Booking Through Thursday

WHY BUY?

I’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?

This is a great question! It's one that I struggle with a lot. I would have to say that approximately 80% of the books I read are library books. The problem I have with library books is that often times I max out my renewal times and will return a book unread. So, to solve this issue, I have limited myself to the number of books I can have checked out at once. Having said that, there have been times that I have a book checked out and then decide I rather own it. So, I'll return it and buy the book.

Why do I buy books? Most of the books I buy will fall into one or more of these categories:

• The book is part of a series that I currently own
  
• It's a book written by one of my favorite authors
• My library doesn't own it in its catalog
  
• The book has been highly recommended
• I just wanted to buy it (really there's no reason other than that)

I've been buying books most of my life. I remember in elementary school anticipating the Weekly Reader! (Does anyone else remember this or did I just date myself??) I was allowed to buy one book and if my mom was in a great mood, she would allow me to buy two! In high school, I discovered used book stores and went crazy buying books during my summer breaks. It wasn't until I was in college and grad school that I decided I wanted new books and started buying exclusively from Border's. Although most of my purchased books are from Border's and Barnes and Noble (a few are from Amazon.com), I love going to used book sales at my library and on occasion will stop at a used book store.