Where do you buy your books?

[Louise]

Where do you buy your NYRB books? and what do you normally pay for them?

I started with the book club subscription (which is $150 for 13 books) and also took advantage of the recent sale (getting 8 books for $77). I have also been perusing Amazon.ca and they have many of the classics for under $13 Can (which translates to under $10 US) so I've been snapping some of those up as well. Wendy mentioned Abebooks which is another good place to find good deals for both new and used books.

My library doesn't seem to have many but I like to own my own copy of these books anyway. They look so pretty on my bookshelves :-)

[Kevin]

I like to purchase them as well. My wife is very supportive in my NYRB obsession. I try to buy at local indie bookstores and sometimes I have to pre-order them cause they may not carry them. I am lucky that a large number do carry NYRB Classics and even have specific sections dedicated.

I lived in NYC most of my life so I was fortunate to have The Strand bookstore close to me.

[Louise]

Randolph wrote: "Amazon because I work there."

Oooooh! You must get good deals?

[WndyJW]

I’m jealous, Kevin. The only bookstore near me is Barnes & Nobel and as much I want to support them, they very rarely have what I want.

abebooks is good for used books and for new books The Book Depository in the UK is less expensive than most places and always free shipping.

[Lobstergirl]

My local used bookstore will often stock remaindered NYRB classics, also gently used copies. They're cheaper than the cover price of course, but still not all that cheap.

We also have a good library system which has a lot of them.

[Liz M]

I have about 130 nyrb books, most of them purchased at Housing Works Used Bookstore in NYC. The bookstore has monthly 30% off sales (on the books that are already half-price) and I'll scan the shelves looking for the distinctive spines and pick up one or two or six. The Strand also frequently sells brand new nyrb books at half price.

My most recent purchase was Anniversaries: From a Year in the Life of Gesine Cresspahl at the Brooklyn Book Festival in September.

[Helen]

These days, I buy mine almost exclusively from Wordery. Most are priced between £6-8 (less than $10 USD), with free Worldwide delivery. They run promotional days approx. twice a week, giving between 10-15% off the already subsidised prices of the books. Highly recommended, they stock all of the NYRB catalogue. Dangerous on the wallet though!
https://wordery.com/search?term=Nyrb+...

[Pillsonista]

These days I order almost exclusively from the NYRB Classics website.

They, the Pushkin Press, and New Directions, are the three publishing houses that I'm willing (happily so) to buy full price.

I own all but I believe seven of the titles that NYRB Classics currently publish, and I'm in the fortunate position, at least currently, to be able to afford the books at full price and I want the publishing house to get as much of my money as possible if I'm not able to take advantage of their periodic sales. I'm currently awaiting the arrival of Portraits Without Frames and Czapski's Inhuman Land in the mail. (I'm counting down the days until I can order Vasily Grossman's Stalingrad and, especially, Kurt Tucholsky's Castle Gripsholm...)

But when I was still accumulating my collection, I was very fortunate that one of my local used bookstores (my usual hunting ground) regularly stocked a variety of NYRB titles in basically pristine condition. During that time I would occasionally buy them from mainstream chains, like Borders (at that time) and Barnes & Noble, depending upon the title (like Gyula Krudy's Sunflower and Patrick Hamilton's The Slaves of Solitude and Twenty Thousand Streets Under the Sky). But the bulk of my collection came from Tower Books, before they went out of business (at least in the United States).

[Louise]

Pillsonista wrote: "These days I order almost exclusively from the NYRB Classics website.

They, the Pushkin Press, and New Directions, are the three publishing houses that I'm willing (happily so) to buy full price...."

Now I'm curious about Pushkin Press and New Directions...

[WndyJW]

I know I’m repeating myself (something my kids tell me I do often,) but in the spirit of keeping threads topical and going I will repeat that like Pillsonista I am now in the fortunate position of being able to support favorite presses and buy books new. If the author is still living I buy new; if the book is published by an indie press I buy direct from that press.
While raising a family new books were a treat and I always received gift cards to book stores on gift giving occasions. During those years I created my library from www.abebooks.com and HalfPrice Books. Now that I am able to buy new I do.

It’s very important to buy new as often as possible to support publishers and, more importantly, writers. For those that cannot buy new, get books however you can! The more books the better!

I try to support my local Barnes and Noble, but I confess to buying from the evil empire at times too. Book Depository and abebooks are both owned by Amazon so it’s hard for avoid lining the pockets of the greedy Jeff Bezos.

[sisilia]

I purchase mine from Book Depository. It’s not easy to find NYRB books in Singapore :(

[WndyJW]

sisilia wrote: "I purchase mine from Book Depository. It’s not easy to find NYRB books in Singapore :("


Even through Amazon? I thought they had conquered the known world.

[sisilia]

I have to buy from Amazon US, which delivery fee is not cheap. BD has been my fav online bookstore now with its free worldwide shipping.

[Louise]

What about reading on an ereader? Wouldn't that solve the shipping issue for those in more remote places, or where books are harder to come by? The NYRB Classics (and the Lit series) are always available in e format, whether you read on a Kindle or a Kobo.

[WndyJW]

That’s not a bad idea, although I couldn’t read an entire book on my tablet. I’m too much of a bibliophile to forego paper.

[Louise]

I can't read on a tablet, ipad, or iphone but I love my ereader. The comfort light is so easy on the eyes. I always read in dark rooms so reading in print is a lighting challenge. Plus the built-in dictionary is soooo handy. You just touch the word and the definition pops up. And it's used for reading only so no distractions.

[sisilia]

I prefer print books 😊 and NYRB has the best quality of books. I love the paper quality, and don’t they smell like heaven?

[WndyJW]

They do! I can see the advantages to tablets for traveling, but I am definitely a book person.

[Sarah]

Well I started checking them out from the library because our enlightened library had so many AND stays pretty current but then I started hunting up good condition used ones from Half Price. Then I got OCD about the whole thing and wanted clean bright new book smell ones so joined the book subscription. After I did that for a year I decided it was still slightly pricey way to do it. I took a trip to Powell’s in Portland and walked away with a terrific remainder haul. ( yes I brought an empty suitcase of course.). Barnes and Noble never seemed to get new ones fast enough. I went to Housing Book Works also in NYC and the ones they had were ARC’s which was fun. Now we have a local indie bookstore where the owner is a NYRD too and got used to my husband coming in with my shopping list each month. So I have a couple of enablers. Then of course there was the 20 year anniversary sale at NYRB which allowed me to complete my collection ( but by this time I was already pretty close).

[Merilee]

What are ARCs?

[Doug]

Merilee wrote: "What are ARCs?"

Advanced Reading Copies... freebies used to promote the book prior to publication. :-)

[Merilee]

Thanks, Doug. Didn’t know the acronym...🤓

[WndyJW]

I have a subscription, but I’m not renewing it. It makes more sense to buy the titles I want rather than count on wanting the ones they send.

[Gary]

I buy from Amazon, they have great prices, and quick delivery. For example; the book were reading for next month is 6.94, and delivered tomorrow if your on prime.
I also buy a number of used books from Amazon when I’m looking for a hardback.

I have a used bookstore I get to once and awhile, though not as often as I used to.

[Marina]

As former bookseller I choose to buy books just from indipendent bookshops... the price for a book is higher compared to Amazon but at least it gives dignity to the value of the book and helps the book industry in general.

[Brenna]

The indie booksellers in my area (central Alabama) have great selections! Some titles I have scored at used bookstores, like unread/lightly used copies of "Between the Woods and Water," "Onward and Upward in the Garden," and some Nancy Mitford titles for around $5 each. We went to Boston a few months ago for a graduation, and I didn't leave Trident Booksellers (amazing place!) without a bag full of them!

[Suzanne]

We have no independent (new) bookstores within 90 miles. I have a friend who, with her husband, owns a bookstore in Lewisburg WV, and she orders books I request and delivers them when she passes through town.

Also, I keep a book list and take it with me whenever I travel, and look up indie bookstores in the destinations I’m headed to.

Pretty much pay list price everywhere. I see it as helping keep bookstores going.

[WndyJW]

Now that my children are all launched I can afford to buy books new or directly from indie presses so I almost always do. I only buy from Amazon if the small press uses Amazon or from the Book Depository, an Amazon company, if I need the book before it’s US release. A few of Longlisted Booker books would be not be released here for several more months so I bought them for Book Depo.

I don’t judge anyone who buys used books if that’s what their budget allows. Most of my personal library was created by ordering from abebooks when I was raising kids, but now that my budget allows it I feel it’s only right for me to pay back the book industry and writers by buying new books at list price,

[Mike]

I was traveling in Missouri this week and happened upon a wonderful used bookstore. I got 3 NYRB books for $6.50 or $7 each and was so happy!

[Sarah]

Which ones ?!

[Mike]

Sorry Sarah, didn't catch your question! I got The Glass Bees, Soul of Wood, and Transit.

[Sarah]

Of those I have only read Glass Bees but I thought it was a pretty wild ride.

[Doubledf99.99]

I buy probably 90% of my books for my reading device from amazon, and every so often the PX may have a book of interest or the book swap shelves at the good USO may have one I'll pick up.

[Mike]

Just got back from a trip to Texas, home of my favorite franchised-type bookstore, Half Price Books, and came home with 6 NYRB books. Now reading one of them, The Slaves of Solitude

[Luke]

Activity on this board reminded me of my own recent acquisitions:

Fatale by Jean-Patrick Manchette and The Anatomy of Melancholy by Robert Burton from my regular book sale
Amsterdam Stories by Nescio from my own local HPB

I'm also currently reading my NYRB edition of Blood on the Forge by William Attaway, which I acquired at the same sale a while back.

[DaytimeRiot]

Iron Mike wrote: "Just got back from a trip to Texas, home of my favorite franchised-type bookstore, Half Price Books, and came home with 6 NYRB books. Now reading one of them, The Slaves of Solitude"

Love Half Price Books.

My local store always has least a couple of NYRBs, usually in all but new condition, whenever I've shopped there (which is usually weekly).

[WndyJW]

The nyrb classics club sale I was waiting for is now. Regularly $190 a year for US subscriptions, it’s on sale for $125!

https://www.nyrb.com/pages/the-nyrb-c...