To think there’s no hope anymore financially after seeing the price of this…?!

6 figures ?! okay what do you do for a living ?

@LemaxObsessive Every thread on here draws an equivalent post somewhere on page one – “why shouldn’t your DD get a tattoo on her face? It’s not your forehead.”

There must be a small army of these people poised over their keyboards all day, dying to let us know how clever they are.

Why is it whenever anyone dares to have a simple conversation about a price increase, someone always trots this one out?! Well duh! We know that but it doesn’t prohibit us from being able to talk about it! Is price increases a globally banned topic of conversation or something?!

I’ve got into the habit of checking Kindle Daily Deals each day, and have bought loads of books at 99p. When I go into Waterstones, half of the books on the front tables, with the “buy one, get one half price stickers” are books that I’ve previously seen on the kindle deals. It has made me really reluctant to pay full price for them, I just can’t justify it.

I cant get over the OP (who seems to have left the thread) who is earning at least twice as much as I've ever earned and four times as much as I have on my pension bemoaning the fact she can't afford books.

Same. I’m able to spend a fortune on new books if I wanted, but generally prefer getting books from the library (a one minute walk from my house). However, sometimes I want to buy a new book so it’s a waste of money to spend, say, £30 on the recent Robert Galbraith hardback book when Amazon or some supermarkets sold it for half that price.

I know! Hearing him saying "I cant decide whether to get the book Pete recommended or the one Clare said was good" and even "I cant wait to get a new book tomorrow" makes me smile.

Ì'm not fussed about the authours pocket rather my own!

A lot of libraries in my county are staffed by volunteers. There is a lovely new big library being built to replace an old one in a beautiful but outdated and rather out of the way building. The new one is rght by the main bus stops and shops so I hope this tempts more people in.

Yes this a major problem. so many libraries close early and aren't open on weekends. No wonder there's a lack of visitors.

Ours is already entirely community run, hence the 9-3 Mon-Weds opening hours. I imagine that’s all the hours they can get volunteers for.

If you're serious about extending your library opening hours you could see if it's possible for it to be staffed by volunteers a couple of evenings a week for example. A couple of libraries near me are entirely community run as otherwise they'd have been closed, but I don't see why a hybrid arrangement wouldn't be possible.

I agree, I’d love to be able to use our library and would desperately like to protect it, but unless I use annual leave to go to the library I just can’t!

That 14 year olds are getting excited about books has made me feel hopeful!

Libraries are cutting opening hours due to funding but also due to less people visiting, which is a catch 22 situation because then more Libraries will closing! They're so important that I feel militant about protecting them

That 14 year olds are getting excited about books has made me feel hopeful!

Libraries are cutting opening hours due to funding but also due to less people visiting, which is a catch 22 situation because then more Libraries will closing! They're so important that I feel militant about protecting them

That 14 year olds are getting excited about books has made me feel hopeful!

Libraries are cutting opening hours due to funding but also due less people visiting, which is a catch 22 situation because then more Libraries are closing!

Books have never been cheaper. A hardback was £20 20 years ago. What you have got used to is discounting. Most new releases are a third to half price for a few weeks and that's when most of us buy them. If you miss the boat then you have to pay full retail or wait for the paperback.

Just bought a hardback each for DH and my Dad for Xmas and they were about £11/12.

My local library is on reduced hours but there are some mornings, some afternoons and some evenings. Everyone should be able to get there at some time in the week.

There is a recently released book I really want a copy of on my kindle, at the moment the hardback (not yet released in paper back) is £14, the kindle version is £15, I categorically refuse to pay more for a digital book as the overheads are significantly less

Do what people do who don't have a 6 figure salary, use a library, buy second hand or read online.

What i do is scan the bar code on the amazon app and get it delivered next day with prime,always around 1/3 cheaper.

Yes, hardback books are expensive but I don't get why it's so unaffordable on your salary. It's no more expensive than anything else you might do to treat yourself. I'm on half your salary and buy them a few times a year, although I tend to buy books I know I'll want to keep. My mother only has an income of £800 a month as a pensioner and she occasionally buys them as a treat too. We both love books so we would rather buy that to treat ourselves than many other things. It's not an everyday expense, and you can nearly always get them with money off somewhere too.

You’re not wrong with the prices!!! I went into Waterstones this week to look and was shocked at the prices - DD loves reading and I love to encourage this as much as possible but children’s paperbacks were around the £8-10 mark.

We buy a lot of second hand books off eBay otherwise it’s the charity shop. And we’ve recently joined the library too. Amazon also have some really good offers on now and again - picked up the new Harlan Coben book for £4

I asked DP for a book I’d been wanting for a while for Christmas and told him under no circumstances to buy new - even though the new one was on offer at the time for £14.

I've just checked the RRP on the last hardback I bought and it was £30. It was the most recent Robert Galbraith book in the Strike series. I pre-ordered and think I actually paid £15.