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I’m curious–do you (you specifically, not the rhetorical “you”) still buy books? It’s been obvious to me for a while that I get most of my reading material from the library, but it recently hit me that I rarely buy books anymore, except as gifts. I buy cookbooks because I like them as constant references/inspiration and I’m a recipe note-scribbler, but fiction? Three weeks plus renewals is apparently good enough for me.
I feel weird about that as a reader, and concerned about that as a writer and worker in the publishing industry.
So I’m asking you to make the case for me: how often do you buy books? What kinds of books would you buy versus borrow? What does it take for you to make the leap between “I’d like to read that” and “I gotta have it”? I’m all ears.
Jessica Jonas 
I still buy most of the books I read, even when they are readily available in the library (which I work in) or even for free on Kindle. I do this for a handful of reasons:
1) Most of what I read is nonfiction, and I like to take notes and underline heavily in books. I don’t think the library would be very happy if I marked up their books, and even in spite of Kindle having a search option I find it easier to find marked passages in hard-copy texts (and I prefer the aesthetic of sitting down with a book much more than I do a Kindle).
2) I like having my books readily available. Often I’ll remember a line from a certain book that I want to use in an essay or a blog post or simply to refresh my memory, and were I to try and go the library to find it I’d probably forget why I was there by the time I arrived.
3) As regards fiction, if it’s a book I like then I’ll want to have it so that I can reread it at my leisure.
4) As regards my collection as a whole, I view it as a sort of legacy. If I ever have children they’ll have a wealth of stories and books for study immediately available to them; books that I know will be good for them, educational, or fuel for their imaginations. It will also I think help instill a sense of the value of books (which sure, this could be done in other ways, but I don’t think there’s a much better way than having it in the home).
5) I simply like the aesthetic of books and bookshelves; they’re nice decoration, but at the same time serve a the extra purpose of containing a wealth of knowledge and adventure – something which can’t be said for most decoration.
I probably buy a book 2-3 times a month, but buy more than one at a time. I buy paperback in books that cost more than $5 or $6. My ebook collection is a bit bigger, but that’s because I purchase a lot of short stories. Borrowing isn’t something I do unless I plan to buy it later and want to test read the book. In that case, I’ll borrow from a friend.
Interesting post. I buy about 20 paper books a year for myself and about 30 e-books. (I’m too lazy to look it up). I buy paper when it’s a book I might want to keep, eBooks if I’m not sure how great it is, or if I want light reading for travel or beach.If I love an eBook, I may buy the paper, though I try to limit the size of my library for space and other reasons. I also like to give books away, either ones I’ve read or ones I buy as gifts. Love getting books, too, although my son is buying me eBooks for Christmas. (I wrote a blog about how to do that http://wp.me/p1RV93-iy if you need to buy them for others.
It’s a good question because I realized this fall that I no longer give books as gifts anymore. And that’s sad to me because sharing a book I loved, or finding one I thought someone else might enjoy was really fun.
But with the advent of e-books, I don’t do it anymore, because really, getting a receipt of gift-card and saying “Go buy this book” is pretty lame. Most people I know have converted almost completely to e-readers and so the pool of recipients (including myself) has dried up.
I still buy a lot of books — in both e-format and as audiobooks (for my commuting), but I don’t share them and that sort of bums me out.
This is mostly going to be for your last question, since I don’t really buy books anymore. Many of the books I bought or was given growing up I have donated, and I don’t really plan to start a big collection anytime soon.
Now I try to only keep the books I never get tired of reading. The ones I know I will come back to over and over again, and get something new each time. They include The Alchemist, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, The Golden Compass, some Steven Brust, and some cookbooks. I think the main characteristics that make me want to keep them are their timelessness and the way I feel after reading them. The Alchemist always renews my sense of wonder and serendipity and instills a feeling of peacefulness, and since I love those feelings and it’s easy to lose them in daily life, I’ll always come back to that book. Steven Brust and The Golden Compass are pure entertainment with characters I relate to well, and problems that (despite the fantastical setting) are always relevant. Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance reminds me of the way I want to view the world, and the things I shouldn’t forget in life. I guess all the books I keep are either exceptional entertainment that I don’t get tired of, or remind me of the things I value most in life, generally the things I can’t always find elsewhere.
Hope that helps! Thanks for the post 🙂
Wow, all of your responses are so thoughtful! I love it!
Jeremiah, I hadn’t considered a book collection as legacy before. What a beautiful idea.
TheOthers and Gabi, I am glad to hear you buy books so often! It’s interesting to get the perspective of the buyers versus borrowers.
Steve–you can share books with me anytime :)!
Melanie, you’re giving me book cravings. I’m going to have to reread The Alchemist and The Little Prince now (another one of my perennial favorites).
The deciding factors in my most recent book purchases (the Hunger Games trilogy) was that I needed to read it immediately and the library hold list was too long (I’m sorry, 40th in line is just too long to wait). This will probably happen again with Perks of Being a Wallflower. These are books that I have already read and cherished deeply or that I hadn’t read yet but had been told by a certifiable source that they were worth their money. I like buying books that I know will be read again and again, not just once or twice.
I like shopping at used book sales, but I haven’t very much in past year, not because the idea of doing so has become any less appealing to me, but because I made myself promise to read some of the books I own before I went out and bought new ones. I’ve spent the last year focusing on my own library, which has been a really enjoyable experience. I also tend to do book swaps with friends, which is also a fun way to read new things that I’d never think to pick up on my own.