There was an article in the New York Times recently about sharing e-books and it caused quite the discussion on Twitter and in the blogosphere. I direct you to the post at Dear Author for a recap and lengthy discussion of the entire event. One thing that came out of the article and following discussion is that if you own a Kindle, you are allowed to download a book SIX times. That means you can download it to six different Kindles if you choose. I didn’t realize this – now I wish I had a friend with a Kindle I could share with. I love to share books – LOVE it. I know there are some authors out there that encourage sharing of books and others who frown upon it. Personally, and obviously this is just coming from a reader’s standpoint, I think sharing books is a wonderful thing. It promotes discussion and many times furthers the interest in the author. In my real life, besides my mom, I don’t have many friends that shares the passion of reading that I have. If I am reading a blog or if I am on Twitter and I read a comment from someone who can’t wait to get their hands on a book and I’ve read it, why not pass it on. Share the joy you find in a book – or if it is a book you didn’t like, hey, give the book a second chance with another reader ;) Also, sharing does not equal piracy by any means in my opinion.
I just read a great post by Wendy from The Misadventures of Super Librarian. She wants to know where everyone “gets” their books. Here is how I get mine and I’m stealing Wendy’s format:
What I Buy New:
I probably have about fifteen series or authors that I buy new, whether in hardback or paperback. These are also the books I don’t share – LOL. I take that back, I do share these, but I always ask for them back. Some of these authors include JR Ward, Patricia Briggs, Karen Marie Moning, Laurell K Hamilton (all of those are in HB), Jeaniene Frost, Ann Aguirre. I buy almost all of these from my local bookstore. The manager takes very good care of me – I just email her what I want and they magically appear at the store :)
What I Get From the Library:
Nothing – I know that is sad. My library has a seriously poor selection of romance books and very long waiting lists. We utilize our library by going to storytime and getting many children books…but I have not found it to be beneficial to me personally.
ARCS and other free swag:
I do receive several arcs and other books offered by authors a month. This has been one great side effect of having a book blog ;)
Used:
I love Paperbackswap.com – LOVE it!!!! For those who have not used it, you post books you want to get rid of (you don’t get them back) and in return, you can request books and get them for “free” – all you do is pay shipping when you SEND a book. Anytime I see a great review or discussion on a book, most recently Black Ice by Anne Stuart, I go right on over and request the book. Some of the more popular books have a waiting list, but there are many that don’t.
I also have a used bookstore that is relatively close to me. I find this a great way to collect books that are in a large series. I have bought most of my Anita Blake books (Laurell K Hamilton) and Naked in Death (JD Robb) books through my used bookstore. I love the way the store is set-up – books are stacked on these massive old shelves, and you have to drag a little step ladder around with you. I just love the atmosphere of searching through stacks of books. And his romance section is huge! There is an elderly man who owns the store – I’m not sure how his system works, but I feel his books are very reasonably priced for being used. I once took in an entire bag full of books to “sell” to him, and he gave me sixty-four cents – for the bag. I love him.
E-Books:
I own a Kindle and love to read off of it. I have learned how to convert many of the pdf books I receive from authors onto it which has been very beneficial to me. Also, many of the m/m books I enjoy reading are only in electronic format. I have also been known – and let’s not tell husband – to buy a book in Kindle format at 6am, because waiting for my bookstore to open at 10 is too much of a wait – and then subsequently, buy it in print to have on my bookshelves. Yes, I double buy…it’s our secret.
So tell me, where do you get your books? Do you like to share?
I am a book store lover – I am there weekly, OMG it's horrible. I buy everything I read, and while I should visit my local used book store, I tend not to so much – the reason is because there selection on what I read (mostly YA fiction) is nearly non existant :( – though I do love old used books…I wish I could find them.
I have yet to try out Paperbackswap – sounds neat, but then soo many of the books I have I dont want to get rid of :( only a few would I like to but HMMM.
As for sharing, I do sometimes – mostly with my daughter and my sister…I am OK with sharing as long as they are "careful" LOL I threaten my daughter about taking away all my books if she "hurts" one of them in that book bag – LOL it's the black hole! She she carry's them! :)
I heart my bookstore :)
I hear ya about the "hurt" books. When I read I barely open the book – LOL. I have a good friend that I gave a book to once, and I she opened the book and tucked the front cover all the way around…I hyperventilated a bit ;)
PaperbackSwap is my go-to place for out of print these days. Old school westerns and older Harlequins not available in e are my two biggest weaknesses.
I get my books much like you – Kindle, arcs, used, new. I haven't done PBS yet but I'm tempted to give it a try. I buy more and more Kindle editions of books I used to get in pb. I love reading on my Kindle. There are a few authors that I only buy in hardcover and, like you shhhh, sometimes double buy :D I use my library quite often these days. Love reserving on line and then picking up books when I get the phone call that a book is in. I've read Jill Shalvis's "Instant" series through library books. I've also borrowed books on cd to pop on the iPod. One thing I like to do is give away a book I enjoyed but don't need to keep. So I've given away arcs, review copies, and books purchased by me.
Thanks for a great topic. I could talk books for hours : )
Wendy – PBS is great for out of print books!
Mary – I never thought about borrowing an audio book from the library!
For a bad little library and from wher I only want English book these days I do borrow a lot. Perhaps it's good. Then again no romance at all, no paranormal, little fantasy, but I read those other genres from there.
Buy, borrow a few from buddies, and getting those free copies. That is my life.
Well, it all depends on the book. For the most part, I buy my books at either B&N or Borders because they are near where I live. If I can't find it there, I will order on Amazon.
For older or out of print titles, I'll check Amazon's used book sellers or swap on PBS.
Then there is the occasional ARC I'll read in either print or e-book.
E-books that I choose to get for myself, I always buy.
I'm lucky that I work at a bookstore so I buy most of my books new. I also use PBS for books that I would like to read, but I don't mind waiting for.
I buy most of my books online. The nearest bookstore is 70 miles away.
The grocery store and WalMart don't carry many of the books I like to read. Our library is very small and you have to wait forever for a book .
Blodeuedd – My life too ;)
Barbara – although I love my local bookstore because I can order, I wish I had a B&N or Borders near by. They have such a great selection on hand.
Randi – jealous! I want to work in a bookstore – for real!
Estella – wow – a bookstore is far from you. Luckily Amazon has that more than $25 free shipping..I do that a lot too. My Walmart and grocery store has a very small selection too.
I love Amazon. Living in Australia we seem to be a good month behind US release dates, which I just don't stand for – so there are a handful of authors who I pre-order from Amazon.
Otherwise I am a little bit in love with my local library. It's actually more of a library conglomerate because they've joined forces with about 15 other libraries across my state which makes for wider selection. And I can place electronic holds on books, which is convenient. Even better is that since the 'Twilight' storm, my library has been building up their urban fantasy range.
For quite a while I borrowed books when I was around a lot of other readers but these days I don't have a lot of friends in my regular life that read much – which is disappointing. I buy at least once a month from Amazon and most recently from Book Depository because they have a lot of paperbacks for around $4! I do lend my books whenever possible. I am going to take Diana Rowland's challenge today for readers to pass along her books to others who would like to read them.
I am going to give Paperback exchange a try again – its difficult for me because I don't have a car right now & dragging the Hubby to the Post Office every weekend was getting old! LOL
Great Post!
*de-lurks* HI Mandi!
Hmmm…I borrow the vast majority of my books from the local library. I'm lucky – my local library has a huge range of books, including romance and fantasy, and is part of a network of *counts* 17 libraries! Think of all those books *happy dance*
I buy the odd book – Nalini Singh (of course) and m/m, which my library doesn't purchase *grin* Oh, and any keepers. I've just discovered Juliet Marillier's Heir to Sevenwaters…keeper :)
And I borrow books too (and return them) – too friends. That's how I discovered Eve & Roarke :)
I buy most of my books from a local independent bookstore. I have issues about owning the book I am reading. Crazy, right? :P
Danielle – your library sounds great!
I also utilize Amazon quite a bit.
BookObsessed – I love Book Depository too. I will have to check out Diana Rowland's challenge!
I feel ya on the Post Office – my kids are always like – not there again!
Orannia – Awesome library!!! I need to look into Juliet Marillier..have not read her!
Roarke – I heart him.
Lily Child – possessive are we? LOL
I get most of my books from amazon.com for the kindle. But I very very rarely bard print copies of books anymore, I just don't have space for them and prefer the kindle books for reading anyway.
I was lucky to have a friend who gave me a collection of ebooks to start with that she no longer needed (and deleted from her system) because she no longer read books in that format. Probably against the rules, but those starter books started me on new authors and series that I now buy books from on a regular basis
I get almost all my books from either the library or my mom. I can't afford to buy books. :( Although, if I do buy them, I usually get them online.
I have my library to thank for where I am today as an author, for it introduced me to historical romances. I used to be a total library slut – visiting every weekend and walking out with an armload of books. But since I started writing, I buy all my print books. Even if someone offers to lend me one, I'll go out and buy it. But I also lend a fair number of books to friends (I've gone from being a library slut to a book pimp *g*). As you mentioned, Mandi, there is such joy to be found in sharing. :)
Ok, this stupid cold has me fried and I can't get my thoughts together enough to say want I wanted to say regarding sharing e-books. Maybe later.
I will add that I too am guilty of double buying. I read the whole Fever series by Karen Marie Moning, except Dreamfever, in Kindle format. I bought Dreamfever in hard cover. Later I decided I loved the series too much to let it sit on the Kindle so I bought the other books in hard cover too. shhhh don't tell my husband. Once Shadowfever comes out I'll have the whole series in hard cover. My OCD is sitting on my shoulder whispering to me that I should have Dreamfever and Shadowfever in digital format as well. How sick is that?
Kindle Vixen – I do love reading on my Kindle. It makes taking notes and searching for things so much easier. Plus, I love to turn on the text-voice thing when I am ironing or doing something else boring :)
Heidenkind – If I put more effort into it, the library would probably work out better for me. I just want to go in and have the satisfaction of getting a book right away, and not wait on a list.
Ava – My love of romances started with historicals too :) There is nothing better to be in life than a book slut or pimp – LOL.
FV – Ha…I don't mind so much not having all of a series on my Kindle, I just have to have them sitting on my shelves. Glad you are with my with double buying. Our poor husbands ;)
I buy 99,9% of my books on amazon.fr or The Book Depository.
First thing first i want real dead-tree copy of my books. E-books are killing my eyes, probably because i read them on my laptop, when i get the chance to see what it's like with an e-reader maybe i'll change my mind.
Bookstore or Library is not an option for me, Except for the Harry Potters or Twilight you won't find books in English that aren't 100 years old there. And even when there are a few relatively new books in French it's too expensive. So i order them online.
And i'm not sharing. I know it's selfish and i'm not proud of it but i can't. I love my books and when i've read a book you would never say it's been read. I take good care of them. I tried sharing, but when i see how my friends treat their books i just can't. And well now i don't have that problem often because i don't read books in French anymore and my friends do.
I don't share but i try to make up for it by offering books for Xmas, Birthdays… It's a different kind of sharing ;)
I love to share my books! I think that many publishing companies and authors are missing the boat on this one. If you loan a book to someone on Kindle or a Nook, then chances are that the friend will buy another book by that author if they liked it, whereas before they wouldn't have bought that book at all.
I get most of my books at the library-while my branch sucks, those in the metro don't. I don't know what I would do without my libraries online catalog.
I also get a lot of books through
Amazon. This is b/c I'm lazy. The closest bookstore to me that sells new books is 30 minutes away on an interstate that is always under construction & not very fun to drive. I've never tried paperback swap, but should…