Joseph ’s Comments (group member since Jul 28, 2009)

Joseph ’s comments from the Book Buying Addicts Anonymous group.

Share your August book buys here.

Melissa wrote: "I would love to have a library in my house, an actual room library not just stacks of books along the walls and stuffed in every nook and cranny I can find."

When I went looking for my house, the main thing I looked at was how many rooms and how many walls it had for bookcases. I have books in pretty much every room in the house, the living room, the dining room, the office, the basement, the master bedroom, and one of the extra bedrooms. The only place I don't have books is the other extra bedroom where I sleep and the kitchen and two bathrooms. And that could still change! ;-) I don't have a library in my home, my home is a library! :-)

Just wanted to share a special anniversary of mine. Five years ago today, I bought my first, and only, house. When I moved in, I had 4977 items in my library. Today, I have 10459 items. Since I moved in, my collection has more than doubled! Gotta admit, almost unbelievable.

I just had an itch that needed scratching, so ordered just a few used books:

Also got a preorder in:

Sally wrote: "Lack of time has always been a problem but I just retired so now I have no excuse!"

Lucky you! Have fun with more reading time! :-)

My first new books of July:

Share your July book buys here.

Boy, if my trip to Printer's Row was something earlier this month, my visit to the ALA Convention in Chicago July 24-26 was even better, because I came home with ONE HUNDRED AND EIGHTY SIX books, most were ARCs, but they were all FREE! On top of that, I got autographs from 36 different authors, too! Believe it or not, I am actually not going to keep every book, but it's certainly going to take some time to go through them to decide what I want to keep as I catalog and decide what I want to bring to the library where I work to use for prizes for our summer reading program. It's a good thing the ALA Convention only visits Chicago every four years, because it sure does feed a bibliophile's addiction something awful. ;-) All in all, I felt like Templeton at the fair, this was a veritable smorgasbord of books for a bibliophile.

I am now halfway to finished: 171 of 345 books completed (50%), 15 books ahead of schedule.

Just got home from my second day at Chicago's Printers Row Lit Fest. Between yesterday and today, I only ended up buying 51 books. ;-)
The third bullet and other stories
Bookmarked for death
A question of proof
The smiler with the knife
The dreadful hollow
End of chapter
Fer-de-lance
Prisoner's base
The sport of queens
The Anubis gates
The fine art of literary mayhem
The Hardy Boys detective handbook
Three good deeds
Magic for dummies
Richard Castle's deadly storm
The mysterious Mr. Quin
Taken at the flood
Three blind mice and other stories
Ordeal by innocence
Caribbean mystery
They do it with mirrors
A pocket full of rye
The mousetrap and other plays
The case of the demure defendant
The case of the runaway corpse
All our yesterdays
Brimstone
The corpse in the snowman
The sad variety
The morning after death
Lady killer
Like love
Odds against
Forfeit
Homicide trinity
He who whispers
And so to murder
Behind the crimson blind
Brandy & bullets
Artists in crime
Death of a peer
Dead man's folly
Murder in retrospect
The under dog and other stories
Double sin and other stories
N or M?
Nemesis
The secret of chimneys
The seven dials mystery
The headless cupid
Earth power

Melissa wrote: "I have so many books that sometimes I have to thin them out so that I stay away from the "hoarding" label. "

Melissa, it's not hoarding if it is ONLY books. ;-)

I've been in Virginia for the last week, rereading Rita Mae Brown's Sister Jane series, currently in The Hounds and the Fury.

Found an interesting book buying resource to share at http://bookriot.com/2016/03/29/8-grea...

Which of these have you shopped at?

SUSIE RODARME
03-29-16
I love me some indie bookstores. I do. Shout-out to The Strand in NYC, Quimby’s in Chicago, and the Village Bookshop right here in Columbus, which I thought was a religious bookstore for about eight years because it’s in an old church. (Oops.) But I didn’t name a blog Insatiable Booksluts because I am choosy about where I buy books; when it comes to book shopping, I take all comers. (Is that… does the booksluts reference make that a dirty pun?)

Here are some non-book stores where I often find myself browsing the book selection. (I’m not counting places like Amazon or Walmart or Target because they basically are online bookshops.)

1. Record Stores. Not all record shops have a book selection, but some do, and some have great book selections. My favorite record store with books (way more records than books, so it really isn’t a bookstore) so far has been Shake It Records in Cincinnati; their curation is fantastic and they also carry Out of Print tees. Record store owners and managers tend to be on the hip side (sometimes the hipster side but to each his own), so there’s always the exciting possibility of finding lesser-known gems.

2. Costco. Yeah, I left out Amazon and Walmart but I’m always surprised at how many books I find at Costco, so I wanted to mention them. (Plus, I just love Costco.) The prices are pretty good and you can find bestsellers, box sets, activity and craft books, and nonfiction. Plus, you know, whatever random titles they were able to get inexpensively, which can pay off sometimes.

3. Thrift Stores. Thrift stores are one of the. best. places. to buy books with two caveats: the books are obviously used and you have to be in the mood to hunt spine-by-spine to see what’s available. Thrift store books sections generally aren’t very organized and you’re bound to see microwave cookbooks from the ’70s thrown in alongside ten copies of an Oprah Book Club pick (so you can stock up on your Márquez), but you can find some great books. Not only that, you can find some cool editions of books that you might never have seen before. I found some really cool, giant, art-filled trade paperbacks of books from the Dark Tower series and I think I paid a buck or two for each of them. Score.

4. Antique Malls, Flea Markets, and Street Markets. I’m grouping these together because they’re all a multi-vendor situation. When my husband and I go to the shops with multiple vendor setups, there’s almost always at least one stall that has a selection of books. Sometimes the books are mixed vintage, sometimes they’re pretty well curated (there’s an antique store near us that has a great SF/F selection, and I also found some Star Trek toys there that I should have bought). I include street markets because we have a guy who sells used books at the street markets in my city. He plops down a table and a rack and lays out his wares in between some screen-printed bicycle tees and organic frozen ice pops. He’s my fave.

5. Yard Sales. Yard sales are the best ANYWAY if you have cash and patience, but like thrift stores, you’re likely to find something that you want for less than a buck in decent condition. Look at that Jane Eyre!

6. Library sales. I left this one for toward the end because it’s a pretty obvious place, but I couldn’t not include it in case someone out there doesn’t know that libraries often sell books that they’re removing from circulation. YAY LIBRARIES!

7. Etsy. Oh yes, you can buy books on Etsy. Some of the books are vintage/used, some are new and small- or self-published (lots of zines and comics especially, and I think some chapbooks as well). You can find everything from antique Goethe to sets of The Baby-Sitters Club.

8. Also? On Book Riot. We’re not a bookstore, but we DO sell some books. We have a quarterly book box subscription you can sign up to receive, a few “Best Of 2015” boxes you can buy in our shop (including a horror-themed box! and a romance box!), and we have a daily book deal that you can get in your inbox (or check here on the site).

Share your June book buys here.

I just learned that Etsy sells books! I always thought it was just a place for arts and craft sellers. Anyone ever shop there before? If so, what have you bought? How were the prices, the service, etc.? Is it a good resource? TIA

I had a bit of fun shopping at Half Price Books Memorial Day sale. I only came home with 22 books:

Daniel wrote: "I never thought of myself as a collector of textbooks, but I refuse to get rid of the ones I have."

Same here. I haven't bought more, but I still have all my college textbooks.

Pandora wrote: "I have run out of room for bookcases (11) in my two bedroom flat and now have piles of books in every available floor space!!! HELP! I NEED TO GO TO BOOK REHAB!!"

You don't need any rehab, just need to get rid of that unneeded furniture like sofas and beds and replace them with bookcases. Problem solved. ;-)

I'm currently at 135 of 345 books completed (39%) which sets me at 10 books ahead of schedule.

The author of this understands us SO well. :-)