February 24, 2011: All other things being equal–do you prefer used books? Or new books? (The physical specimen, that is, not the title.) Does your preference differentiate between a standard kind of used book, and a pristine, leather-bound copy?
My answer: I have no problem buying used books in good or even fair condition, especially for a good price!! If I loved a book that I got from the library or borrowed from a friend and want to read it again, I would buy it used for sure! The only time I MUST buy a NEW book is if I want to read it as soon as it comes out and I won't be able to buy it used. Being in downtown Toronto there are plenty of used bookstores, so I usually go to a few of them if I'm looking for something in particular, and then if I can't find it and I have my heart set on buying it and there is a big wait list at the library then I will buy it new! Another part I could add to this question is that now I have a Kindle, I now have to decide which ones I buy for it it versus REAL books. This weekend for example, I went to Red Deer and I knew I'd be on the plane for a while so I bought some books for my Kindle so it would be lighter and smaller than REAL books, but I also chose to buy the Hunger Games Trilogy because I knew having hard copies of the YA novels was not a MUST, and the library holds are super long, PLUS, the first one was only $5, and the other two like $7-8.
How about you?
Sara, like you, I'm lucky to have several very good used book stores close by. (Though I could fall into a very serious case of envy at the thought of being able to shop in Toronto.) Drop by my BTT post at Reading in Texas.
ReplyDeleteSince I got my Kindle, I've pretty much gone all the way digital. I was very happy to be rid of all the books in my apartment, gives me more room for other stuff :)
ReplyDeleteHere's my Something Old, Something New post!
thanks for the comments-I will definitely check out your posts!!
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