Booking Through ThursdayI’ve asked, in the past, about whether you more often buy your books, or get them from libraries. What I want to know today, is, WHY BUY?
Even if you are a die-hard fan of the public library system, I’m betting you have at least ONE permanent resident of your bookshelves in your house. I’m betting that no real book-lover can go through life without owning at least one book. So … why that one? What made you buy the books that you actually own, even though your usual preference is to borrow and return them?
If you usually buy your books, tell me why. Why buy instead of borrow? Why shell out your hard-earned dollars for something you could get for free?
I'm a half and half buyer/borrower. Or in other words, half the books I read during the year are from the library and half are ones I own.
So why do I buy the ones I buy? Some reasons:
- I can't pass up a good deal. Twenty five cents for a book is pretty great. Or even a dollar. Or Paperbackswap (which is kind of like buying). All good deals.
- Sometimes I know it will take me awhile to read a book, and I don't want the library due date looming over me. War and Peace would be a good example of this! :)
- Then there's those books I have a feeling I might want to read again. Like Twilight perhaps.
- Another reason to buy books is to create a library at home. I LOVE the fact that when my kids come home from school with a list of books they must choose from for a school assignment and I can say, "Oh, we have that downstairs, let's go find it." This is why I'm partial to buying classics.
- To go along with this, if I know several family members may have need to read a certain book, then we might as well buy it.
- Buy to support local authors! Buy their books. Show the love. Get them signed!
- I buy because books look cool on a shelf. They create an ambiance in my house that I love. It's an easy decorating scheme, and one that shows my personality quite well.
- But mostly I buy because I love them and need them around me. Those books that are my favorites, or by my favorite authors, I need to see them there so I can love them over and over again. Even if I don't read them again, I can still hold, touch, browse through, and remember them.
So, why do YOU buy?
I know what you mean. I decorate AROUND my books. I have to have them.
ReplyDeleteGreat list - I agree with all those reasons, especially the last one. I guess all us book bloggers love having books around us, or we wouldn't be blogging about them.
ReplyDeleteI love that you support local authors...I love doing that when I can, especially for local poets, who have have independently printed their own chapbooks.
ReplyDeleteIt's very important to support authors -- local or otherwise!
ReplyDeleteI also love seeing a full bookshelf at home! And it's just too hard to pass up a good deal, like you said!
ReplyDeleteThat's great that you have the classics available at home for your kids. When I was growing up we lived in the country, about 15 miles from the nearest library, and so when I got bored I would find my way to our encyclopedias and our set of classics.
ReplyDelete"books look cool on a shelf" True. true. Here's my answer.
ReplyDeletehttp://bookcritiques.blogspot.com/2008/11/booking-through-thursday.html
I love paperbackswap so much, it has totally changed how I buy books.
ReplyDelete