How do you buy and select your books?

[shadowkat]

[Note: this is a general poll - if you don't perfectly fit into a category, who does? Just pick the one that fits you best. And if you feel it doesn't say what you want about your habits - leave a response detailing them. It's no different than doing those quiz memes.]

Curious how others online get their books. I get mine by browsing in bookstores. I rarely if ever order books online - because getting deliveries is so problematic. And I like to check out the book first, see if it's something I want. I like to discover them in bookstores. Also don't like libraries - I love my books too hard partly and I don't like deadlines.
That's me. Curious to see how others operate.


[Poll #1023668]

Comments

[herself_nyc]

I read mostly literary fiction and some biography/nonfiction/memoir.

[cactuswatcher.livejournal.com]

The more I write fiction the less I tend to read it, so I'd actually choose history for my one genre.

I buy a lot of books I don't intend to keep, donating many to book fairs when I'm done. I keep mostly books I want to refer back to or re-read sometime.

[masqthephlsphr.livejournal.com]

Where I get my books really depends on what they are. In discovering new books, I usually find them in used bookstores (where they're cheap for the risk), or if they're recced from friends, I check them out at the library. I usually don't spend money on books or DVDs I have never read or viewed before (yeah, cheap here).

If I can't find them at the library and they've been recced, I sometimes will buy them. I buy books on line if I can get a good deal (taking into account shipping). I've gone to mainly on-line buying because living in SF, it's really difficult to get to the bookstore, and much more convenient to have it mailed to me at work.

[oursin.livejournal.com]

There is no one way that I select books: authors' track record, reviews, recs on my flist, browsing in bookshops, coming across mentions in other books... couldn't pick just one of those.

[oursin.livejournal.com]

Oh yes, and I used to use libraries much more, but I hate the way they've offloaded so much back stock, also, they don't always get the sorts of things I want to read.

[cakmpls.livejournal.com]

I don't know whether polls can be edited, but if so, you might consider adding "Westerns" to the genre category.

[shadowkat67.livejournal.com]

They can't. Tried to do it once in the past and it doesn't work.

Sorry, forgot that one. Which is odd, because I read them.

[frenchani.livejournal.com]

I buy a lot of books but I also borrow some from friends and colleagues, especiallyt hose of the crime novel variety. Basically I like to own books even though the room is becoming an issue.

[midnightsjane.livejournal.com]

I buy a lot of books, and tend to keep them. My shelves are overloaded now, so I'm going to cull them..I did that awhile ago, and donated several bags of books to the patients' library at the hospital.
I love bookstores, can spend hours just browsing. I like to be able to thumb through a book before I buy it, so buying online isn't really for me.

[shadowkat67.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the response, this is really close to my own behavior regarding books. I don't have the space or the money to order or buy books without checking them out first in a bookstore, browsing. And right now am trying to cull some of them - because, well you know you have too many when they are in boxes under your bed and you haven't read half the one's on your shelves.

In college and even now, I will often read a good percentage of a book in a bookstore - see if I want it, if it grips me after the initial five paragraphs or two chapters in? I'll buy. Or if it grabs me at the end.
I used to buy whatever people on lj rec'd but have discovered that our tastes often differ and I tend to be a moody reader.

[buffyannotater.livejournal.com]

I usually browse in the bookstore and purchase from Amazon, because of the discounts and no tax.

[shadowkat67.livejournal.com]

How about books that aren't available in bookstores?

Do you order books from Amazon that has been rec'd online but you can't find in a bookstore? And you know little about outside of someone on lj?

I rarely do anymore - have been disappointed too many times, but am curious about other people.

[buffyannotater.livejournal.com]

Yes, I have, and I've actually ordered out-of-print books that people have recc'd via Amazon sellers. I'm usually more inclined to do it if it's one of the books that Amazon has the "Search inside the book" feature for so I can peruse a few pages first, but if the subject sounds particularly intriguing to me, I might order it regardless.

[herself_nyc]

Interesting that there are no library users so far. I was brought up on libraries, but now I'm in NYC where the libraries are always closed or chaotic, I can't be bothered anymore. Also can't be bothered to haul around hard cover books which is mostly what you find at the library.

[shadowkat67.livejournal.com]

Had somewhat the same response - I was expecting a lot of people to be into libraries.

I was brought up on libraries, but now I'm in NYC where the libraries are always closed or chaotic, I can't be bothered anymore. Also can't be bothered to haul around hard cover books which is mostly what you find at the library.

Yep. I have the same problems. When I lived in Kansas City, I used the library a lot more. It was easier to use. Less chaotic. And had a better selection than the branch library near me in Brooklyn. The main ones are a nightmare to navigate and out of my way. Also I hate hauling around the hard cover books or worrying about them getting wet or damaged en route to and from work - since I do the majority of my reading on the subway.

But, one of my close friends, Wales, checks out most of her books from the local library. I call it renting books - because she's often paying a late fee. And she reserves books that she wants to read. She hates buying them - while I'm the exact opposite, I prefer to buy.

[matociquala.livejournal.com]

I think this would have been more representative of my actual habits with ticky boxes, or less binary choices.

[shadowkat67.livejournal.com]

But I didn't want a thorough comprehensive representation of your actual habits - if I did I'd have done a *meme* not a poll. This was a quick poll done on the fly to determine what people *generally* do.

[matociquala.livejournal.com]

Generally, I split between three or four different tactics. *g*

[shadowkat67.livejournal.com]

Ah.

but that would require planning, time, and well bigger screen. Doing this at work to appease boredom more than anything else.

And curiousity - really wanted to know how many people picked up books via browsing or ordered them. How many bought or just borrowed/checked out.
Amazed at how many bought their books - since most of the people I know in RL tend to check them out at the library or borrow them. I'm the oddity insisting on buying.

I refuse to go out of my way to get a book anymore though. Won't spend above a certain price, won't special order, and won't hunt all over for it.
Reasons are fairly simple: I have too many at home that I haven't read yet to justify buying more - so when I do buy more, they tend to be impulse buys or the continuation of something I've fallen head over heels in love with (then I'll hunt). I've put myself on a strict book budget.
Also while I did libraries in Kansas City, I avoid them in NY City - chaotic, impossible to find stuff, and my allergies flare up. Last time, was five years ago to do research. Nasty experience.

[embers-log.livejournal.com]

this is a fairly difficult poll... I get my books about equally from ordering online, buy at a store, borrowing from a library, AND loaners from friends...

And although I adore Mysteries (detective type) I hate suspense (for the most part) and I REALLY hate true crime!

It is always to just tick off one answer when everything is a sliding scale.

[shadowkat67.livejournal.com]

It doesn't have to be exact. If you like mysteries hit mysteries.
I didn't have time or ability to make it specific. Just wanted a general sense.

[embers-log.livejournal.com]

Oh I just felt that the 'can't pick just one' was actually more true of me now days....
I enjoyed the pool a lot, and I am surprised that more people don't read books from friend's recommendations because that is how I get most of mine.

Whether someone online posts a review, or a family member or friends loans me a book (I now refuse to 'borrow' books I know I'll never read, but for the most part I'm happy to give it a try), I just find it a reliable way to find new authors.

book lurve

[cynesthesia.livejournal.com]

Great idea for a poll.

I've been making increasing use of etexts found online at Project Gutenberg or through other sources. There's so much stuff in the public domain (published pre-1923) that I've yet to read and it's been great discovering some lesser-known works and writers that way. (Things like James Hogg's Private Confessions of a Justified Sinner which is my very favorite Gothic novel.) Took me quite a while to get used to reading a book on my computer, but I often convert it into a word document and have printed out very short works. This year I read nearly all Chekhov's mid-late short stories and novellas online and have nearly 200 public domain books downloaded onto my computer.

The simple truth is I've run out of room for books and I'm reluctant to get rid of them because so often things go out of print and are difficult to find again, even at my library which combines the city's collection and that of San Jose State. I still use the library particularly to check out new writers, but I've got a huge mound of unread books here at home I'm determined get through.

We're limited locally by what chains like B&N or Borders carry in their stores. If I want a proper bookstore where I can browse to my heart's content then I go to Santa Cruz or San Francisco where there are some terrific bookstores. I also order things online for reasons of price and selection, most of the time through Overstock.com since I got fed up with Amazon sending me damaged books that took forever to arrive. Overstock costs a bit less too.

Re: book lurve

[cynesthesia.livejournal.com]

Argh! Sorry I messed up my italics tag!

[shadowkat67.livejournal.com]

It's not do you buy *all* your books. It is do you buy your books. As in do you buy books.

Frequency is relative and I wasn't all that interested in figuring that part out.

[atpo-onm.livejournal.com]

Interesting... I was reading through the poll, substituting "movies/videos" for "books", and thinking about my answers.

Maybe for a future poll?