Benefits of this rule:
Saving money
By already reading the book, I will have determined if I love it enough to spend money on my own personal copy. I read a lot, and, honestly, I'm not about to start shelling out money for every book I read. I've been raised with a healthy appreciation of the public library, and that appreciation has only grown over the years. This rule will allow me to save money for those books I already love and authors I want to support personally.
Paperback releases
If I've already read the book, then I generally won't feel the need to re-read it for the next year, or however long it does take to release in paperback. Paperbacks take up less space and are cheaper.
Re-readability
If I love the book enough to want to purchase it after having read it, then I know it'll be a story that will resonate with me for many years. I won't have to take a chance on it not working for me.
Sharing the love
If I love a book, then I want to share it with the whole world (or at least those who I know can appreciate it). Owning a book does make it much easier to persuade others to read it. But I want some sort of credibility in my recommendations, so I generally want to loan books that I loved enough to buy in the first place.
The main reason that I was able to make this goal is because of how convenient and accessible my public library is. My library is part of an amazing consortium within the state of Wisconsin, so even if my library doesn't carry the book, there are about fifty other libraries within the system that can ship their copy of a book to mine within a few days (it takes longer, obviously, if the book is on hold). And my library system has had at least one copy of literally every book I've wanted to read thus far.
So far I've been pretty good at sticking to my resolution. The only time I broke this resolution was back in February, when I bought a physical copy of a book I had already read and loved, Laini Taylor's Daughter of Smoke and Bone, and then decided to also purchase its sequel, Days of Blood and Starlight. I hadn't read Days of Blood and Starlight yet (actually still haven't, to my shame and disappointment), but because I had loved the first installment so much and had read and considered enough reviews of the sequel, I bought it with the confidence that I'd like it. I can foresee sequels and further installments causing me to break this rule, however, as I do plan on purchasing Melina Marchetta's Quintana of Charyn and Leigh Bardugo's Siege and Storm before reading them.
Recently, however, certain new releases have seriously tempted me to break my self-imposed buying rules.
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| Golden by Jessi Kirby | Reboot by Amy Tintera | The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey |
As I write this, my library still doesn't have Golden in their catalog (today is Golden's release day). Nor is Reboot. On the other hand, I was able to get on the (rather significant) waiting list for The 5th Wave about a week before its release. I think the issue here is twofold. Through book blogging, I have become hyper aware of upcoming book releases, generally months in advance. This leaves me itching to read the book as soon as it releases. I also am not sure how my library system works. Perhaps there's a way to request the library order copies of certain books? I'm just not sure how the system as a whole determines which books to add to their catalogs. Something to look into, for sure.
Is book blogging just making me greedy with the desire to read all the books as soon as possible? Is my purchasing rule too limiting? Let me know if you have any specific rules or guidelines in terms of reading and purchasing books!
*As an additional note, by "books" I mean physical books. The purchasing of ebooks (or rather, the rights to read them) is a whole other issue, one that I address in this post.
Solid rules, Amanda. I've moved more and more in that direction over the last couple of years. The once recent exception for me might be heavily discounted or inexpensive ebooks. I find I'm more likely to give a new-to-me or debut author a try if it's available inexpensively in ebook form. Of course, if I love it then I immediately have to track down a physical copy. Digital rereading isn't my favorite.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Angie! Yeah, ebooks are a whole other animal that I didn't want to tackle here, although I have created some buying rules for those as well. :)
DeleteMy purchasing rule is pretty similar, though I do make one significant exception, which might help you: authors whose books I've read and loved in the past. In that case, I'm taking less of a risk. For example, I really liked Kirby's Moonglass, so with all the good reviews for Golden, I went ahead and preordered. No shame.
ReplyDeleteTrue. That's a good point. I've tried to make a slight allowance for series if I've already read and enjoyed the first one, but I also like your addition. I'll have to keep that in mind!
DeleteI am the rare book blogger who has no desire to own books. I am very happy taking the print book or the ebook out of the library and, like you, I find the library always has them, even if I sometimes do need to wait a while. Very, very rarely I'll decide to buy a book after I've read it because I enjoyed it so much and in that case I always try to buy a hardcover because I feel like they look nicer on my shelf.
ReplyDeleteYou should definitely talk to the circulation clerks or librarians in your library. I'm sure they'd be happy to tell you how/when they decide to buy books. My mom is a YA librarian and I often ask her about a book I'm excited about (that I hear about through the blog world) and most of the time she's already ordered it for her library, but sometimes there's one that slipped through the cracks.
There's nothing wrong with not wanting to own many books, especially if you have a good library system. I want to own books that I love and want to reread, but lately I've had to force myself to become even more stringent with my rules. Hardcovers do look nicer, but I find them more annoying to read.
DeleteAnd I should talk to my librarians. Even just learning what their acquisition policies are would be interesting. Thanks for the advice!
I am the EXACT same way. I get most of my books by borrowing or by stealing them off of my friend's Kindle, but I never buy books unless I already know I love them. I do sometimes trade for books I haven't read, but then it's a pain having to trade again if I don't like them. And I love buying a book you know you're going to love to re-read, so it just makes it so much more worth it. You're not alone out there, Amanda! :)
ReplyDeleteOh man I wish I could share Kindle books! I'm also not a huge fan of used books (depending on their condition), so I'd rather not trade with people. As you said, trading presents some of its own difficulties as well. It's nice to know I'm not alone in feeling this way, Keertana!
DeleteThis past year, I have had to kind of ban myself from buying books. 1. I can't afford to keep buying books, at the moment 2. I keep adding books to my TBR pile and 3. I am running out of room.
ReplyDeleteI have solved this problem by the library and free ebooks. If I want the book, I will add it to my wish list and hope someone purchases it for me as a gift.
haha those three points are quite important to many book bloggers I think. And that's a good idea with the wishlist. I know you can create them on Amazon, but I've been too lazy to do so. It's so nice having other people buy books for you, though!
DeleteThis sounds like a good plan to me! I also have really been cutting down on the amount of physical copies that I purchase (although I DID break the rule for Golden; I just had to have that one!). I am a huge library user, so most of my non-review books come from there. If it's a book I'm interested in but don't know if I'd love enough to own an actual copy for my shelves, I'll go the e-book route. They're less expensive (for the most part), and take up absolutely no shelf space, which is a win-win situation for me!
ReplyDeleteYour library consortium probably has a "suggest a purchase"-type link somewhere on their site. I know my local library system does, and I have suggested several titles (most recently The Program) that they've gone ahead and purchased. If you can't find a link, maybe talk to someone the next time you visit your local branch. There might be an "old-fashioned" paper form to fill out instead. :)
~Merin @ Read and Reviewed~
Ebooks definitely have some advantages, but I'm just leery of the fact that purchasing an ebook doesn't mean that you "own" it. But I still purchase many books that route as well.
DeleteThanks for the suggestions! It's totally possible I haven't looked at the library website in depth enough to locate that "suggest a purchase" option. I'm sure they have one as they're pretty technologically savvy. I'll have to look into that!
I always have used my library obsessively since 2007. I just had to urge one day to go up there and check out some books. I was very nervous, I had no idea what to do or where to go once I got in there. I remember the first book I checked out what Life of Pi!!
ReplyDeleteI don't have the money for books myself. I don't work.. therefor I really don't have the money. I do have the room and would love to have a huge library like my mom. She buys everything. I believe that a library in a house is a MUST and is part of the decoration!!
Angie
I've been using the library since I was little, so there's no way I can remember my first transaction there lol. That's awesome that you can.
DeleteAnd I agree! I already have plans in the working for a library in my future home. :)
It's crazy how many more books I buy now compared to before when I wasn't a book blogger. I do think though that I am fairly reasonable and savvy with my purchases. I regret that I am not a big library book reader (your library sounds great, btw), but I also try to limit my book buying to books that I have read already (usually galleys) and LOVED/plan to reread/want to push onto family and friends, and books that have received enough positive reviews from reviewers I trust that I can be confident that I will love them. It would be nice to have a huge personal library, but ultimately I have no interest in having a book on my shelf that I wasn't a huge fan of. It seems more special to me when I can say first hand that such and such book was truly amazing. For any books that don't reach this level, I can trade in for another book at an amazing used bookstore in my area.
ReplyDeleteYou really need to read Days of Blood and Starlight, by the way! It seriously blew Daughter right out of the water for me!
Oh, and this was a really great post. Loved reading your thoughts!
Sounds like your plan is working well for you, Aylee. Even if you don't use a library much, at least ARCs enable you to read a book and determine whether you love it enough to buy it. That works too. And I do love my local used bookstore as well! I did a book purge once a few years ago. But hopefully I'll monitor my purchasing enough that I won't have huge purges to make anymore.
DeleteThank you, Aylee! I enjoyed thinking about this and then getting to discuss this issue with other readers. :) And no worries, Days of Blood and Starlight is getting read soon!