Books - buy or borrow?

[grantonio]

Do you tend to buy a lot of books or borrow from libraries or friends?

I used to buy quite a few, but I've nearly ceased that entirely. Similar to films, few books have re-read value for me, and even if they do, it usually needs 5+ years. So, the cost and storage space issues don't make it worth it to me for more than a handful of books. Again with analogy to films, I'm already sufficiently behind-the-curve that it's seldom an issue to wait until it makes it to libraries (or rental).

However, this is probably made easier for me than some given that I have access to a huge university library system, and a decent county system where I live that seems to have a high books:literate citizens ratio, making "hot" titles not all that difficult to find available. I also know quite a few readers, so newer titles get passed on to me all the time; I read them and either return them or just pass them on to another person, as I'm often asked to do.

All this conspires to make me more open to something like the Kindle, provided its price drops significantly.

[Claude S]

I rarely read the modern stuff, so there is plenty that I can rob from various family members... plus we give a lot of books as gifts in my family. If it's a new release I usually buy it. I take pride in my (limited) library so I love amassing books. And I'm a re-reader. Plus I like having the books to reference if I need a quote or something.

[Frank]

I almost always buy. I know it's wrong but I do it anyway. The thing w/ me is I am very, very single minded w/ my reading and tend to find an author I like and read only his stuff ravenously so I really do want to own copies of most of the books.

[Muzzlehatch]

I, unfortunately, am a collector. I don't just collect stuff I want to read, I collect everything by an author I like, first editions, cover artists, genres, etc. I have something between 3-4000 books, far too many on my income and apartment space.

So, yeah, I buy. I DO look for stuff at used book store, thrift shops and eBay most of the time though; quite rare that I buy a brand-new book at anything close to full price.

I honestly can't remember the last time I got something from a library. Haven't done it since moving to Vermont as far as I can remember; might be 20 years actually.

[Frank]

I get almost everything used. Whenever I hear or read about a book I want to check out, I put it on my half.com wishlist. Sometimes I stop by local places and just see what seems interesting. The only one in my neighborhood (Myopic Books) tends to be pricey enough that I might as well pay shipping. The only new books I get are gifts.

I definitely have hundreds of books but, man, I don't even want to think about dealing w/ thousands.

[William]

I'll say it...I'm a thief. I download almost all of my books off the internet in some ebook form then I read them on the PDA.

[Claude S]

reading off the internet already kills my eyes. can't imagine reading an entire book like that.

[William]

Actually it's great. I very seldom read a paper book anymore. My screen is 2.5 by 3 inches. It is backlit so I can curl up in bed at night and not disturb the misses. It is highly portable and the text size is adjustable. The main fallback is that formats are not fixed so you may need to learn 2-3 software readers.

[Frank]

What kind of reader do you use? I am trying to decide if I'd actually use one of those if I got it. I like having my books but it'd be nice not to have to find somewhere to put them.