Robin McKinley

Where do you get your books?[ 37 vote(s) ]
1.	Border's/B&N/other big chain (can't resist the coupons!)	3 / 8%
2.	Amazon.com (buying books while purchasing all other random needs)	5 / 14%
3.	Alibris.com (too snobby for amazon/amazon is too hectic...)	1 / 3%
4.	Plain old Local Bookshop (supporting small business! Yay!)	11 / 30%
5.	The library!	15 / 41%
6.	Used Bookstores (give books another life)	2 / 5%

Let me know if I left any options out. I myself tend to prefer the library, and then I buy a book if I absolutely love it and must have it in my collection. When I do purchase a book I'm a big fan of Alibris.com, and I have been feverishly writing reviews there for the past couple of years in an attempt to win their monthly drawing of $100 in books. I write reviews of all the books I read as I finish them as well as of my cookbooks and fitness dvds, and am a top 10 reviewer, but STILL haven't managed to win! Grrr. (You can see my book reviews here. Please excuse all grammatical errors and typos! Also, a disclaimer: sometimes I give things negative reviews, so I apologize if you come across one of them that you totally disagree with!)
I wish I were good and virtuous and only bought books from indie shops, but I am in New York and haven't explored enough to find said shops. I'm too busy commuting. There was this great shop in my parents' town that just opened this May but they've announced that they're closing due to issues not related to community support. I guess it's the economy and they wanted to reassure their customers that it wasn't their fault.

Edited to fix link.

[Updated on: Fri, 29 May 2009 13:23]

[Updated on: Mon, 03 November 2008 16:13]

Well, I generally buy books online - but not from the options given - Sweden has a few good online booksellers, which is good (shipping etc).

And then there is the library - the last library book I read was a I'm-glad-this-isn't-my-book book; not bad per se, but definetly a Not My Cup of Tea-book (I'm sure you all know what I mean ); it was quite a struggle to finish it.

I used to buy fewer books, borrow a book from the library, see if I liked it, and if I did, then buy it. This is a good strategy since I can't really afford to buy books I don't want to keep (=re-read).

Unfortunately, this doesn't work very well, for several reasons.
Once I was reading a fantasy series which I really liked - unfortunately only the first two (of four) were translated into Swedish (=were available at the library). So I thought I'd buy them. THEY WERE OUT OF PRINT! (SCREAM OF DESPAIR!)
(They have since come back into print, and I've bought them, but because of my "system" or rules they are stuck fairly long down my reading-list - don't ask [because I might tell you ]).

Also unfortunately I don't necessarily like the - fantasy, in particular - books that are translated, and a lot of what I do like is not. So now I use a very complex system of both buying and borrowing from the library - (very simplified) I have a reading-list, a re-reading list and a library list. (Again - don't ask - I might tell you! )

I can easily prove my case to you:

If I didn't "take a chance" on books that I thought might be good,

I WOULD NOT HAVE READ "ROSE DAUGHTER"!!!!

Need I say more? (Yes, I know, fairly ironic given the length of this - but WE ARE TALKING BOOKS! - I think I have shown admirable restraint. And also I console myself with thinking that there is always the option of not reading this - of which I'm sure many have gladly availed themselves - and those who have not - my commiserations )

[Updated on: Tue, 04 November 2008 01:00]

[Updated on: Tue, 04 November 2008 08:56]

[Updated on: Wed, 05 November 2008 22:48]

librarykat wrote on Sat, 08 November 2008 23:20

I refuse to buy anything from Alibris, because they sent me an advance reader's copy that was plastic comb-bound when the book was advertised as a hardcover. It's not illegal, but it's darn near unethical as far as I'm concerned. So, no more from Alibris. The same goes for Powell's - they did something very similar (it was a paperbound advance reader's copy advertised as a hardcover).

Alibris isn't a shop by itself, you know--it's a consortium of a bazillion different bookstores. If one of their members mis-represented something in a book description, you have an option to give them a low rating and let Alibris know about it. I've ordered probably a cool hundred books from them over the years, and have had no issues at all.

In fact--this blew my mind--I ran across a first ed pb of Beauty on Alibris, advertised as near-pristine, which is rare in pb's. So I bought it; within 24 hours I had an email from the seller saying "Really Sorry but there is a tiny brown stain on one corner of one page (or something like that) and we regret our misrepresentation of the condition, so we will be sending it to you free of charge as an apology." Holy crap, really? I emailed right away to say, no, seriously, I don't mind paying full price for it, but it was too late, he refused to charge my card, not even for shipping. And it came, and it was a gorgeous tight copy with a beautiful cover. So yeah, I'll be ordering from that seller again if the opportunity arises!

[Updated on: Sun, 09 November 2008 10:44]

For those, like me, with an interest in second-hand book shops, then a visit to Hay-on-Wye is a must if you're in the UK. An entire (small) town, stuffed to the gunnels with such shops. It can take an entire day just to explore down one street... I've found some wonderful out-of-print copies of remembered books there on occasion.

[Updated on: Wed, 19 November 2008 10:03]