75 Books...More or Less! discussion

Recently, my son's 2nd grade class performed a music concert at our local Barnes and Noble. While we were there, he persuaded me to buy a couple of "Captain Underpants" books for him. They are very funny books, I have to admit.

I'll shop for books anywhere - online as well as brick and mortar stores - and I usually have quite a stack at home from my local libraries, too. . .

Where do you like to browse for books? Do you tend to do more buying or borrowing . . . and if you buy, what's your favorite source? Where do you find the best bargains, and/or the best overall pricing?

I love to browse in expensive bookstores, I can spend all day in them if they have a coffee shop! But when it comes to buying I usually have a list I know of book I'm going to buy, and I go to CP this area in Delhi where they sell books on th street for like 25% cheaper then actual price. I usually buy so many books at once, that I try do it only once a month. I even have the guys's mobile number so I can order books I 'm going to buy!

I'm a browser, unless I have a coupon or a book is on sale. I'm a member of Borders book program, so every week I get emailed coupons. I usually wander over to the sales section of the store and will look at the latest releases. If something catches my eye and it's reasonably priced I will buy it. I don't usually re-read books, so its a waste for me to buy. If I buy I usually end up giving books away to friends. Generally, I frequent the library.

I mostly borrow my books from the library, because I have so many at home, there isn't much room. When I do buy, I buy on line. Once in a while I purchase a book from B&N or Borders (brick & mortar store), and sometimes at the library for sale cart. Sometimes I convince people to send me their already read books. :)

I love to browse, but I inevitably end up buying. Barnes and Noble is my favorite, its ambiance is so great that I always stay longer than I intend. Of course, like you Kay, I'll shop for books anywhere, too. I seem to do a lot of business with Amazon. It seems that even when I have a list, I usually find books to buy that aren't on the list.

I try not to buy if I don't have to. Either I get my books from the library or I swap books on bookmooch.com or paperbackswap.com. I also go to the used bookstore in town and get books there ang give them some of the books I have read. Lastly I have a mother that loves to read and I get books from er when she is done reading them

I buy most of my books online. We have the 2 day free shipping through Amazon. But, that only means we buy way too many books. :) I've also bought from CBD. I do like going to our local Borders or Northwestern bookstores, too. For our home school reading, I turn to my local library. I request the books online through inter-library loan, so I can pick everything up without searching the stacks. It saves time and money. Sometimes the library doesn't have what I need, especially if there is a biblically-based book we need. Then I will buy those. There are also some books I want to add to our family library or ones I know we'll use over and over. Those are worth the investment! Either way, I seem to be surrounded by stacks of books. And I love it! :)

I will browse in any and all bookstores. I tend to borrow about half of my books from the library because I'm fortunate to have access to two excellent library systems. I live in one county and work in another so use both systems. I used to buy much more than I borrowed, but space and $$ have caused me to limit my purchases to authors and series that my husband and I both read or books I really want to own.

I buy most of my books from Powells because I can get used copies. Powells is also my very favorite place to browse for the sheer volume and variety of what is on the shelves. I can lose hours in Powells whether it's the main downtown store or the Beaverton store closer to my home.

I rarely buy new books unless I can get them on sale or use a coupon. I really prefer to purchase from an independent bookstore, but the coupons at Borders (across the street from work) are hard to resist when it's something I can't get used.

I don't buy books online. With Powells in town, I don't have to.

I do a bit of both....when I know what I want I will go online where its cheaper, but there are some really good second hand books stores near my house, so I go to those alot, and they often have deals or 3 for 2s....
although Borders do a good line in 3 for 2s as well where I get alot of my books that I have been meaning to read for a while or ones Im not too sure about!

And as with Nan, my mum keeps me stocked with books she has finished with as well!

until recently there was no bookstore close to me. so, i browse online book clubs, paperbackswap and bookmooch.

Ellen, I've not been to bookmooch, so I will have to look at at site. Do you have one or two favorite online book clubs?

Kay - I love bookmooch. I have been able to get some books there faster then I could have gotten them on paperbackswap. Also I have been able to get rid of books there that I would have waited forever to get rid of on PBS. Also you get credit as soon as you send it out and you don't wait until the other person receives it.

i know, i have been thinking after the first of the year moving some from pbs over to bookmooch and see what happens.

I like to go to Borders or Barnes&Noble

I can spend hours (and a small fortune!)in Borders or Waterstones! But I also buy books online (mostly Amazon), or good condition second hand books in charity shops. I also swap books through Read It Swap It (UK book swapping site) and get books from the library!

The majority of my books come from paperbackswap, then Borders and bookmooch.

I get some books from Wal-Mart and occasionally a book store, but mostly I like to get them from PBS and used book stores. I keep at least one or two from the library at all times too.

I am a huge fan of Borders, but lately I have been addicted to Paperbackswap. I have had great luck in getting everything that I have been looking for on that site!

I love browsing in any bookstore, but only rarely am I able to afford to buy a new book. I do most of my book *getting* through bookmooch (LOVE bookmooch!) and through the charity shops. I sometimes use the Amazon used books section (where you can buy a book for 1p plus shipping), but that tends to be when I need a book quickly so that I can finish it for my reading group. Otherwise, I'm content to wait until it turns up on bookmooch or at one of the many shops.

My new favorite used bookshop is one called Departure, in London. A nice turnover of titles, thus offering a new shopping experience every time I go, delicious food, and people who are genuinely happy to see my husband and me arrive. It's like Cheers, but with books!

Waterstones, Amazon, WH Smiths and I love the charity shops, I have stuck lucky with books from charity shopslately.

Anywhere they sell books I am there!

Charity shops - now that's an idea I hadn't thought of and something I'll likely pursue. Great idea!

I get most of my books at half priced books and i've also just become a member of bookswap.com

I just went book shopping yesterday. We went to the Friends of the Library Bookseller at the Lexington Public Library. I also buy online on Amazon.com and christianbook.com. I usually buy used books though. I also got about 6 books from the Library itself. I have also bought some on Ebay but you kinda have to be careful at times and make sure you are buying from a good seller. I have had some bad experiences with books on Ebay but for the most part you can find really good deals on there if you really look.

I buy very few books new anymore. Mostly because I can't afford to. The Friends of my local library group have a huge annual summer sale one weekend a year where all books are 50 cents each. Costs $5 if you want to go in early friday night. It's free sat & sun and on sunday when the doors open it's all the books you can fit into a bag for $1. (I can stack a paper grocery sack as thick as a brick with paperbacks and can get 60+ in them all for $1). I also check the local thrift shops and hit garage sales. I've also gotten sacks of books free from my local freecycle group. There is only one new bookstore in town (and pricey) which is a small locally owned store, one used book store in town (which I do frequent on occassion) plus our local library. When I'm looking for something specific (as some of my reading tastes I can't find locally living in small town middle america) I end up finding online at amazon.com's used marketplace. I can get many books for as cheap as a penny plus $3.99 shipping. I love browsing through Barnes & Noble but the nearest one is 90 miles from me so I'm lucky to get there once a year. Used to love Borders as well when I lived near both. I have in the past bought books off ebay. You can get some good deals that way depending on what you want. (I got old library editions of Ian Fleming novels). The other place I buy books is from Edward R. Hamilton. They have a newspaper catalog that comes in the mail and they are online. They have many books for different prices but sometimes everything in the catalog is $2.95, $3.95 or $4.95 and shipping on your entire order (no matter how large) is just $3.99. http://www.edwardrhamilton.com/

well i get books from various sources. my number 1 source is a Polish website - www.podaj.net. it's something like the inernational Bookmooch. Beside that, i get books from a Polish auction website - www.allegro.pl, you know, you can often buy books for a price that is waaaay lower than prices given in bookshops.

as far as bookshops are concerned - i buy books that ave discount on them. believe me or not - it is possible to buy a book that normally costs 30 zlotys, for 10 zlotys [or even less:].

I love browsing books! It doesn't matter whether it's at a thrift store, library, big name book store, rack at the check-out line in the grocery store, on-line... if there are books, I will loose all sense of place and time :) And I will cheerfully plunk down as much money for them as I can afford!

Member at Borders so I'll shop there. I hardly use the library because of germs and such. (Imagine how many people read a book while going to the bathroom.) Ick. However I do get used books as well. Here are some interesting sites.

bookmooch.com
booksamillion.com
bookcloseouts.com
betterworldbooks.com (free shipping)

Thanks for the book sites Sheila. I buy most of my books online so I will try them. Free shipping is always nice. That's why I use Amazon.com most of the time.

I use paperbackswap.com and swaptree.com a lot to get rid of books i don't want and get the ones i do pretty much for free, just the cost of postage. I can usually get most of the ones i want from here, but if not i usually get them off Amazon. Paperbackswap.com is great because you can get on a waiting list for the book you want and it gets offered to you when it is available. To get it you can buy a credit for 3.45 plus .50 handling or i usually have credits anyway because you get one for every book someone requests from you that you send out. Every book is only 1 credit and it is a great site. Even lots of new books don't take too long to get if you put it on your wishlist soon after it comes out

I used to use betterworldbooks.com but it ends up overall being about the same as amazon and there are a lot of books they don't have. I've tried almost all of these places and paperbackswap.com has definitly been the cheapest, as there is no shipping cost for that site either. Swaptree is also very good for people who have a lot of good books to get rid of because that site is just trading items with people, but a lot of the trades are 3-way that the site sets up so you have a good chance of getting quite a few of the books on your want list

Thanks for the great info, Amanda!