Question of the Week: Acquiring Books
by Jenners • 05/10/2010 • Book Talk • 34 Comments
This week’s question comes from Kelly at Kelly’s Thoughts and Ramblings who asks:
How often do you ever have to actually buy a book? Do you get most of yours through swaps and drawings? Do you frequent used book stores a lot? Sorry…more than one question, but all related.
I’ll forgive you the barrage of questions, Kelly, but only this time. Next time I’ll make you pay extra.
THE SHORT ANSWER
I guess the short answer to your question is “Not very often.” (By the way, we don’t have any used bookstores in my area … which is probably just as well … so that isn’t a big book acquiring resource for me.) And for those of you who love statistics, here is where the 46 books I’ve read this year came from:
- Books Received for Review: 7
- Books Received Via Paperback Swap: 15
- Books Bought: 16
- Books from Library: 3
- Books Won In Giveaway: 5
THE LONG ANSWER
This question is particularly timely because I am currently in Month 5 of my Self-Imposed Year-Long Book-Buying Ban. And, as I’ve found out, it is very possible to have a steady inflow of new books without actually having to buy them. So I now present:
Jenners Tips for Surviving (And Thriving) During A Book Buying Ban
(or Why My Shelves Are Still Groaning Under the Weight of Books)
(or Why My Shelves Are Still Groaning Under the Weight of Books)
- Join a book swapping site. I love Paperback Swap (PBS) and have been using it since March 2007. When I recently checked my account, I discovered that I’ve received 313 books and mailed out 305 books.. I love that PBS is always upgrading and enhancing their site, and I adore the Wish List feature, which allows you to put books “on hold.” Then, when your turn comes up and the book is posted in the system, you automatically have dibs on the book. Although it can take awhile to get a book, there is nothing quite like getting a wish granted unexpectedly. I would recommend PBS to anyone who loves books but doesn’t have unlimited money, a good library system and doesn’t mind swapping out their books. (I do think it is limited only to U.S. residents though, but I know there are a host of other book swapping sites out there.)
- Sign up for LibraryThing Early Reviewers. This program allows you to request early review copies of a variety of books, and there is some mysterious lottery system that determines who gets a book and doesn’t. Although there are no guarantees about whether you’ll receive a book or not, I’ve been amazingly lucky in that I’ve gotten a book almost every month since I joined. (I think you can increase your chances if you read and review the books you get in a timely manner.) Best of all, it is not limited to just the U.S. (However, certain books are only available to certain countries.) Check out this month’s batch of books here.
- Learn how to request Advanced Reading Copies (ARCs). Alyce from At Home With Books wrote a wonderful post about this a while back that I would highly recommend reading.
- Enter giveaways on book blogs. Although you won’t necessarily win all of them, my guess is you’ll win a few if you enter those that grab your attention. I’ve been fairly lucky and won a fair amount of books (and bookstore gift cards) via book blog giveaways. I find your chances are pretty good compared to, say, the lottery! Often you are only “up against” a few other people. (Very rarely does a giveaway exceed 250 entrants from what I’ve seen.) Recently, I won a huge giveaway on Bermudaonion’s blog for a boxed set of Harry Potter books and a $50 Amazon gift card.
- Explore and use your local library. I will admit that I was fairly lazy about using our local library system as much as I should be, but the book buying ban actually inspired me to check out my local library’s request system, and it has worked wonderfully for me. Plus you might find incredible bargains if your library has a little used bookshop like ours does ($1.00 for hardbacks, 50 cents for paperbacks!!!). Also be sure to check out your local library’s annual book sales (I’m pretty sure most libraries have them). You can score TONS of books for very little money. (Just ask Mr. Jenners who had to lug home BOXES of books for the Little One and me after last year’s sale.)
- Frequently remind your loved ones how you are suffering by not being able to buy books and hint strongly (and repeatedly) that you would like gift certificates to purchase books for any and all holidays and gift-giving occasions. This has been my “ace in the hole” for scoring books that I can’t seem to get my hands on quickly enough via other avenues (i.e., new releases that I can’t stand to wait for). Using a variety of sighs, frequent reminders and outright manipulation of young children (“Look what Mommy is buying Grandmom for Mother’s Day — a gift card to Barnes & Noble. That would be a great gift for Mommy too. Talk to Daddy about it!!!”), I’ve been able to score gift certificates for Valentine’s Day, Easter and Mother’s Day. (The Easter one was a shameless bid on my part to get Christopher Moore’s Bite Me. We’ve never exchanged Easter presents until this year … and frankly, Mr. Jenners didn’t get anything from me yet he “gave” me this book.) I’m pretty sure I’ll receive more gift certificates for my birthday and Christmas (I really don’t ask for anything else) … so now I just need to convince Mr. Jenners to start celebrating July 4th with gifts, and I’ll get through the long summer!
Do you keep track on where you get your books? Are you trying to cut down on how many you buy? Do you swap books? Where do you get the bulk of the books you read?
My husband and I are both in our 60s and let me warn you, at this age if we had purchased every book we have read as adults, we would be: 1) broke, 2) literally buried in books.
We've been going to the library once a week for years. Although we live in a small town that has a rather pathetic library, we can travel 12 miles to a larger town with a better library, or 20 miles to a small city with an excellent library, but we prefer to head 20 miles in a different direction to take advantage of a huge county-wide library system. We visit a branch in an outlying suburb of a large metro area.
We can surf the library's web pages searching for books, audio books, DVDs. If they have an item, we can request it to be delivered to the branch we visit. If the item is new and popular, it sometimes takes weeks or months (Lee Child's Jack Reacher books, for example) but usually requested items are there within a few days. We have a week to pick them up. (We miss going weekly only if the weather is terrible —and if our week will expire, we just call and ask if they will hold our materials for one or two more days —and usually that isn't a problem.)
If a book is not available in that system, they will search other libraries across the state and sometimes beyond.
So, except for reference books that we might use over and over, on very specific topics that interest one of us, we don't buy books.
Instead, we donate to the library annually —that way they can buy more books for us and everyone else to enjoy.
And, don't forget, when you are overwhelmed with books, most libraries have book sales once or twice a year, so you can donate what you've already read, take a tax deduction, and buy used books for yourself, too.
ahhh, what a great and wonderful and so necessary post (for me at least!) I cannot pass a bookstore without going in and buying at least 2 -3 books (and i'm on a fixed, limited income)shame, shame on me! so i'm bookmarking this post and taking up some of your tips! i am a member of paperback swap although i don't use it as often as i should….and an early reviewer for library thing…i signed up, i click on everything every month for the past 3 months…but nothing…what am i doing wrong?
I just joined PBS and I laready have five people looking for some of the books I posted! Thanks so much for introducing it to me!
I LOVE PBSWAP as well and my library. Of course, I have my own library of unread books as well…LOL
Congrats on your book buying restraint in 2010.
Great tips on how to get books for FREE! I love it. I just participated in my first TLC book tour and got a couple of books that way. I also just won one from Goodreads and am excited for that. For the most part I use my library. I have cut way, way, down on my book buying. I can read a lot more by using my library!
I get about half of my books from paperbackswap and the other half via review copies.
Thanks for linking to my post!
Dare I give you more suggestions that will help with your ban??? Subscribing to Shelf Awareness will give you plenty of ARCs. So will Net Galley.
(you can club me over the head later for this, lol).
I've never bought a lot of books because of limited storage space. Prior to owning a kindle I was pretty much a library person. Now that I own a kindle I feel a power next to nothing I've ever know. Millions of books at my disposal–and all stored neatly in my hand. I love it. =)
Jenners, let me get this straight. You're in month 5 of your book buying ban, but of the 46books you've read this year, you bought 16 of them. Is your ban only for full price books? Fill me in!
Absolutely loved this post and clicked on all the links. How informative. Thanks. Thanks a lot for showing me how to add more books to my overloaded shelves. JK
Seriously, though, I go to the library once or twice a week and they have most of the best sellers available – without having to wait on a list. If not, and there's one I want to read right away, I'll buy it at Borders with a 40% off coupon.
Those tips are just what I needed. Only a matter of weeks into my ban and already I'm making excuses as to why I HAD to buy that book.
Most of the books I read are usually bought. I use library but not very often. I have been spending all my allowance on books ever since I remember and have been bullying family members to buy me books
(of my choice )for any occasion
love the question and your multi-part answer!
i buy books but am a bit more reserved with my purchases since discovering PBS and library book sales. i could easily spend $100 in a bookstore but try to be a bit more fiscally responsible in my old age.
i buy books at garage sales, library sales, and usually pay full price for books when i give them as gifts to friends and family.
I would say 90% of my reads come from the library because I am patient as well as cheap and our library system is great. Then 5% come from my mom's hand-me-downs. And the other 5% are books that I buy – either new or used via library sales.
I bought War & Peace for when Stacy & I did our reading summaries. But that was partly because I knew I would be making notes in it and it would take longer to read than the library would allow me to have without fines. Usually the only books I buy new are as gifts for other people.
And Softdrink is right – you forgot about Memorial Day. And then of course there is Labor Day, Halloween and Thanksgiving to get you through the end of the year. Happy reading!
I went on a book buying ban about a year ago myself and I use Paperback swap, and book blog giveaways. I won so many books that I had to stop entering giveaways. I now have over 300 books in my TBR pile so now I just use PBS until I get that pile down to a manageable number. So, I won't need to buy books for at least 2 years. Of course, I keep seeing new books that I just have to have, but so far, I am resisting.
thanks for stopping by, I'm anxious to see your review of COOP. It sound hilarious, and probably a good choice after the very heavy Devil's Punchbowl. (wow that book was freaky)
i keep track of all of my books in a spreadsheet, but i've honestly never calculated out how many i get from where and such. i'm going to go do it right now!!
There's also Memorial Day, Juneteenth (June 19th, to celebrate the end of slavery), first day of summer (June 21st), June 23rd (Gutenberg's b-day), June 25th (LEON day, for Noel spelled backwards, or 6 months to Christmas), and June 27th (Capt. Kangaroo's bday).
All days worthy of books.
I buy a lot of books but most are used from our local shop or Half Price Books or even Powell's online shop. I rarely buy new books any more and am much more choosy when I do. Any book I'm not sure I will love, I get at the library. I've dialed back my review copies but I get a few books that way too. I'm not as lucky as you with LibraryThing — just 5 in the past year and a half.
I am trying not to buy any books, either. I would like a Kindle, but I think if I got one, I would go absolutely crazy and spend hundreds, maybe thousands. I try to just go to the library. Have you read "The Three Weissmans of Westport?" See, they don't have that at the library yet…
Up until a few years ago, I insisted on owning every book I read. Most were purchased from used bookstores, with holiday gift cards, and some were from paperback swap.
Times have changed for me, I guess. While I still love owning books, I get the majority from the library.
I've read only 20 books this year. My numbers:
Library: 1
Purchased for class: 2
Purchased for pleasure: 1
Already owned: 2
Gift: 1
I haven't personally bought a book in a while, though I have sent my emissary, The Mister, to get a book that I was foaming at the mouth to read.
Other than that, it's the library – oh, and the great book I won in your giveaway!
And I also read free stuff online – through Project Gutenberg and the Kindle for PC free books.
We unemployed people gotta work all the angles!
I buy waaaay too many new books. That's in part because I like keeping them for both my husband and one of my daughters to read. We have similar tastes in many books, yet seldom are on the same schedule for reading. Although both are waiting for me to hurry up with the latest Sookie Stackhouse!
I really need to check out the PBS.
Thanks for answering my question(s) and I promise I will stick to just one next time!
Oh, what a question. I do frequent our local used bookstore, which benefits the library and I do get a lot from the library. I am weak and do buy books (although I am on a book buying ban as well since I have not finished my 50 books-get-these-off-my-shelf-challenge) but here is another way I discovered to sneak books in…I bought this for your older sister but first I'm going to read it!!! he he he!! I do try to use the library the most.
Between my beloved library, winning giveaways, and review copies (of which I accept one and reject 10), I have more than I could read in three years I think. It's nuts. Yet, once in awhile I find myself in a bookstore with a coupon, or a great sale, and I buy something. And last year for my birthday, my mom gave me a huge Amazon gift certificate that has been used to impulsively fill up my KIndle!
I absolutely love Paperback Swap!!
I buy a bunch of books and my wonderful hubs surprises me with them every once in a while. However, BookSneeze is a cool program where you are almost surely guaranteed to get the book you want as long as you review it on your blog and a commercial site.
http://www.herebedragons.posterous.com
btw..I like the new, calm, bookish new look around here.
gotta love that blogger template draft thingie.
I really need to try PBW…not so much to get books as to rid of books…to find them good homes.
After over a year and a half with a book from LT Early Reviewer, I have received book the last three months.
..then there is Amazon Vine, which I have been lucky enough to be in.
..oh and yes, the library…and ARCs…and the occasional win…and I buy used and some new books, mostly from Amazon.
I have an awful lot of books to read.
I always include at least one book in my gift giving, sadly no one other than my own kids, do the same for me. I've been trying not to buy books as well, my library is on my walking route, so I'm really killing two birds with one stone, mind you I haven't lost any weight, maybe that's because I've read so much my brain in heavier, Hmmm.Thanks for all your suggestions.
I used to be a big user of the book swapping sites (bookmooch.com and readitswapit.co.uk) but have now almost stopped using them – I realised it was costing me more in postage than buying from my local charity shop. I get most of my books from the library of charity shop now although I occasionally have weak days like today (when i bought 2 full price books online!) I am also lucky enough to get review copies, but have failed at the 'remind your loved ones' section – they won't buy me any books as they think I have far too many already!
My problem is that I love NEW books. I nearly bought some second hand online but I couldn't do it – I'd need to SEE the book first. Even when I'm done reading my books they look unread. I'm very particular!
But I've thought about the library too since I'm so poor!
- Good luck on your year ban!
Ah, if only I had read this before my birthday book buying spree…
Hey, you're smart to get your son trained now!
this may be my favorite post yet! you are
too funny! are you really a mom? is he old
enough to get your humor?
oh, ha! no mom is ever funny to their own
child. but, i promise you that when he is
older, his friends will think you are hilarious!
these are great ideas for scavenging. thanks!