For books I don't buy physical books anymore, just Kindle editions. There's plenty of Kindle material to keep me occupied for a while. Most are $9.99.
I also like to have tons of periodicals available - The New York Times, Newsweek, Time, USA Today, get transferred to my Kindle daily for free when I connect it to my PC while I sleep through Mobipocket Reader. It keeps up to one week of headlines on the Kindle (I can change it from 1 day to 2 weeks) and only transfers unread content (also customizable). I also have blogs like The Daily Kos and Cognitive Daily transferred over. All for free. The one periodical I pay for is The Reader's Digest $18 a year because they don't have comprehensive RSS feeds, so I get it through Amazon.
I don't even go to the library anymore most of the time. The Kindle has revolutionized the way I read.
FunkDaddy J
09-22-08, 12:23 PM
I'm all about actual books. I have a library I'm very proud of. To me, a book is a work of art, just like a painting. It's something tactile to hold and value as a whole. The presentation--the cover, the jacket art, the paper, the heft, the font, the design--is also important to me. It all adds up to an artwork, something I can savor and admire after the fact, particularly with books I'm especially fond of.
To me, a digital copy of a book is like taking a Polaroid of the Mona Lisa.
Lateralus
09-22-08, 06:39 PM
I double dip on all my books, I purchase the book used from Amazon.com and then I get the audiobook from Audible.com I find I retain information better if somebody reads to me and I read along in the book at the same time. Not to mention it helps when I hit words I don't know how to pronounce; that is very helpful consideriting I read a lot of books on terrorism and foreign cultures.
That being said the iPod changed my life, before I could only read 2-4 books a year now I'm pushing 50+.
Mordred
09-22-08, 06:44 PM
I steal them from bookstores.
Cosmic Bus
09-22-08, 11:02 PM
If there's something new out that I'd really like to read, I'll borrow it from work. Otherwise, everything comes from Paperback Swap (www.paperbackswap.com).
circes
09-22-08, 11:06 PM
Half priced books...read them and resell them
GatorDeb
09-22-08, 11:22 PM
I've used paperbackswap and the books I get are all yellowed or dirty or old-looking. I won't get books from there ever again (I tried 10 different books).
Hank Ringworm
09-23-08, 12:29 AM
I don't obtain my reading material. I get it.
That said, I buy serious stuff. That is, authors I know, books I've heard good things about from people I trust. I go to the library for things I'm not sure about. That is, stuff I read about in passing that sounds interesting, books I've heard good things about from people I think are morons.
Cosmic Bus
09-23-08, 10:04 AM
I've used paperbackswap and the books I get are all yellowed or dirty or old-looking. I won't get books from there ever again (I tried 10 different books).
YMMV, I guess. Aside from some actual paperbacks from the '70s that I've gotten that have obviously been read and re-read, everything else has been pristine, inlcuding some very nice first-edition hardcovers and interestingly designed UK editions. Not that I care either way; I'm a read-it-and-trade-it kind of person... Don't have any interest in keeping them for display or anything.
I was just working putting some of our books back on shelves last night, I totally gave up on sorting fiction from non-fiction, etc, our bookshelves look like a used bookstore themselves.
12thmonkey
09-23-08, 10:31 AM
To me, a digital copy of a book is like taking a Polaroid of the Mona Lisa.
:thumbsup:
I use the library extensively. Request books/DVDs/Cds online, get 'em in a day or two.
I may buy a nonfiction title periodically, if I feel it's something I may go back and reference at some point.
Easy
09-23-08, 01:34 PM
If there's something new out that I'd really like to read, I'll borrow it from work. Otherwise, everything comes from Paperback Swap (www.paperbackswap.com).
:up:
I like both paperback swap and bookmooch, although it is nearly impossible to get recently published books from them. I still buy a hardcover now and then, though not nearly as often as I once did.
I will never own a kindle or any proprietary format reader.
bishop2knight
09-23-08, 01:59 PM
I'm with FunkDaddy J. I love a nice, new, tightly bound hard cover. I don't have all that many books in my collection, but it does bring me satisfaction to look at the spines sitting there, tempting me with the stories they contain.
celmendo
09-23-08, 04:01 PM
half-priced books unless I just have to have it as soon as it comes out.
solipsta
09-23-08, 09:04 PM
Amazon, physical bookstores and my university library.
dtcarson
09-23-08, 09:53 PM
Annual library booksale (purchase), library (checkout). I have a book waiting for me there, as a matter of fact.
Very occasionally used bookstores.
Vandelay_Inds
09-23-08, 10:08 PM
I'm all about actual books. I have a library I'm very proud of. To me, a book is a work of art, just like a painting. It's something tactile to hold and value as a whole. The presentation--the cover, the jacket art, the paper, the heft, the font, the design--is also important to me. It all adds up to an artwork, something I can savor and admire after the fact, particularly with books I'm especially fond of.
To me, a digital copy of a book is like taking a Polaroid of the Mona Lisa.
I both agree and disagree with you. I love my books and I would never replace my personal library with a digital version of it. I like holding a book in my hands and being surrounded by them in my study.
However, I don't place much value on their presentation. I don't collect first editions and am just as happy with paperbacks as with hardbound copies. In fact, I much prefer the kind of austere books which are common in Germany (such as those published by Suhrkamp), which feature impeccable, authoritative editions in well-bound but modestly designed paperbacks at very affordable prices. I think the merits of a personal library rest upon the quality and broadness of its selection, rather than the rarity or craftsmanship of its copies. I do put great attention though on the physical condition of the books that I'm looking to purchase - that they are not soiled, dirty or smudged, and especially that they are free of writing, highlighting and underlining.
innocentfreak
09-23-08, 10:48 PM
I get a lot of books from the library though I feel bad whenever I actually enjoy the book hence my other thread a while back.
I always buy the authors I love usually new through Amazon. I don't have any good used book stores locally.
This is also something else that has always bothered my. Why are new book sales so uncommon? I mean as many paperbacks as there are that are out there why do you so rarely see sales at the big book stores. Is there some large clearance book chain I am missing? You see it on hardbacks, but never on paperbacks. Do they all get credit for sending books back that don't sell?
Deke Rivers
10-01-08, 11:08 AM
Kindle for me..like not having 'works of art" piled up all over the house..
give me "Polaroids" any day...
Josh-da-man
10-02-08, 10:24 PM
This is also something else that has always bothered my. Why are new book sales so uncommon? I mean as many paperbacks as there are that are out there why do you so rarely see sales at the big book stores. Is there some large clearance book chain I am missing? You see it on hardbacks, but never on paperbacks. Do they all get credit for sending books back that don't sell?
Barnes & Noble and Borders frequently have sales on bestselling hardcovers and trade paperbacks; usually around 20-30% off (and sometimes as high as 40%). Borders also always seems to have some kind buy 2-get-1-free kind of sale going on with select trade paperbacks.
As for the hardcover books you see at stores selling for around $5.98-$7.98, those are remainders. When books are released in hardcover, they generally have a short window of availability (usually about a year, until a paperback version comes out). After that window closes, those leftover books are called remainders, and they're sold at a steep discount to clear out overstock.
Paperbacks, when they are sent back, were stripped. "Stripping" a book means that the seller tears the front cover off and sends it back for a refund. Stripped books are supposed to be destroyed. I'm not sure if they still strip paperbacks and magazines, though, with the whole green/recycling thing that's all the rage these days.
As to you other question, yes, there are some bookstores that sell remaindered stock in both hardcover and paperback. I've seen a few in outlet malls. And there are also mail order businesses like www.hamiltonbook.com and www.bookcloseouts.com that specialize in discounted overstock.
innocentfreak
10-03-08, 12:04 AM
As for the hardcover books you see at stores selling for around $5.98-$7.98, those are remainders. When books are released in hardcover, they generally have a short window of availability (usually about a year, until a paperback version comes out). After that window closes, those leftover books are called remainders, and they're sold at a steep discount to clear out overstock.
Paperbacks, when they are sent back, were stripped. "Stripping" a book means that the seller tears the front cover off and sends it back for a refund. Stripped books are supposed to be destroyed. I'm not sure if they still strip paperbacks and magazines, though, with the whole green/recycling thing that's all the rage these days.
Yeah I know about stripping since I used to work retail and had to do it once a month for magazines. It just never made sense to me for paperbacks though I guess both companies can use it as a write-off. There are many paperbacks I would take a chance on and pick up at half price especially ones I can't find at the library. The best sale I have ever seen locally is 4 for 5 on select paperbacks.
scarface983
10-10-08, 05:56 PM
i buy them used from ebay, or thrift stores, they are cheaper, i only read them about 1 time though
MinLShaw
10-20-08, 09:18 PM
I'm another library user. I figure 1) my taxes are helping pay for it anyway and 2) while I am likely to re-watch a movie or re-play an album, I am very unlikely to re-read a book.
I am, however, completely addicted to Half Price Books. I've scored some really nice finds in CD's and DVD's there, and have occasionally found something to read. This year, I snagged a paperback of Peter O'Toole's "Loitering with Intent: The Child" for a quarter and Herb F. Solow & Robert Justman's "Inside Star Trek: The Real Story" in hardback for $3.00.
Count me among those who prefer tangible books to digital. I don't mind going digital for audiobooks, though I'm wary of sites like iTunes where the entire book is one large file. For an hour or so, that's one thing. I am very unlikely, though, to make it through an entire seven hour, unabridged audiobook without interruption. And, yes, I echo the sentiment that dust jacket art, font selection and the other aspects of an actual book do represent a work of art. I don't find that to be true of all books, including a lot of paperbacks. When possible, I like early printings of books, especially older books. There's something kind of exciting about opening, say, a used 1959 paperback printing of an Ian Fleming Bond thriller and getting that "old book" smell as I turn the pages. Sometimes I wonder just how many other people have read that exact copy of the book I now own. It connects me to the book in a way that I don't find with other media. I get it with vinyl, but not CD.
msdmoney
10-23-08, 04:45 PM
I've been using audible.com a lot lately. i can get through a lot more books in audio form, because I can listen during a lot of time I wouldn't be able to read. Listen to an audibook during my short 15 minute commute to work, and each day at the gym and doing any work around the apartment, I can get through an audibook or every week or two depending on the length. Audible has had some good sales since I started, I was able to pick up a lot of cheap books for $6 or so in addition to my book a month as a member.
For traditional books, I use paperbacks a lot of times on amazon as a filler for free shipping, and I've picked up a lot of books at used book stores.
Ranger
10-25-08, 07:33 PM
I like the kindle concept but it's still new tech and thus expensive. DRM is another negative. I might digital copies of my favorite books when I think it's reasonable to do so.
I like going to the bookstore (BAM and BN). The bookstore is pretty much one of the few places where the customers are quiet and polite.
Tommy Ceez
10-25-08, 11:54 PM
I'm all about actual books. I have a library I'm very proud of. To me, a book is a work of art, just like a painting. It's something tactile to hold and value as a whole. The presentation--the cover, the jacket art, the paper, the heft, the font, the design--is also important to me. It all adds up to an artwork, something I can savor and admire after the fact, particularly with books I'm especially fond of.
To me, a digital copy of a book is like taking a Polaroid of the Mona Lisa.
NICE!
I need your help!
Iim trying to pick up the complete Harvard Classics set on Craigslist and I found a guy but want to confirm the sets quality before I drive to Conn.
How would you phrase an email asking for more details than GOOD CONDITION?
MinLShaw
10-27-08, 11:12 AM
NICE!
I need your help!
Iim trying to pick up the complete Harvard Classics set on Craigslist and I found a guy but want to confirm the sets quality before I drive to Conn.
How would you phrase an email asking for more details than GOOD CONDITION?
I once sold a first edition of an Alan Furst hardback on eBay, and the eventual buyer had a laundry list of questions for me. It was so exhaustive, I had to actually research what the terms meant so I could answer his them! Things to ask him about:
Dust jackets (I don't know if the books you're after have them or not): are they present, and if so, are they bent, tattered or torn in any areas? Are there any stickers, or any sticker residue?
Is the book a remainder? (This means the book has been marked in some fashion by the bookseller, typically with a marker across the top of the pages. You see this when you look down on the top of the book, but you should not actually see anything when you read the book.)
The spine: Is it creased or, God forbid, cracked in any place?
Have the pages yellowed at all?
Is there any writing anywhere on or in the book? What about highlighting? Underlining?
Are there any "This book is from the library of..." type stickers, stamps or seals?
Have any pages been dog-eared?
I sincerely wish I still had that dude's list of questions, but the ones I've remembered are a good place to start. If he balks at your questions, make sure he knows that the deal rests on his ability to truthfully answer them. This is likely a big purchase for you, and an even bigger sale for him. That's why he's selling it on Craig's list and not eBay, where he would have to pay more in fees, ship the books and hope like hell the buyer doesn't use a loophole to get his money back after he gets the books. The upside is that, even if you decide to go pick them up, you'll still have the chance to see them before you load them up.
MinLShaw
10-27-08, 11:16 AM
I've been using audible.com a lot lately. i can get through a lot more books in audio form, because I can listen during a lot of time I wouldn't be able to read. Listen to an audibook during my short 15 minute commute to work, and each day at the gym and doing any work around the apartment, I can get through an audibook or every week or two depending on the length. Audible has had some good sales since I started, I was able to pick up a lot of cheap books for $6 or so in addition to my book a month as a member.
For traditional books, I use paperbacks a lot of times on amazon as a filler for free shipping, and I've picked up a lot of books at used book stores.
If you get the itch to explore some of the classics of 19th century American and British literature, you should check out B.J. Harrison's "The Classic Tales." It used to be a free podcast, but now after about a month, the archived episodes are posted for sale on Audible. You can still get current episodes free from the podcast. My wife and I look forward each Friday to a new episode, and it's a ritual to listen to these at night just before going to sleep.
Lateralus
10-27-08, 10:01 PM
I've been using audible.com a lot lately. i can get through a lot more books in audio form, because I can listen during a lot of time I wouldn't be able to read. Listen to an audibook during my short 15 minute commute to work, and each day at the gym and doing any work around the apartment, I can get through an audibook or every week or two depending on the length. Audible has had some good sales since I started, I was able to pick up a lot of cheap books for $6 or so in addition to my book a month as a member.
For traditional books, I use paperbacks a lot of times on amazon as a filler for free shipping, and I've picked up a lot of books at used book stores.
I would suggest getting a gold or platinum account. They have lots of "sales" thoughout the year where if you spend 4 credits you get a $10.00 audible GC.
Ocelot
11-03-08, 08:27 AM
Library... i saved a lot of money borrowing books from the library (well, save space too).
outlander78
11-04-08, 12:29 PM
I buy most of my books from Chapters (both real stores and online), as the exchange and shipping rates don't make books as cheap as movies to buy across the border (I'm Canadian).
I used to buy used books and visit the library more often, but lately I have been considering how many washrooms those books have visited and decided to buy new. Weird, maybe, but now I know my books are clean.
If there is a digital replacement for books that doesn't tie down the content with DRM then I might consider it, but for the time being I'll stick with my ever-growing library of paperbacks. With a little luck, my kids will enjoy reading as much as I do, and will have a modest private library in our basement to get started with.
When Pride Still Mattered: A Life of Vince Lombardi
Collins Gem Hockey Stats & Facts 2008-2009 (Paperback)
McCown's Law: The 100 Greatest Hockey Arguments of All Time
America's Game
First and Goal: The CFL and the Pursuit of Excellence (Hardcover)
wendersfan
11-17-08, 11:09 PM
1. Amazon.com
2. Half Price Books
3. Gifts from the authors
JustinCleveland
11-17-08, 11:32 PM
Go to people's homes and steal whatever they have sitting on the back of the toilet.
Seriously though I most often impulse buy when I'm in a local bookstore. If there is a title I'm really interested in I'll do some searching online--I picked up a hardbound copy of Chinatown Death Cloud Peril for something like a dollar and change before shipping on eBay. Spending two years in grad school caused my nonfiction collection to swell and my unread fiction pile to stack up, so I do need to get to that.
Tommy Ceez
11-22-08, 09:37 PM
I realized that I had to FOCUS on my book collection
So, I borrow from Library
(NYPL website, punch in book, click reserve, wait, get e-mail, go to my tiny local branch and pull it off the Reserve shelf with my name on it (Living in the Bronx I'm linked with all Bronx/Manhattan libraries))
I BUY books that I think I will re-read (rare), just belong in a good collection, or will be of a value to my son someday
Bean-si
11-26-08, 07:32 AM
I'm taking a two-pronged approach to this:
I commute to work on the train into London and lately as I have to carry a laptop (that appears to weigh 150+ pounds) it was getting more and more difficult to be carrying weighty books also.
So I've done the following - I bought a Sony e-reader, the PRS505. Picked up a bunch of classics from places like feedbooks, project gutenberg etc. And that's what I carry on my daily commute. For portability and legibility - it's excellent. Retail prices of e-books here (through Waterstones) are ridiculous so for paid stuff etc. I go through places like fictionwise.
My 'library' carries on and I get to read/collect accordingly. I still buy the books I really want. The upshot of this is that I've finally started reading McCammon's 'Thus Spoke the Nightbird'(sp?) at home. (I've had it since the day it came out in hardcover).
It's still a bit freaky using the e-reader on the train but ... I'm about 3 weeks into this approach and so far it's working.
Buy: