Getting back into reading... library or buy?

[OldSpeclkledHen]

As per title really...

I know I should borrow from library.... I just get a bit 🤢 about it... stupid I know- please give me a virtual slap and tell me to woman up

(Can't afford to keep buying books and then always feel bad about what to do with them once read)

Why not visit your library and have a look around - sadly they are disappearing fast, but are such a valuable resource. Or buy the books you want, then donate them to a charity shop when you have finished... and buy another while you are there. It's all good 😀

I've found some really good ones in charity shops recently, really good quality. Oxfam have stand alone second hand bookshops, you'd never know they were pre owned. And I often find bargains on Amazon for a couple of quid.

Can you reserve books online and then just whizz in to pick them up?

If you order new books as soon as they come out they tend to be cleaner and nicer than ones that have circulated many, many times. Or give them a quick wipe with a antibac before you read them, for peace of mind?
Why not do a mixture of library and buying?
I love my Kindle, a basic one I can’t be tempted to surf the Internet on, it’s a Paperwhite and as ‘book-y’ as I can get without being an actual book. Kindle editions tend to be cheaper than physical books and you can add them to a Wish List if you want to see new books come down in price before you buy.

My local library always seems really low on stock, but I didn't want to buy books. I've therefore signed up to my local library service's ebook portal. What a lot of people don't realise is that you can join other Councils' libraries. As some of them have a different ebook offer, I have joined two other London Borough's to widen my choice of books.

@OldSpeclkledHen my local library in east grinstead has an e-reader service, you can download up to 21 books and they automatically get deleted after 4 weeks I believe. It's handy for holidays when you don't want to drag a ton of books with you.

I also use the library and regularly get them from charity shops, depend if there is a specific author or book I'm after. Amazon prime holders also get access to free e-books on prime reading.

There are lots of different ways to access books (real or online) without buying them 😀

Library! I was spending a fortune on books and then our city centre library reopened. Now I hardly even buy books and only when I've read them and loved them. I've saved loads and read more than ever.

Library. I use our County's e-book and audiobook service a lot. You just bprrow via the library's app onto your smartphone or tablet.

Only once have I been really so put off by the condition of a library book that I couldn't read it - it stank of stale cigarettes and had food stains all over the pages. It really ought to have been taken off the shelves when it got to that state 😵

Library. I couldn't afford to buy 3 or so books a week. I occasionally browse in my branch library but mostly use the online catalogue and reserve books from all the branches across the city to pick up locally.
I love popular novels, classics, cookery books, self help/ bringing up children, history.
I also reserve and collect books for DSs' school/ college work and reading for pleasure.
I sometimes buy from charity shop- if DS needs to write notes in for study, or if library doesn't stock. I tend to only buy new books as presents for other people.
Not a fan of ebooks but I do read all the free online magazines from the public library- they have many women's weekly and monthly titles, all for free.

Ooooh brilliant! I didn't even realise they did ebooks! (Although I prefer a real book iyswim! I'm old fashioned!)

Yes, it's the thought of smokers and the like - sorry! I'm not a ewww germs person, but I find books quite personal...

I'll visit my local library! Thank You!

I use library books because it is a cheap way to have a high churn on books, try something, see if it's good etc. Books that I have a personal relationship with tend to be the ones where I then go and buy my own copy.

I'm like Perspicacia - library, and buy later if I need the book!

I have upped my reading significantly since re joining library last year. I always reserve new books coming out and so often get to read them first!

I don't think it's a flat-out should. Some books you know you'll want to own. And it's important to support publishers. But the library is also a great way to read endlessly and never feel guilty.

Don't have an avenue for selling books you don't want to keep?

I read via a variety of methods - buying new, buying from charity shops/second hand bookshops, Kindle purchases, borrowing from the library, borrowing from friends.

I would like to use the library more, but I find if I have to order a book from a different library within my county, it doesn't always became available for me to actually borrow at a convenient time for me to have time to read it. If it's a popular book, and there is a waiting list of other borrowers, then I can't renew it, so I either have to pay an overdue fine (may as well have bought second-hand in that case), speed-read, or return without finishing. That's the main thing that puts me off borrowing from the library, especially new/popular books.