Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Buying Books

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • Buying Books

    Man, books are expensive! I haven't actually bought a new book in years. I usually bum them off friends and coworkers, or buy used stuff.

    How do you all get your books? Do you buy them new, fresh off the press? Do you wait for sales? Buy online? Wait for it to come out in paperback? Go to used bookstores? Bum off friends? Library?

  • #2
    Re: Buying Books

    If it's a gift, I buy new. If the book is for me, I buy used off half.com as I don't like taking new books to the beach. My personal books are happily marked up with sunscreen and highlighters!

    Comment


    • #3
      Re: Buying Books

      If you're looking for out-of-print books, try abebooks.com
      Burl Burlingame
      "Art is never finished, only abandoned." -- Leonardo Da Vinci
      honoluluagonizer.com

      Comment


      • #4
        Re: Buying Books

        Every once in a while, I resolve to stop buying books and start borrowing them from the library. Only it seems that almost every time I use the library, I end up NOT READING THE BOOKS. It's like I have to spend money in order to get the incentive to read. Just one of those unpleasant quirks, I guess.
        "Luke, help me take this mask off. Just for once, let me look at you with my own eyes. No, it turns the other way, Luke. To the left. No, to your left. Push down and twist. Line up the little arrows. Never mind, I'll do it."

        Comment


        • #5
          Re: Buying Books

          I buy most of my books from goodwill, I hunt for hours and buy a bunch at once, usually 25- 50 cents a piece and buy about 25 at a time.
          BUT if it is a new book I really want, like a Stephen King, (which is rare) I go to a store and buy it in paperback.

          Oh and I take the kids on the book hunts too. They buy about 10 a piece. they love books.
          Since when is psycho a bad thing??
          Sharing withother survivors...
          www.supportandsurvive.org

          Comment


          • #6
            Re: Buying Books

            Yup. Goodwill or Salvation Army. Also that book exchange at Stadium Mall. You can buy the books or trade in books you've already read. I also hit the library every few months and mom usually gives us books she bought from Costco and already read. On weekends we usually hit garage sales. Another good source for used books.

            We no longer worry about getting new releases. We just bite the bullet and wait.

            Comment


            • #7
              Re: Buying Books

              I buy a LOT of books, usually as new paperbacks. There are a handful of topics where I can't wait for the paperback release and will spring for the hardback. I try to buy from independent bookstores whenever possible.

              Comment


              • #8
                Re: Buying Books

                It used to be that most of my book buys was from the Friends of the Library Book Sale. I'd arrive early with an Egg McMuffin and a cup of coffee, sit down, make myself comfortable in line, and go through a backlog of New Yorker magazines until the door opens. It was always a pleasant morning and I was always among one of the first 50 or so through the door. It was a tradition for me for more than 20 years. Then, it ended.

                Now days, most of my book buys are from Amazon.com, fresh off the presses. Don't know why I stopped going to the Friends of the Library Book Sale. It probably was because any book I wanted could be found and bought online, at a lower cost than any bookstore locally. And I can now afford to buy whatever I want. But I kinda miss the atmosphere of the Friends of the Library Book Sale. I think I'll try to make a point of going to this year's FLBS, which is usually in July or August.

                One other tip: Shirokiya has a great used book department, $1.00 books. Some great finds are available, including greatly reduced computer books.

                Comment


                • #9
                  Re: Buying Books

                  We used to go to the book sale at the Wahiawa Library, but found we were spending more time trying to get to the stack or table of books we wanted to look through. Just to darned crowded and what we ended up finding just wasn't worth all the hassle. Now I just look at the "Friend's" book shelf by the front door. They usually have one or two good ones I'm willing to spend a buck and a quarter on.

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Re: Buying Books

                    I have so many it's not even funny. I have stopped buying them (for a while heh) and I'm enjoying myself with Project Gutenberg.

                    http://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Main_Page

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Re: Buying Books

                      Years ago, I bought a couple used books for fifty cents each at a library up in Cali. Aside from that, I've only bought books new and at Borders (Walden Books before they disappeared) just because it's convenient (lots of locations and almost always have what I'm looking for).

                      Libaries used to have this atmosphere about them. I always enjoyed going to the Pearl City one. I haven't gone to one in years. I should look into this Friends of the Library Book Sale thing.

                      There are some things I like ordering online and some things I don't... books are one of the things I don't like to wait for. >_> hehe

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Re: Buying Books

                        ohgolly I can pull a Gollum looking for his preccciioouussss whenever I see a book. I have a love affair with books and will get them any/everywhere I can; local bookstores, library sales, ebay. A personal admission: though I log on to amazon.com every single day, I have never, not once, ordered from them. If it is new, I take the isbn into my local bookstores and get them to order it for me. As for out-of-prints, I confess to spending a lot of time on ebay's "antiquarian and collectible" books section.

                        For the bazillions of books that I own, you would be hardpressed to find among them popular fiction/thrillers/romances etc, unless they were first written 75+ years ago.

                        pax

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Re: Buying Books

                          Originally posted by DaFerret View Post

                          Libaries used to have this atmosphere about them…
                          don't get me started! The beautiful library of my childhood, where I spent so many afternoons throughout my teen years is now a hybrid of dvds/videos and books. Although I get it, the layout, the atmosphere, all those plastic and funky-colored doodahs right in my face when I walk in just *kills* me.

                          pax

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Re: Buying Books

                            i spent alot of time in libraries when i was a kid.
                            i buy most of my books from amazon, usually 2nd hand. the prices of books are outrageous now. i really like the softcover format now tho, bigger then a paperback, and if you fall asleep, the book doenst hit as hard as a hardcover =P

                            i just had idea... i wonder if how manga cafes in japan would work here? its kind of weird, i think people go to manga cafes to read books, specifically comics, and pay per book they read, as a fee. it would be nice if you could go to a nice coffee shop that has a library sized selection of books that you could read for a small fee. too bad our culture doesnt work like that.
                            Aquaponics in Paradise !

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Re: Buying Books

                              i have the wonderful luck of having a mother who moved to portland, OR, so every time i visit her, i buy a bunch of books at the best bookstore: powell's! it's a book-freak's dream.

                              the other books i buy are for school or work, and i either buy em at the school bookstore (pref used) or at borders or barnes & noble.
                              superbia (pride), avaritia (greed), luxuria (lust), invidia (envy), gula (gluttony), ira (wrath) & acedia (sloth)--the seven deadly sins.

                              "when you wake up in the morning, tell yourself: the people i deal with today will be meddling, ungrateful, arrogant, dishonest, jealous, and surly..."--meditations, marcus aurelius (make sure you read the rest of the passage, ya lazy wankers!)

                              nothing humiliates like the truth.--me, in conversation w/mixedplatebroker re 3rd party, 2009-11-11, 1213

                              Comment

                              Working...
                              X