Never too Late to Read Classics discussion

I just found out the new François Baranger illustrated Lovecraft was out and ordered it!

Zhasvet wrote: "The Picture of Dorian Gray
The Secret History
White Nights (although it's still on it's way to my house)"

Nice additions to you library!

I scrolled down trying to figure out the appropriate thread to ask this question in and I think I found it.
What in the name of Woody Woodpecker is going on with the price of books today? I understand that I’m just a middle aged curmudgeon but when I purchase something I want it to be an actual thing. I want it to be mine. I would like it to be something that I can hold and break and leave to someone of my choosing to throw away, sell, donate or reuse. If I want to do that with books then we are talking about hundreds of dollars a month. I can’t do that. The library is amazing and I use it all the time but often encounter something there that I simply don’t want to give back.
Do you guys think that the price of (new) books is in keeping with normal inflation? Maybe it is.

Chad wrote: "I scrolled down trying to figure out the appropriate thread to ask this question in and I think I found it.
What in the name of Woody Woodpecker is going on with the price of books today? I underst..."

Sadly, I do think it's in keeping with inflation. Prices have shot up.

This is a complicated one, Chad but in principle Lesle is correct - in the UK at least, book prices over the last couple of years have risen largely in line with inflation, mainly due to increases in production costs. Roughly, prices have gone up by more than 6%, sales revenue has gone up by about 2%, but sales volume is down by 5%. People are doing what you - and I - are doing, and buying less and using the library more. But compared to prices about 10 years ago, what we are paying now is on average OK.

But what I object to most is the prices of "academic" books, which are frequently £80 or £90, and the price of Kindle versions on many books. Eg I looked to buy the kindle version of a 100 page novella last week, but changed my mind when I saw it was over £10, for someone who isn't a best-selling or well-known author.

I rarely buy new books any longer. I like buying used books that are gently or nearly new at a really discounted price. I find they are just as readable as new. I rather spend less than $10 on a hardcover book than $32 on a new.

I do clean them with Clorox wipes which seems to help a lot with removing oils and such. I am weird about cleaning things though haha!!

I hadn't thought of wiping books down. Even back in the early days of Covid in 2020, I tended to leave any book purchases aside for a period of about 10 days before handling them - I don't know why I never thought of wiping them down!

I love second-hand bookstores, and like Chad there are many books that I prefer to own, but in the last couple of years I have started using the library a lot more. Partly because of costs, but mainly because our local library had been threatened with closure and it took a concerted campaign to save it. Libraries are a precious resource and deserve support. (I noticed today when I went to collect a copy of Post After Post-Mortem that our local library is now providing free coffee - now that's smart.)

One very sad outcome of the price of books is the out-of-control sale of pirated books and the number of chancy websites offering free downloads of current bestsellers.

I guess that I’m just mad that I can’t get a 2 dollar (new) mass market paperback anymore. Thank you, John for breaking the numbers down. I tend to gauge inflation by my subway ride. It was once 1 dollar and is now 2.90 dollars. I definitely don’t make 190% more now than I did then. Inflation is no fun.
I also buy many used books to alleviate the problem. Much like anything, it invites scammers. A book is listed as “like new” and then arrives with a barcode sticker on the spine that covers half of the author’s name. Over the years I’ve become very selective of the used books that I buy online.

I tend to buy books at my library. Each branch has a shelf of books for $1-$2. They only display books in excellent shape. The rest they put up for sale at their monthly big sale at the main library. I find new books that don’t look like they’ve even been opened. I don’t dare go to the big book sale! The last time I did, I came home with 45 books! I can’t risk that happening again! 😂 For me, 2024 is going to be a year of downsizing rather than acquisition. But, I do like to see what the rest of you are adding to your libraries!

So, 9 days later I buy more books 🙄! My husband convinced me to buy Don Quijote de la Mancha (the Spanish edition)! That will be a year-long project for me to read. I plan to read it side by side with my English edition. I also bought Pessoa: A Biography by Richard Zenith. It was published in 2021 but covers the years 1888-1935. It is 1,055 pages, another project for me - to read it plus Fernando Pessoa’s The Book of Disquiet. I also bought Justine by Lawrence Durrell. It is the first book in the Alexandria Quartet. I already have the 2nd book so I figured I might as well get the first one.

Pam wrote: "So, 9 days later I buy more books 🙄! My husband convinced me to buy Don Quijote de la Mancha (the Spanish edition)! That will be a year-long project for me to read. I plan to read it side by side w..."

Wow, that's going to be quite the reading project!

I just bought Noli Me Tángere (Touch Me Not) two days ago, (the version linked isn't the actual version I bought, I can't seem to find it anywhere since it's ISBN10) it had questions and stuff you can answer in the book. I bought it since next school year in our Filipino subject it's gonna be part of our lesson so I wanted to read it in advance, hopefully I don't have to look at my Filipino dictionary every so often though 😓

I read that book in English a few years ago, Zhasvet. It was a good read. I hope you enjoy it, because sometimes studying a book in school can ruin it. It's a great idea that you're reading it early.

2 books of poetry - A Cabeça Entre as Mãos O Corpo O Luxo A Obra

2 books of prose - Contos Outra Vez O Parque das Corças

And a Genet's book - The Thief's Journal

I recently purchased used copies of these Virago editions of three works by a British author I enjoy, Winifred Holtby:


Anderby Wold The Land of Green Ginger Poor Caroline

They match my copy of her South Riding which I read a few years ago and loved. I have also read her The Crowded Street but Virago does not have an updated cover for that one and still uses the older green cover edition. It'll do:
South Riding The Crowded Street

I recently purchased The Library of Babel by Jorge Luis Borges. I looking for it for years.

What a wonderful find!!

Piyangie - The Library of Babel sounds really interesting! I’ve not heard of that one.

Since I am relatively new to reading novels, I bought some of the well known works yesterday, will be delivered tomorrow.

1. The Hobbit - 50th Anniversary Edition by J.R.R. Tolkien

2. Notes from Underground, White Nights, The Dream of a Ridiculous Man, and Selections from The House of the Dead by Fyodor Dostoevsky

I picked up a new publication (April 2024) of The Obscene Bird of Night by Chilean author José Donoso. I can across the title while researching Latin American books. There is a small display of Cult Classics at the bookstore that I go to and it's the one display where I always find something of interest! Based on the description, I'm thinking that this book might be a challenge for me but it sounds very interesting.

I found a free copy of Trilby by George Du Maurier, father of Daphne. I haven’t read any of his works. I don’t know when I’ll have time to read it, maybe next year? Has anyone read it?

I picked up 3 books at Goodwill today. One is a classic, So Disdained by Nevil Shute, his 2nd novel (published in 1928). I’ve never heard of this one but I’ve enjoyed previous books by Shute. I’ll see how it compares!

Zhasvet wrote: "I just bought Noli Me Tángere (Touch Me Not) two days ago, (the version linked isn't the actual version I bought, I can't seem to find it anywhere since it's ISBN10) it had questions ..."

I read this a few years ago without knowing anything about it, just amazing and it's one I would read again

Recently purchased from Barnes & Noble - The Frolic of the Beasts by Yukio Mishima.

Recently found in used bookstores - Penguin Great Books of the Twentieth Century editions of Midnight’s Children by Salman Rushdie and Gravity’s Rainbow by Thomas Pynchon.

Lesle wrote: "I rarely buy new books any longer. I like buying used books that are gently or nearly new at a really discounted price. I find they are just as readable as new. I rather spend less than $10 on a ha..."

I’m pretty much the same now. I prefer finding books at thrift stores or second-hand stores to purchasing them new. However, if it’s something I’m desperate to read I’ll go ahead and buy it through Amazon or BN.

I purchased I used copy of Cotton Comes to Harlem off ebay. It’s Lightly used and has very cool cover art. So I wanted it. The seller messaged me today that when she was packing it some packing tape got stuck to the back cover and tore a portion of it off so she refunded me and sent it along to me anyway. I’m good with that.

I took advantage of a store sale plus my membership perk and book sales credit and picked up all of these books for $8!

The World of Yesterday and Beware of Pity, both by Stefan Zweig
menagerie Manor by Gerald Durrell This is one that my library doesn't have in any format. I love the illustrations! I listened to one of his other books A Zoo in My Luggage and missed out on the illustrations.
Mary Anne by Daphne du Maurier I am a big Daphne fan but have never heard of or seen this one. It looks like a fun summer read! I feel like I need something entertaining and not too serious right now.

What a deal, Pam! They all sound good.