Saturday, July 16, 2011

Book Blogger Hop #3 (7/15 - 7/18)

 
 
 
HAPPY WEEKEND, EVERYONE!!


This is a very interesting book meme!
It's hosted by Jennifer at Crazy for Books,
and runs every week,
from Friday to Monday.

Be sure to check out her blog for
the hop participation rules!


This week’s question comes from Veronica who blogs at:




How/Where do you get your books? Do you buy them or go to the library? Is there a certain website you use like paperbackswap?
 
 

My particular 'brand' of book addiction dictates that I must own a book I think I will enjoy reading.  Therefore, I stopped going to libraries a very long time ago...it was just too depressing for me!  The thing is, I would take out a book that looked interesting, go home, eat it right up, and promptly fall in love with it.  Then would come the dreaded day that I would inevitably have to return it to the library, if I didn't want to incur a fine.  Throughout the years, I did have to pay some rather high fines, because I would procrastinate on returning beloved books.  So, one day, I decided: no more libraries for me!!  I then started haunting used book stores, but, since I'm very, very picky and finicky about my books, I would only buy those in nearly pristine condition.  (I was an impoverished college student at the time, but I managed.) 


I 'graduated' to regular bookstores like Barnes & Noble and Borders when I began to earn my own money working full-time.  


When I got into the Internet, I discovered Amazon and eBay, and those are the main sites I do most of my book buying on.  They have excellent prices!  Also, eBay has the added advantage of selling books in lots of several volumes, again, at very reasonable prices.  I recently bought the Evernight series, by Claudia Gray, listed as being in 'very good' condition, and was pleasantly surprised to see, when I received the books, that they looked to be absolutely brand new!  To make my day even more, I won them at auction by sniping at the very last minute!!  (Excuse me, but I have to pat myself on the back.)


Other sites I go to are Alibris, Abebooks, and, of course, The Book Depository, which, as all of us bibliophiles know, has free international shipping!!!   From time to time, I will also visit Powell's.

Oh, and of course, I don't visit any book-swapping sites.  I neither lend nor borrow books.  Once they're mine, that's it.  I'm very possessive about my treasures!  Lol.

I have continued to visit actual bookstores, too, even though I do buy a lot of books online.  However, nothing beats the absolute pleasure and joy of walking into a real bookstore and seeing all those shelves full of books!!!  And then there's the blissful, timeless thrill of walking around and browsing, until a book (or books) call out to me, and I know I will give them a good home...sigh...oh, such happiness...

So I still go to Barnes & Noble, as well as Borders.  There's also a local, indie bookstore I love, here in Miami, called "Books and Books".  And that's a perfect name, too, because they have books, and books, and books!!!!! 

One very important reason to go to a real bookstore, aside from the lovely pleasure of handling books, is the events.  At Books and Books, as well as B&N, they host author events.  An author will come in, present their book, take questions from the audience, and then sign the book for those who have decided to buy it.  These events, while fascinating to me, are also a bit 'dangerous', because I will usually be unable to resist buying a book that will cost me at least $24.95 and up, just so I can have the author's signature!  So that means I will spend more money than I'd like to...

Oh, and last but most definitely not least -- I only buy print versions of books.  I totally refuse to read or buy ebooks, since I prefer to handle a book, smell the paper, lovingly turn the pages, and admire the cover.  If I am madly in love with a given book, I will even hug it tightly for a few seconds whenever the love madness gets a hold of me!!! 


Hope you all have fun blog-hopping! 
Enjoy a book-filled weekend!! 


7 comments:

  1. Hi Maria,
    Thanks for stopping by! I know what you mean about wanting to own your books, I'm the same way. My brother recently called me a book snob because I refuse to buy a kindle. But looking at my bookshelves puts me in my happy place, and looking at a Kindle doesn't. That is really all it comes down to.

    Have a great weekend!

    Holjo @ Pedantic Phooka
    www.pedanticphooka.com

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  2. Just stopping by to return the favor! Thanks so much for taking the time to visit my blog. Happy reading!

    Your newest follower,

    Rachel

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  3. Hi, Holly!

    Yeah, Kindles and Nooks and all other ereaders just leave me COLD. Nothing can compare with reading a REAL book, not some text on a machine. I can handle blog posts, but an ENTIRE book? Not!! So don't pay attention to your brother -- tell him you're PROUD of being a book snob! Lol.

    And I'm glad you feel the same way I do about HAVING to own your books, as compared to swapping or borrowing them. One doesn't swap or borrow treasures, after all!!

    Thanks for commenting!! : )

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  4. Hi, Rachel!

    You're very welcome! You have a LOVELy blog, with GREAT content!

    Thanks for returning the favor!! : )

    ReplyDelete
  5. +JMJ+

    I think libraries are useful for books you're curious about but can't really afford to own. (Note that I didn't write: "don't really want to own"! =P) But I'm as much of a bibliomaniac as you are, and I need my copies around me the way a controlling matriach needs her children. ;-)

    There are some books from my high school library that I loved so much and had to keep borrowing from there because there were no copies available elsewhere. Imagine my delight, several years after graduation, when I returned to my school for a visit and saw that my library number was still written on the record slips of some of my favourites! Talk about a sense of ownership, right? ;-)

    But it was a bittersweet feeling, because so many years had passed and those poor books had clearly not been loved as much in that time as they had been when I was still a student there. =( I really wish I could have taken them home and honoured them properly. It's just wrong for books like those great ones to be unnoticed and unloved on library shelves, clueless students passing them by all the time!

    I know I've been too busy to leave comments for the past few weeks, Maria, but I'm slowly catching up--on my own blog and on others. =) I hope you can pop over for a visit sometime. Here's a quick link:

    Shredded Cheddar

    Hope to see you soon! =)

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  6. Hi, Enbrethiliel!

    Gosh, it's good to know a kindred spirit that feels as strongly about books as I do! I really like your metaphor about the "controlling matriarch". Lol.

    I can also empathize with your feelings when you returned to your high school and saw that the books you had loved had not been treated with the love and care you gave them...

    I remember, walking down the hall when I myself was in high school, seeing students pulling books out of their lockers and THROWING them on the FLOOR!! I would grit my teeth and hurry by every time I saw that. I had to fight the urge to say something to them, since I knew I'd probably end up in the principal's office if I did that...I would also see students SITTING on their books, which they had, of course, carelessly thrown on the floor. Again I would rush by, averting my eyes.

    What's wrong with people? Don't they know that books are SACRED, for Pete's sake? ARRRGGGHHH!!!!!

    I have also seen teens sitting on books at Barnes & Noble, and also had to restrain myself. Thankfully, I haven't seen it a lot. I'm sure they have been told, by the store staff, that they can't do that...

    I've totally given up libraries. It's just too painful to borrow a book and then have to give it back! It's also painful to see books I will most likely never be able to own because they're so expensive! So I prefer to stay away, unless I need to go for some particular reason -- like a book event, or something like that.

    As for commenting, I understand. Life gets in the way, doesn't it? I do the best I can myself, since I do have two jobs...which, by the way, I heartily wish I could just drop, since I want to be reading & blogging all the time!! Lol.

    I'll pop over to your blog today, I promise!

    Thanks for your terrific comments!! : )

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  7. New follower stopping by....

    Kristin @ http://kristincanread.blogspot.com

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