If you could, how much would you spend on books?

[adrian]

I just came back from Barnes and Noble's grand opening today, and that was the first time in a while that I wanted to buy a lot of books. If I had the money (and strength to carry it home) then I'd spend $200 on books, CDs, and other goodies there. (but luckily, I didn't bring my CC, and of course I have one more class that will start soon)

[Pomai]

The most I've spent recently on one book alone is $30.00 for a Web Advertising textbook from CompUSA. Didn't even include a CD-ROM. Good material though.

I may be spending another $40.00 very soon for a book on Data-driven Web Design using PHP/MySQL.

[Jonah K]

My book budget is about $2,500 per year, which is an inflation-adjusted carryover from my days in grad schools (law, business, and Asian studies). Periodically, I cull my book collection and donate some of the tomes to a library or community center; otherwise, I'd probably run out storage space. :o

[Glen Miyashiro]

My book budget is about $2,500 per year, which is an inflation-adjusted carryover from my days in grad schools (law, business, and Asian studies). Periodically, I cull my book collection and donate some of the tomes to a library or community center; otherwise, I'd probably run out storage space. :oI probably only buy $1000 of books a year, and most of that is from Jelly's, Half.com, or other used-book sources. I'd love to have Jonah's budget. It must be good to be a Kawānanakoa. :D

The most I've spent on a book? Probably $100 or so for a textbook. The most in one shopping trip? Probably a couple hundred.

[scrivener]

The most I've spent on myself in one trip was just over a hundred and twenty bucks, but that is a very, very, very rare occurrence for me. If I had the resources, I'd probably spend about that per month.

Like Glen Miyashiro, I spend most of my book-buying money at half.com or used through one of the Amazon.com vendors. There are some books I never buy used (comic strip anthologies) and some I never buy new (Sue Grafton mysteries!), but I love them both -- used books and new. My friends used to call my house "Jelly's" because of the enormous stacks of books and CDs all over the place.

My most expensive textbook recently is an adolescent psych book that cost me a pretty $95. Pretty devastating.

[kimo55]

"If i could"...
hmmm.
I spent more than a hundred on this one in the 80's

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0893145467/ref=lpr_g_1/103-4046666-2796611?v=glance&s=books

[AbsolutChaos]

The most I ever spent on books was for college textbooks. (Probably close to $400.) Other than the occasional coffee table book that strikes my fancy, though, I stick to the library for my reading needs. There simply isn't much room in a 1BR condo for a lot of books, unfortunately...

[Pua'i Mana'o]

Books are an integral part of my family's life. Easily $100+ per month. It is also important to me to buy from my local bookstore, and I have never spent a dime on amazon. BUT, I am quite grateful to that company for its extensive website, and I would not be opposed to donate to them for those specific services. I log on to Amazon every day for one reason or another.

That said, my favorite online webstores are ebay (for out-of-print books), www.powells.com and www.commonreader.com and if it is in print, I spread my pennies around three local bookstores. Finally, I buy certain books directly from their publisher's website, particularly if the authors print their own.

[Pua'i Mana'o]

There are some books I never buy used (comic strip anthologies) and some I never buy new (Sue Grafton mysteries!), but I love them both -- used books and new.

For a few years, I was fascinated with giving my dear friends certain controversial books as gag gifts (e.g. "Surrendered Wife" for bridal showers) but my own conscience was such that I didn't want to support those *bleeping* authors. Ebay has been quite valuable in that regard.

[Mokihana]

www.powells.com[/url]

I am lucky... I live within 40 minutes of Powell's which is in downtown Portland. It's a huge,covers an entire city block and talks hours to meander all the way through. Used and new books are mixed on the shelves, and they have maps directing customers to the various areas of the store. Booklovers' nirvana!

[Albert]

If I could .... oh my, forget about limits. Think lots of zeros after a one or two.

As it is, I spend about $60 a month on books, mostly from the dollar shelves at Shirokiya.

[toeknee]

If I could.... wads. It's a good thing I don't live next door to Powell's. I used to though, when I was young and poor. That place is no ka oi for books.

As it is, I buy enough to get free shipping from Amazon.

Of course, who needs books when you can just sit down and read Hawaii Threads? There's a Pulitzer prize winner out there among us, I can just feel it!

[AuntieNellieKulolo]

I spend very little on books considering (or maybe because) I am a librarian. If I can't get what I'm looking for through interlibrary loan, I order from half.com or wait until I visit my family in the SF Bay area and go to Moe's in Berkeley(perhaps the best used bookstore on earth). I do wish there was a specialty website just dealing in used Hawaiiana books-I'd probably spend a fortune there... :)

[Leo Lakio]

It's a good thing I don't live next door to Powell's. I used to though, when I was young and poor. That place is no ka oi for books.

mmmmmmMMMMMMMmmmmmmm -------- Powell's! Mecca for readers!

[Linkmeister]

Well, I got a Borders gift certificate (http://www.linkmeister.com/blog/archives/001626.html) for my birthday and spent $30 without half-trying, so I'd bet I could spend $50/week without working up a sweat. 'Course, after manually cataloging some 1,200 books at Library Thing (http://www.librarything.com) over the past couple of weeks, I might reconsider. :D

[AuntieNellieKulolo]

'Course, after manually cataloging some 1,200 books at Library Thing (http://www.librarything.com) over the past couple of weeks, I might reconsider. :D

My first thought when looking at this was 'how frickin' cool' but I wish it would sort your collection by LC or Dewey classification numbers rather than broad subject areas. Too technical I guess? Oh well, I will probably give it a go anyway and wait for version 2.0.

[Linkmeister]

If you change your view (you've got five choices of view) of your catalog to reflect the LC numbers in one of the columns, it's sortable by that field.

[AuntieNellieKulolo]

If you change your view (you've got five choices of view) of your catalog to reflect the LC numbers in one of the columns, it's sortable by that field.

Cool, thanks, I'll try it. I haven't had a chance to play with it too much. Looks like I've got my weekend project lined up... :)

[Linkmeister]

For those who haven't looked, today's Christian Science Monitor has a good description (http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/1109/p25s01-stct.html) of Library Thing.

[beaker]

Speaking of books, I collect a lot of science books in my small library, and recently my cloth-bound textbooks have started growing mold on their covers! Noooooooooo!!! Anybody know a good (chemical) way to prevent this? (AC and dehumidifiers are not options for me)

[Linkmeister]

Has anyone sold books to Jellys? I've been in there a few times recently and I've seen people just walk in with shopping bags full, but I've never seen them walk up to the counter and get paid for them. Does Jellys not buy books but live on donated ones?

[Glen Miyashiro]

Has anyone sold books to Jellys? I've been in there a few times recently and I've seen people just walk in with shopping bags full, but I've never seen them walk up to the counter and get paid for them. Does Jellys not buy books but live on donated ones?Jelly's has a book buyer, and he's not always there. Best to ask in advance so you can be sure to catch him. Also, like any used book buyer, he'll only buy books that he's pretty sure he'll be able to sell. It also depends on how much inventory they've got -- there's only so much space on the shelves and in the storage room in back. If they're full up, they're not likely to buy more even if it's good stuff. If you're really organized, bring in a list of your titles first to show to him, so you can avoid unnecessarily lugging your old books around.

[Linkmeister]

Ah. Thanks, Glen. I really didn't understand why people would walk in with bags, place them on the floor, and walk out. Actually, I still don't understand that, unless they're just dumping them without thinking the books are worth the trouble of selling.

[Pua'i Mana'o]

I would spend $1K on a set of "Great Books of the Western World" by the Encyclopaedia Britannica folk.

I would also own the 1911 edition of their encyclopedias.

I would scoop up any and every copy of Hawaiian-language books (particularly textbooks), usually printed at Lahainaluna or the Hale Pa'i (that used to be near Kawaiahao Church), from the 19th century--provided they were being sold on ebay or some other public venue.

And, I want a nice, old, huge bible. The kind with lots of Michaelangelo-type artwork and genealogy pages in the front. With gold foiled pages.

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