I do buy books, oh yes I do, but my first line of action (level 1) is always the library. I have neither the shelf space nor the budget to buy everything I might want to own; better to borrow it and find out if it needs to be with me always. I love the library.
For that matter, I have a pre-library step in most cases (level pre-1?). Using the power and might of Amaz0n, I frequently look a book up there and check for the “Look Inside” flag over the cover image. Not all books have that feature, but many do, and I can read the first few pages and see if the style suits me. How many books, after all, have I picked up, started, and not liked? This method cuts down on that.
So, if I’ve read a little and want more, I’ll get it from the library. Some of those I start but don't enjoy enough to finish (level 2), and some I am interested enough to finish, but no more (level 3); if I finish it and have to own it, then I’ll buy it (level 4). Once in a while, a level 4 book is so good, I find myself ordering the author's next book without even bringing the library into the equation (level 5).
Then there is a short list of authors whose new books I preorder without hesitation, that I know I just will want, period (level 6). And when I say a list, I don’t have a literal list, but I know them when I see them.
For instance, Patricia Briggs comes out with a new one every year, in one of her two intertwined urban fantasy series (Mercy Thompson, and Alpha and Omega) and I buy it, period. Hers usually come out in March, but this year’s, Soul Taken, has been pushed to June, so a bit later to wait on that.
A newer entrant to my list is Katherine Addison, who wrote the fantasy novel The Goblin Emperor, which I adore (the audio version is so well done). I also really liked the not-a-sequel, The Witness for the Dead, and now she has a sequel to that coming out, The Grief of Stones, also in June but a week before the Briggs comes out.
Last year I read a new author, Everina Maxwell, and loved the fantasy/romance Winter’s Orbit so much that the not-a-sequel to that went right on my buy list. Ocean’s Echo comes out in November.
On the same day, in fact, as Freya Marske’s sequel to A Marvellous Light, which I also adored (though let me point out that, as the NPR review mentioned, "the sex scenes are spicy and don't fade to black" so if that's not your thing, pass on this one). Edwardian England plus magic and mystery plus romance? I fully expect A Restless Truth to be just as good, and I can't wait.
If they both arrive on time, I don’t know how I’ll decide which to read first. It’s a good problem to have.
Do you read a lot? Use the library, buy, or a combo?
I love how intentional you are about books! I am trying to be more intentional -- buying books by my auto-buy authors, or books that I am pretty sure I will love. My impulse, though, is to buy every hot new thriller that hits the shelves, so that is an exercise in prudence and temperance for sure! I used to hate library books, but I have been relying on them more and more. And I am a HUGE ebook and audiobook fan.
ReplyDeleteI rarely buy books and, if I do, I try to buy them on my Kindle because we're honestly just out of bookshelf space! I think last year I purchased maybe six or seven books and only two were paper books. That being said, if I'm going to reread books, I'll definitely buy them or ask for them as a gift. I have well-used copies of Harry Potter and Becky Chambers' Wayfarer series. Just brilliant books.
ReplyDeleteI honestly try to not accumulate books anymore - except for the occasional cook or knitting book. The library, via the Mass Library Commission Regional District, offers ebooks and audiobooks - all for free! Since COVID (I can't believe it's been so long) I haven't really spent money on a book and have gone through at least 1 a week on my kindle cloud reader and one every two weeks via audio book. For a few months I was recording them on Goodreads but that's gone by the wayside.
ReplyDeleteOoooh, I want all 4 of these!! I use the library, of course, but I also buy lots of books. I'm building my library back up from the massive purge we did when we moved to NH -- and we just bought a new bookcase, so there's room!
ReplyDelete