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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To ask if you buy actual books?

166 replies

Wriggler79 · 13/03/2017 19:36

I'm having a debate with DP. I have been driving past an independent book shop each week. It has been closed for some time, and books have been piled in the window. I last bought books from there 15 years ago.
Today there was a skip outside the shop. It looked as if it was full of books. I have had a shitty week, and for some reason this was the last straw. It made me sad. I had a strop about it. I posted about it on Facebook, which was quite therapeutic in itself as I had to reason that I couldn't have rescued and cuddled ALL the books, and would have looked an idiot digging through them on a main road.
But what has puzzled me is the number of people telling me "people don't buy books any more". I haven't seen this to be true. As far as I know, books are sold as much as they ever have been in my lifetime. I know two people who own a Kindle, and only one uses theirs; the other person gave up on the idea and their device is in a drawer somewhere.
Just wondering what general experience/opinion on this is.

OP posts:
switswoo81 · 13/03/2017 21:08

Kindle for me too. Like the recommended for you in the shop. I cure my lust for books by buying children's books.

cuphat · 13/03/2017 21:13

I still buy physical books for the children and I buy the odd non-fiction book, however I buy all my fiction books on kindle now (and I always said I preferred real books and that I'd never get a kindle!). It's just so much easier to hold plus I can make the font bigger and the background bright (paperwhite) which makes a massive difference to my rubbish eyes.

GerdaLovesLili · 13/03/2017 21:14

Lots and lots and lots of books.

MrsDoylesladder · 13/03/2017 21:20

I love proper physical books. Sadly, MS means I can't hold them properly for a long period of time so it has to be kindle. My dd loves real books too as does dh. Just spent this evening sorting dd's bookshelves with her.

Willow2017 · 13/03/2017 21:32

I only buy books I don't have any e readers. I get them anywhere charity shops, bookshops, online.

Love the feel of a book on my hand, the promise a new book holds. Love them have bookshelves full of them😀

Becca19962014 · 13/03/2017 21:33

My kindle is now too old to download anymore books, but when I got it I downloaded hundreds of books (I filled my storage). Mainly big books which I can no longer hold, so free classics, I don't think I ever paid more than £2 for a kindle book - I more than got my money back.

I still buy, and, prefer actual books though I've absolutely no space. I love reading.

megletthesecond · 13/03/2017 21:34

Yes. No electronic reading in this house. We've tried it and it's not for us.

I buy from waterstones (I boycott amazon) and charity shops.

CaptainHammer · 13/03/2017 21:37

I buy books and give them to the charity shop when done.
I don't have a kindle, it's not for me.

BarbaraofSeville · 13/03/2017 21:43

Kindle all the way. I love reading my paperwhite in bed. I tried a couple of paperbacks last year because they were signifcantly cheaper than ebooks and I couldn't get comfortable to read them at all.

I don't re-read and have never kept books - to me books are dusty clutter once read. I also track book prices using ereaderiq so only ever pay a pound or two even for new, popular books, which is cheaper than most charity shops or reserving from the library, and it means I have a huge virtual pile of bargain books to read without having to search charity shops or libraries, for books that usually aren't there anyway.

Elphame · 13/03/2017 21:48

I never stopped buying books! I seem to have bought 3 new books in the last week alone.

TheNoodlesIncident · 13/03/2017 21:52

I have a kindle but much prefer actual books. My local library has had its hours cut so it's only open 3 part-days a week (although it still gets used for knitting group meet-ups and the like, which is great). I had a cull of my books recently and took a couple of dozen for donation. My local charity shop doesn't want any more books so we took them to the BHF book collection at the local recycling place - the operative said: "Oh they don't want any more, here I'll take them" and he threw them into a paper recycling skip Shock Some of them were really quite rare Sad

I collect really old books, some have the most beautiful bindings and dustjackets, especially children's books...

vvviola · 13/03/2017 23:38

I read fast and have a long commute by public transport so can easily get through a fiction book in a day or two. If I bought them all I would be broke and have to build an extension.

So trashy thrillers and one-off reads are on my kindle or from the library. Books I want to savour or suspect I will read again come from a book shop.

I never order real books from Amazon though - the idea of having to wait to read a book makes my head hurt Grin

Toadinthehole · 13/03/2017 23:51

Have about 700 books.

No plans to buy a Kindle.

I'd have been straight back to that skip with an empty suitcase and raided it shamelessly.

straighttalker · 13/03/2017 23:56

Kindle.

Everyone I know has a kindle or the kindle app on phone/tablet and uses it over and above physical books.

At last count I had 650 books on mine! And a massive TBR list.

I love books and bookshops, but the convenience and accessibility factor far outweighs the tactility of physical books...

80sMum · 13/03/2017 23:57

I no longer buy actual books if it's a fictional work. I still occasionally may buy a coffee table book.

For reading fiction, I much prefer to use my Kindle, because I can adjust the font size so that I can actually see it! Someone lent me a book a couple of weeks ago and I started reading it, but gave up and bought the kindle version instead, as I was finding it was straining my eyes trying to peer at the small print.

Woody67 · 14/03/2017 00:00

I have had a kindle for several years. I've read a lot of books in that time but only on my kindle. I prefer it. It's easy to hold and transport (especially on holiday where I read several books) and I can adjust the font size, bookmark etc easily.

LurpakIstheOnlyButter · 14/03/2017 00:01

I buy books. I love books. I love my Kindle too (because I can read in the dark when DH asleep) but nothing better than a crispy lovely smelling new book.....ahhhhhh!

purpleme12 · 14/03/2017 00:02

Yes am the way! Won't get a Kindle!

Hotheadwheresthecoldbath · 14/03/2017 00:03

I have a Kindle and have put lots of free Classics on it so I could take them off my shelves and make room for more real books.I also read books that are not worth keeping on Kindle and occasionally the next in a series of I can't wait for the paperback to come out.But real books are best, Christmas is not the same if noone buys me a book and I still have 2 left as I just used my book token.Bookshops are like sweetshops are to small children,so much choice and you can take as long as you like but can't have them all.Thanks to my kindle I still have a bit of room on my bookcases.

avamiah · 14/03/2017 00:07

Yes I buy books.
My kitchen is full of cookery books and I regularly buy books from the Book People at my daughters primary school for her.

LurpakIstheOnlyButter · 14/03/2017 00:13

I have a library! ((study/office))

But it does have wall to wall bookshelves full of lovely books!

When anyone comes to stay they raid my library. I love it

brasty · 14/03/2017 00:19

Yes I buy books. Bought one on Saturday.

havingabadhairday · 14/03/2017 00:23

I must have 2,000 plus books and another 300 on Kindle. And that's after a recent clear out where I got rid of hundreds.

A Kindle is cheaper than a new house, and carrying it round is easier on my shoulder than some of the books I've read.

EmeraldScorn · 14/03/2017 04:05

I had a kindle for around a month and I hated it. I love to read but I didn't enjoy the experience on a device - Browsing for books in shops and holding them in your hands is all part of the enjoyment for me.

I really like going to second hand book shops, the smells, the history of the selection in front of you, wondering who read the books before you etc etc, it's my favourite thing to do, book shopping.

I sometimes buy from charity shops if I'm passing and see some but I hate parting with my books, I like to keep them. It's shameful that anyone would throw books in a skip, ahh I think I would have been tempted to have had a rummage if I had been walking by at the time!

AnIbisIsWatchingMe · 14/03/2017 04:13

I work in an independent bookshop. I get free advance copies. smug mode

I also buy lots too. Especially for my children.