The Danger of the Bookstore

[_ocelott_]

I love bookstores. And I'm guessing most of you do, too, for many of the same reasons. So many books, so many possibilities! So many new worlds to discover, and the whole place is full of other people who are into books. One of the indie bookstores nearby has a cafe, and more than once the husband and I have made a date out of dinner and book

Comments

[moreteadk]

Being Danish but preferring to read in English because I prefer not to read a translation if I can read the original, and furthermore reading almost exclusively fantasy, my selection in Denmark is naturally limited. And not all of the things I want to read get translated anyway. If it wasn't for amazon.co.uk, I'd be in trouble. There is one bookstore near where I live (that I know of) which has a decent, for Denmark, selection of English sci-fi/fantasy (about one whole bookcase) so it's not usually difficult to limit myself there.

Dr Right is English though. So imagine my face the first time were were visiting his parents and I was parked in front of the sci-fi/fantasy section in Waterstone's... These days I plan ahead for a Waterstone's visit and I know from home approximately what I'll get, but again there's a limit, because it all adds to my suitcase weight on the return trip. I did on one occasion spend exactly half my pocket money for a ten-day visit in there in one go, though.

[in_excelsis_dea]

I don't buy books. I will go into a bookstore and browse and jot down titles, and read kid books to my sister. But I know going in that I'm not going to be buying anything. Instead, I go to the library, where there's also fantastic authors and everything there is free. And I can take as many home as I want (well, within the library limits).

Bookstores are fun. But I've read nearly 75 books since the start of 2012 and there's NO way I could afford anything if I bought all my books, or even close to it. Also, if I don't like a library book, it's easy to return and I don't have to worry about if I got my money out of it. And a lot of the books I read -- most of them, are worth one read, but I'm not going to reread them. The few books I end up buying -- usually online -- are old favorites that I know I will read over and over again. Everything else (and even with the favorites, some of the time), I am perfectly content to get out of the library.

[anonymous]

I "pay" myself for chores. I've assigned a point value to the chores I hate the most (and "forget" to do most often) and have to reach a certain number of points to get a book. Basicly a penny a point so an $8.00 book is 800 points. I had to tweek the system a few times to get the right balance but now it works out to approximately a book every two weeks unless I'm really motivated to earn a new book.

Mel-M

[calico_reaction]

After Borders closed its doors last year, I really haven't been in a bookstore to shop and browse. Barnes & Noble is a bit too far out of the way, and while I miss that browsing, I'm better off, because it's too easy to get too many books.

The last time I went there, though, was in January, and I went in with TWO specific books in mind. I told myself I wasn't allowed to get more, and I didn't, so that was nice.

[clothdragon]

If I go to a bookstore I have to buy something, way too much temptation not to. It's sort of out of the way for me though so I can usually avoid it. Most of my book purchases are at garage sales for a quarter each, then, when I find one I love I can be happy to hunt down the author on amazon or at the local store and buy more. (Supporting the author and cheap books, yay!) We also have two used book stores and a really good library system. The library is usually my last choice though because I read in binges that a time limit doesn't always fit.