How many books do you buy and how often? (novel, notebook, comic)

[colorado native]

Originally Posted by jtur88

Unless you live in a quite large market, it is very unlikely that you have a local bookstore that is not part of a huge national franchised chain.

It actually (usually) works the opposite way. Smaller communities are considered too small for the box stores, so indie stores thrive, providing a richer experience.

Originally Posted by jtur88

Aside from the Christian bookstores, I have only a Walden and a Hastings within a 2-hour drive. I feel no community incentive to support them.

Yeah... for some reason Texas is kind of a blackhole for independent businesses, especially bookstores. Few and far between. What a different lifestyle... Where's the Texan entrepreneurial spirit?
Here in Colorado, almost every small (and large) town you go through has an indie bookstore, each with its own personality... What a beautiful thing. You want to know the personality of a town you're considering moving to? Check out its bookstores. The selection there will expose the politics, economic concerns, etc. If there are no indie bookstores, rest assured that literacy and open discourse are not core values of that community. If there're nothing but chain bookstores, you could live basically anywhere else in the country and live in that same town. Boring.

[cpg35223]

I'm lucky because we live in a town with an excellent library system. Otherwise I would spend hundreds and hundreds of dollars a year.

[CelticLady1]

Originally Posted by colorado native

Haven't been to Wal-Mart in almost a decade. Haven't bought a car in almost as long. I don't make very much money at all, but live smarter so that I can support local businesses and my local community's economy, which I see as a moral imperative. I realize that it's about more than me and that I belong to something larger and more rich than I would if I merely based my decision on the contents of my wallet. I'm able to look my friends and neighbors in the eye, knowing that should their businesses fail in these difficult times, it won't be because of me.

You're trying to rationalize your exploitation of local businesses with your own economic sob story, and thereby hugely missing the point.

Call it harsh, if you will. Your behavior speaks volumes.

Ah, well, it's nice that some folks are so much smarter in their economic lifestyle than the rest of us, that it can also afford them to be ugly, in a condescending fashion, towards other folks about how they spend their money. I support local businesses, where and when I can, based on my wallet, not yours. If that doesn't meet your superior standards, that's your problem. And, on that note, I'm done with this discussion.

[photobuff42]

I haven't bought any books for several months. I am a regular library user and use their online reserve system to have the books I want sent to the branch closest to my home. I love the library!

[soonerguy]

I manage to "acquire" by various means probably an average of five books per week. Sometimes more, other times less. I hardly ever buy from big box stores, maybe only once or twice a year, usually only if I'm given a gift card or if it is a "book emergency." I'm a librarian so books tend to literally fall into my lap. People bring me boxes of them. I shop at thrift stores, garage sales, library book sales, and free online book sites. Between these sources, I usually find what I need. Occasionally I'll buy from ebay or use the library. I try to keep my own book pile to about 1,000. I just moved and it almost killed me, two friends, and my vehicle moving the things....Oh well, that is the life of a book junkie.

[Aylalou]

I am a collector of hoping-to-read-them-all books! At the end of the year, my bank sends me all the purchases I have made on my credit card and Amazon (used books) takes up 75%!!!

[Puru]

Over the years I've cleaned out my book collection (not the comic books though!) a few times, and I still have way too many. I buy one book about once a month or two or three, so not all that often, but I tend to hoard them. If my mother has a book that looks interesting and leaves it laying around I'm likely to snatch it up and read it and then stuff it onto my book case for a few years.

I haven't been buying books recently because I can't afford them and I don't have time to read them (especially because I have big expensive college books I should be reading instead). But I seem to have stocked up on old garage sale books over the years to keep me occupied for a while.

[miguel's mom]

Mostly I order books at Amazon. Our local book stores don't have many English books and the ones they have are rather expensive.

I usually order 4-6 times a year and mostly 4-6 books come with each delivery. I also borrow books from friends or download audio books.

My book collection was cleaned out 3 years ago when we moved into our new home and I brought 2 big boxes to a kind of librabry. In February I ordered a new shelf from a store which is specialized in library systems and the shelf will arrive in about 6 weeks. With the new space I might order some more books lol...

[miguel's mom]

Originally Posted by photobuff42

I haven't bought any books for several months. I am a regular library user and use their online reserve system to have the books I want sent to the branch closest to my home. I love the library!

That is a really great option. Unfortunately our libraries don't offer that and their English collection is rather limited to some love stories or older volumes of fiction.

[Mike from back east]

I've transitioned from buying a lot of books to simply using the library.

I've tons of books now, rarely look at them after I read them. We lugged them across the country when we moved and I'll take very few of them with me the next time we move, which will be to a much smaller home, someday.

s/Mike