I just can't borrow books - Page 2

odiakkoh · 05-19-2013, 03:08 AM

If I like it enough to reread I'll buy it later but I do enjoy reading it for free the first time around.

Stephjk · 05-19-2013, 05:48 AM

In the last 5 years I've bought 1 paperback and two ebooks. Instead I have made use of the many book swaps that have been available on my travels. Swapping books is a great excuse to meet new people who may also be travelling.

However, now that I have my Kobo, the need to swap paperbacks has disappeared. I bought a kobo so that I would be able to borrow from my local library only to find that they don't offer the service!

I don't have a need to own books, unless they are cookery books of course and then I can rival any bookshop!

DiapDealer · 05-19-2013, 06:18 AM

I buy everything. Not because I feel compelled to own things (or because I habitually re-read), but because nobody has the books I'd want to borrow WHEN I'm ready to read them. My friends don't read (or read crap) and libraries want me to wait. *shudder*

I WOULD borrow, though. In a heartbeat, if there were a marked improvement in the selections immediately (or at the very least timely) available to me.

Buying doesn't really make me feel very put-out, though. So at least I got that going for me (gungala, gungala).

spindlegirl · 05-19-2013, 07:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Katsunami

Does anybody else have this "problem"?

I've never been able to borrow books from a library apart from reference stuff that I knew I'd only need temporarily. If it's a novel that I'd want to read, then I *must own* it. Same goes for movies and games. I can't live with just borrowing them, and then returning them. I don't even think about pirating stuff, except if there is no other option. (This is the case when a product isn't released in such a way that I can buy it, mostly because of regional restrictions.)

Maybe I'm just greedy.

I use library borrowing as a gateway drug to buying.

I've been burned many a time by a book that looked "good" to me in a book store and then ick, couldn't stand it. I don't like to throw my money at gambling experiments. I just don't have that kind of dough for a "maybe I will like it". On the plus side, there are people who now own my discards, because I can hand a print book to "just anyone" without needing authorization from a third party, so that money is not entirely wasted.

So I "date" the books via the library, and then if I wanna "marry" them, make a beeline to the bookstore. I want my buys to be genuine, and to reflect what I really like.

Katsunami · 05-19-2013, 08:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dreams

And I do reread my books again and again over the years. I would even reread the whole series before reading the new release. With pbooks, if I didn't really like it when I finished, I would pass it on. With ebooks, I just file it in another folder.

The same with videos and audio books; I love to watch/listen to them over and over. My friends and family think I am crazy.

I do the same. Some books I keep rereading, such as Lord of the Rings, and Shogun. I can watch LotR, Shogun, The Lion King and Mulan over and over. I would probably be able to follow
those backward.

While I like books and such as physical objects, I must concede that they take too much space. Most of my books are paperbacks, even though I detest them. EBooks are perfect replacements for bulk reading material. Probably, I'll sell most of my movies (the ones under 7 on IMDB are candidates), and give away all my paperbacks after I replace them with ebooks. Then I'll rebuy the very best books as hardcover.

I also want to preserve everything. I've organized all my old games and intend to stash away two computers that can run them, as well as keeping an eye on virtual machines to run them on new computers. Same with music; everything is stored in lossless FLAC and tagged as perfect as possible.

Still, I don't hoard indiscriminately, as some do. I have read every book, seen every movie and played every game that I own, at one time or another.

Oh, and what DiapDealer says is true too. My local library has only a very small selection of books in English. If there is a Dutch translation of a book they carry this, but I don't want that. Or they don't carry it at all. I think I'd be able to borrow maybe 1% of the books I want to read. (Being, the Dutch books written by Dutch writers, but apart from some classics.... Bleergh.)

Apache · 05-19-2013, 08:54 AM

I quit using the library, at 12, when I got my first job. I was mowing 14 yards a week back then. That is a job that has been taken over by adults just like paper boy.

Now parents must support there children's buying habits.
Now back to our regularly scheduled thread.

After I had spending money I bought my books. I still have all of them. I still reread them. As stated earlier, I will read a complete series over when the new book is released. You should have seen me when I traveled for a living. I was out any where from 6 to 16 weeks straight. Flying and driving the US and Canada. My suitcases and briefcase were full of books. On the long outings I would box them up and ship them home. I would have paid a lot of money for an ereader back then. I still buy my books and will until I die or end up in the poor house.
Apache

cfrizz · 05-19-2013, 09:25 AM

I'm a re-reader so I own my books. I haven't bought a paper book in years and tossed most of the ones that I had when I moved. I only kept my favorites all the rest are ebooks and there is no need to toss those when I have tons of GBs on my pc.

BeccaPrice · 05-19-2013, 09:43 AM

My husband is an acquirer (he's not so organized as a collector would be)- we have more DVDs than we could watch in a century, if we did nothing else.

I've got a touch of that myself, in my ebook collection. But I'll also take books out of the library, and only buy it if it seems like I may want to do a re-read. I do re-read on occasion, going back over favorite books like old friends, so it's nice to have the books on hand when I do that.

xg4bx · 05-19-2013, 10:48 AM

I can identify. I need everything to be mine; I never appreciate things that are borrowed/rented/free. I like ''collecting'' things, not in the financial value sense but in the holding onto what I buy sense. I feel more appreciative and more sentimentality towards things I have a financial stake in, even if I never re-read or replay it.

speakingtohe · 05-19-2013, 07:57 PM

I don't need to own them. I may have a hard time parting with things I do own however

I have borrowed many a book and can't remember any feeling of loss at returning them whether to the library or another person. Perhaps when I was very young I didn't want to return a borrowed toy, but nothing sticks out in my mind.

Helen

Geralt · 05-19-2013, 08:12 PM

No problems with borrowing fiction.
BIG problem with borrowing academic books. I do a lot of annotations and write on margins for my studies. My books go through a lot

So I usually buy all my books for study

crich70 · 05-20-2013, 01:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BeccaPrice

My husband is an acquirer (he's not so organized as a collector would be)- we have more DVDs than we could watch in a century, if we did nothing else.

I've got a touch of that myself, in my ebook collection. But I'll also take books out of the library, and only buy it if it seems like I may want to do a re-read. I do re-read on occasion, going back over favorite books like old friends, so it's nice to have the books on hand when I do that.

I can identify with your husband BeccaPrice as I also have a large DVD collection of movies. Several 1000 at least (some of them are multi-disk collections). I will never lack for something good to watch even with how bad regular TV has gotten in recent decades. I have a lot more ebooks than pbooks now too. They store easily enough.

tomsem · 05-20-2013, 07:23 PM

Most of what I want to read is not available from the library, so it is not an either/or proposition. I rarely buy anything that I've previously borrowed, but given the more limited selection, reading borrowed books doesn't account for very much of my reading in the first place. There's enough inconvenience involved that I'm very much biased to reading something I've already purchased, rather than adding another book to my reading queue that I have to start reading immediately.

pagansoul · 05-22-2013, 07:49 AM

I used to need to keep every National Geographic I ever owned. My uncle gave me subscriptions as Xmas gift since I was a teenager in the 70's. About 20 years ago I decided to give them all to goodwill, except for about 10 favorites, and purchased the 100year collection on CD and again in DVD about 5 years ago. I do not miss the 40 years of issues but I did miss the maps so I brought the map collection both in the box and on a CD.

I used to have over a thousand paperbacks of my favorite romance authors. I got rid of all that I could get as ebooks. I still have several boxes of comic books and TPB. I don't know what I'm going to do with them but they are nicely boxed and don't get in the way.

Since I have my home all to myself I have a lot of stuff I just had to own but after going through my ailing mothers stuff I know I will have to weed through my stuff sometime soon. I still have a ton of DVDs, CDs and other magazines to go through.

BearMountainBooks · 05-22-2013, 05:48 PM

I do like owning the books. My favorite "reading habit" is to buy a book and hoard it for a while. In the past this meant having a stack of the "can't wait to read" books. It was usually 3 to 5 high. And I just LOVED having it there because I knew every single book in that stack was going to be special. I'd read other books for a few weeks before dipping into the special pile.

I still do the same thing although some of the books are now on the Kindle. It's not quite the same because I don't get to peek at the covers like I do with the "stack."

I don't mind borrowing from the library, but I feel a bit forced to read them because of the due date. Since I don't have the money to buy every single book I want, I do use the library quite extensively. But if I had my druthers, I'd have my hoard stack. Waiting. With The Most Excellent Selection.

05-19-2013, 10:48 AM	#24
xg4bx Are you gonna eat that? Posts: 1,633 Karma: 23215128 Join Date: Jun 2011 Location: Phillipsburg, NJ Device: Kindle 3, Nook STG	I can identify. I need everything to be mine; I never appreciate things that are borrowed/rented/free. I like ''collecting'' things, not in the financial value sense but in the holding onto what I buy sense. I feel more appreciative and more sentimentality towards things I have a financial stake in, even if I never re-read or replay it. Last edited by xg4bx; 05-19-2013 at 10:58 AM.

05-22-2013, 07:49 AM	#29
pagansoul Fanatic Posts: 509 Karma: 1098204 Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Earth Device: iPhone5, iPad Gen3, Kobo, Kindle Fire, Kobo Vox. Samsung Galaxy Tab 7	I used to need to keep every National Geographic I ever owned. My uncle gave me subscriptions as Xmas gift since I was a teenager in the 70's. About 20 years ago I decided to give them all to goodwill, except for about 10 favorites, and purchased the 100year collection on CD and again in DVD about 5 years ago. I do not miss the 40 years of issues but I did miss the maps so I brought the map collection both in the box and on a CD. I used to have over a thousand paperbacks of my favorite romance authors. I got rid of all that I could get as ebooks. I still have several boxes of comic books and TPB. I don't know what I'm going to do with them but they are nicely boxed and don't get in the way. Since I have my home all to myself I have a lot of stuff I just had to own but after going through my ailing mothers stuff I know I will have to weed through my stuff sometime soon. I still have a ton of DVDs, CDs and other magazines to go through. Attached Thumbnails Last edited by pagansoul; 05-22-2013 at 07:55 AM.

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05-19-2013, 03:08 AM	#16
odiakkoh Guru Posts: 823 Karma: 1818344 Join Date: Apr 2011 Device: iPhone 5s	If I like it enough to reread I'll buy it later but I do enjoy reading it for free the first time around.

05-19-2013, 05:48 AM	#17
Stephjk Cruiser Posts: 525 Karma: 1157886 Join Date: Mar 2013 Location: on a small yacht! Device: kobo glo, samsung galaxy tab note	In the last 5 years I've bought 1 paperback and two ebooks. Instead I have made use of the many book swaps that have been available on my travels. Swapping books is a great excuse to meet new people who may also be travelling. However, now that I have my Kobo, the need to swap paperbacks has disappeared. I bought a kobo so that I would be able to borrow from my local library only to find that they don't offer the service! I don't have a need to own books, unless they are cookery books of course and then I can rival any bookshop!

05-19-2013, 06:18 AM	#18
DiapDealer Grand Sorcerer Posts: 28,569 Karma: 204127028 Join Date: Jan 2010 Device: Nexus 7, Kindle Fire HD	I buy everything. Not because I feel compelled to own things (or because I habitually re-read), but because nobody has the books I'd want to borrow WHEN I'm ready to read them. My friends don't read (or read crap) and libraries want me to wait. shudder I WOULD borrow, though. In a heartbeat, if there were a marked improvement in the selections immediately (or at the very least timely) available to me. Buying doesn't really make me feel very put-out, though. So at least I got that going for me (gungala, gungala).

05-19-2013, 08:54 AM	#21
Apache Readaholic Posts: 5,277 Karma: 90000484 Join Date: Sep 2011 Location: South Georgia Device: Surface Pro 6 / Galaxy Tab A 8"	I quit using the library, at 12, when I got my first job. I was mowing 14 yards a week back then. That is a job that has been taken over by adults just like paper boy. Now parents must support there children's buying habits. Now back to our regularly scheduled thread. After I had spending money I bought my books. I still have all of them. I still reread them. As stated earlier, I will read a complete series over when the new book is released. You should have seen me when I traveled for a living. I was out any where from 6 to 16 weeks straight. Flying and driving the US and Canada. My suitcases and briefcase were full of books. On the long outings I would box them up and ship them home. I would have paid a lot of money for an ereader back then. I still buy my books and will until I die or end up in the poor house. Apache

05-19-2013, 09:25 AM	#22
cfrizz Wizard Posts: 1,569 Karma: 36389706 Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: Quincy, MA Device: Samsung 54A, Kobo Libra H2O, Samsung S6 Lite	I'm a re-reader so I own my books. I haven't bought a paper book in years and tossed most of the ones that I had when I moved. I only kept my favorites all the rest are ebooks and there is no need to toss those when I have tons of GBs on my pc.

05-19-2013, 09:43 AM	#23
BeccaPrice Wizard Posts: 2,146 Karma: 11174187 Join Date: Jan 2011 Device: Sony 350, K3-3G, K4SO, KPW	My husband is an acquirer (he's not so organized as a collector would be)- we have more DVDs than we could watch in a century, if we did nothing else. I've got a touch of that myself, in my ebook collection. But I'll also take books out of the library, and only buy it if it seems like I may want to do a re-read. I do re-read on occasion, going back over favorite books like old friends, so it's nice to have the books on hand when I do that.

05-19-2013, 07:57 PM	#25
speakingtohe Wizard Posts: 4,812 Karma: 26912940 Join Date: Apr 2010 Device: sony PRS-T1 and T3, Kobo Mini and Aura HD, Tablet	I don't need to own them. I may have a hard time parting with things I do own however I have borrowed many a book and can't remember any feeling of loss at returning them whether to the library or another person. Perhaps when I was very young I didn't want to return a borrowed toy, but nothing sticks out in my mind. Helen

05-19-2013, 08:12 PM	#26
Geralt Witcher Posts: 933 Karma: 7321117 Join Date: Jun 2012 Location: Swamp. Slaying Drowners. Device: Kindle PW2	No problems with borrowing fiction. BIG problem with borrowing academic books. I do a lot of annotations and write on margins for my studies. My books go through a lot So I usually buy all my books for study

05-20-2013, 07:23 PM	#28
tomsem Grand Sorcerer Posts: 6,939 Karma: 27060151 Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: USA Device: iPhone 15PM, Kindle Scribe, iPad mini 6, PocketBook InkPad Color 3	Most of what I want to read is not available from the library, so it is not an either/or proposition. I rarely buy anything that I've previously borrowed, but given the more limited selection, reading borrowed books doesn't account for very much of my reading in the first place. There's enough inconvenience involved that I'm very much biased to reading something I've already purchased, rather than adding another book to my reading queue that I have to start reading immediately.

05-22-2013, 05:48 PM	#30
BearMountainBooks Maria Schneider Posts: 3,746 Karma: 26439330 Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: Near Austin, Texas Device: 3g Kindle Keyboard	I do like owning the books. My favorite "reading habit" is to buy a book and hoard it for a while. In the past this meant having a stack of the "can't wait to read" books. It was usually 3 to 5 high. And I just LOVED having it there because I knew every single book in that stack was going to be special. I'd read other books for a few weeks before dipping into the special pile. I still do the same thing although some of the books are now on the Kindle. It's not quite the same because I don't get to peek at the covers like I do with the "stack." I don't mind borrowing from the library, but I feel a bit forced to read them because of the due date. Since I don't have the money to buy every single book I want, I do use the library quite extensively. But if I had my druthers, I'd have my hoard stack. Waiting. With The Most Excellent Selection.

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