It’s really disappointing to spend $15-$20 on a book and have it not meet expectations. Borrowing books is risk free, and allows me to explore more titles than I normally would.
I own, kindle and borrow.
Good answer
http://tributebooksmama.blogspot.com/2011/06/booking-through-thursday_09.html
I mostly own, but borrow a little too.
Here’s Mine
That’s the library of my dreams! Here’s my answer: http://femalebookreader.blogspot.com/2011/06/me-buy-books.html
I’m a big re-reader so I like to own my books.
Sally.
http://theelifylop.blogspot.com/2011/06/booking-through-thursday-21.html
Wouldn’t it be great to spend great amounts of time in that library? It is truly beautiful.
I borrow most books first, especially cookbooks, before I make the investment. I agree it is disappointing to invest $15-20 (or more) on a book and it be a disappointment. I am starting to download to iBooks more and more to save space and paper.
Yvonne, http://www.nutritionmap.com
That library…I’m drooling!!!
My answer is kind of an “it depends.” Hope you’ll stop by and read it:
Cindy at Cindy’s Book Club
I am with you on borrowing and recycling books. I have no space and now I am storing my daughter’s books too. And there worse part is I have a Nook with only three books on it and I have owned it for a year.
Oh, me, too, Alex! It really feels like ebooks should be a solution to the space problem, but only if I can actually get myself to read them. So far, I only read them when I’m traveling or sitting in waiting rooms waiting for car service. I’m going to have to figure out more ways to read them if I’m going to make ebooks part of my life.
If the book is expensive, I’d prefer to borrow rather than buy. As it is, I have more books than I’ll read in my lifetime.
Pingback: It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? – Joy's Book Blog