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Saturday, March 09, 2019

Book Blogger Hop: Do You Buy All Your Books?

This week’s Book Blogger Hop asks if you, a. buy all your books and, b. If you keep them all and c. where you source them.

Okay. I have three(count ‘em!) floor to ceiling book cases in my home, plus dozens more piled all over the place. So, these days I am only buying physical books when I get a gift voucher or I really want them, but they just aren’t available in ebook or in my local library.

I used to buy and buy. These days, when I want a book I’ve heard about, I will check if my library has it. If not, I’ll look for it on Apple or Kindle. If I can’t find it then, I may go and buy it at the bookshop or order it on line. But only if I can’t get it any other way. I’m out of room!

I also get books for reviewing, mostly children’s and YA. Those are mostly donated to a school library or passed on to the younger members of my family if I think they might like them.

I source them mostly in my local library, in Apple Books or from publishers for reviewing. For classics,
I go to Project Gutenberg, which also has a lot of books you wouldn’t necessarily expect to find there, eg classic golden age SF whose copyright has expired.

The Baen Books web site has a page of freebies, for example old books by authors who are about to release a new one, or Golden Age books by authors who have passed away some time ago, eg Andre Norton. I get one now and then.

Prolific Works, formerly Instafreebie, has books whose authors are offering them free for a limited time to promote new ones. The deal is that you sign up for the author’s newsletter. I’ve only picked up a very few of those as, to my embarrassment, I haven’t read much of each of them - just greedy, I guess.

So, what about you? Do you still buy lots of physical books? Or have you discovered the joys of the library?

16 comments:

Ann Bennett said...

I haven't been to a library in ages. A real shame in I have always loved spending time in a library browsing books, reading obscure magazines, people watching and just the atmosphere of coolness and calm. I have a sister living with me who has been handicapped by a stroke who has requested time in the library. So off we will go soon.

I have too many physical books. More than I will ever read before I die if I started tomorrow. I read about a book a month. I read more in the past; but, with retirement and all my free time; I work harder now taking care of family. As my mother says, old age is not for the feint of heart.

I'll have to check out Gutenberg.

Ann

Sue Bursztynski said...

Thanks, Ann, hope you get to the library soon! Have fun discovering Gutenberg!

Brian Joseph said...

It seems that most bookish folks get their books from a variety of sources. Lately I I have had to go through my inter - library lending system to find some hard to get titles.

Sue Bursztynski said...

Inter-library loans are very handy! And with multi-library networks they can be even easier.

Hilary Melton-Butcher said...

Hi Sue - I don't like reading on a screen - as time on here is enough ... so I do like to read physical books - keep saying I don't need them, and order them from the library - which will make me read them, because I'll have a return deadline. I do look around ... cheers Hilary

Sue Bursztynski said...

Hi Hi.ary! Plenty of people prefer print books. That’s fine. I just don’t buy many of them any more, due to lack of space. I have no problem reading ebooks, and it means I can carry a massive library with me. 🙂

AJ Blythe said...

I buy physical books and ebooks. I go to the library occasionally, but I get frustrated because the library is hard to get parking for. I also get frustrated with having to put a hold on the book to get it from a different library. I think it's because I grew up in a town where we only had one library. They either had the book, or they didn't. But I could work my way through a series with no worries. Now it is really hard to do that. Besides which, the library rarely has cozies anyway.

Having said that, I do love libraries and can spend hours in there once I'm there. I think my biggest problem isn't the library but time!

Sue Bursztynski said...

I guess I’m lucky to live within walking distance of a library. It’s on a big street with plenty of public transport. And it’s part of a network, so interlibrary loan is easy, and you can look at the catalogue and see which branch has the book you want. And it has plenty of cozies! I used to borrow them for my Mum, who loves them.

Hels said...

I always got the books I wanted by asking for my birthday, anniversary and house warming presents to be gift certificates to a specific bookshop in Glenferrie Rd. And since starting the blog in 2008, book publishers sent a copy of each book that I reviewed. Bless their hearts :)

But what to do with squillions of books? Novels were no problem... they got passed on to friends as soon as we finished reading them. But I have a compulsive hoarding problem with non-fiction books *blush*. When retirement arrived in Dec 2018, I decided to sort out and deal with the 2000 hoarded non-fiction books. I kept 250, and now have 1,750 great books in boxes ready to donate to Lamm Library, CAE Library and State Library of Victoria.

It isn't easy.

Sue Bursztynski said...

Well done, Hels! I’m sure those libraries will make good use of them.

Catherine said...

My local library is within 10mins walking distance and I go there at least once a month to borrow books and DVDs. I rarely buy books now - I have the same problem as you do! We don't have room for another bookcase. I love physical books and I do read on my kindle occasionally, reading books downloaded from Gutenberg. There is a Little Free Library nearby too and I leave novels there that I've read and want to pass on. I can't toss books that I haven't read! I know I will be thinking about them for ages if I do ... I also pick up books from the Free Library....

Sue Bursztynski said...

Hi, Catherine! Yes, you do sound like me. My nearest Little Free Library is in the CBD, though so do keep promising myself to drop off some stuff. And like you, I just can’t bring myself to donate stuff I haven’t at least had a go at reading(unless I was sent a review book that is totally not my cup of tea, which has happened, such as an adult contemporary novel).

T.S. Valmond said...

Sadly no! After I moved abroad and couldn't keep my physical books with me I've gone digital. I still have a physical library and I love the feel of a 'real' book. But I find that if I want to keep up with my reading I need to have my books with me all the time. There are just some places I can't carry a physical book.

T.S. Valmond
<a href="http://www.dragonsandspaceships.com/“>Dragons & Spaceships</a>

Sue Bursztynski said...

If you can read it, it’s a book, physical or not. I have mostly bought ebooks in the last few years, myself.

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Sue Bursztynski said...

Thank you, Anonymous. How about getting a Google account and following properly? In fact, how about sharing your name next time you comment, even if you don’t get that Google account? All you need to do is sign your comment. I won’t be allowing anonymous comments after April - I’ve only set it up for the A to Z Challenge.
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