am i being unreasonable to wonder why people buy new books

[LucyEllensmummy]

I buy all my books from charity shops. Occasionally i will buy new but i have been stung a few times when i spend out on something and end up not liking it.

Now i buy second hand, it means i dont have to be so choosey and often find some surprises.

well, if they didn't there wouldn't be 2nd hand ones for you to buy

I love the smell of new books.

and old books.

any books really, am not fussy.

but why deny anyone the chance of a brand new book??? nothing like it, beats even chocolate and sex

yabu there are lots of really good and cheap books new.
This doesn't mean you can't buy second hand too ???

DS likes Horrid Henry i may be charity shopping forever to find one of these.

However i tend to get most of mine from the library , free and they go back when they are bored with them

I suppose it depends whether you just want something to read, or whether you want to read a specific book that's just been published.

If I want to read a particular book that's been out for a while I always check my favourite second hand seller, Abe Books to see if it's on there first.

yabu buying books at all, use your library!

Well, new authors need to get published too, so there does need to be a market for them. I do buy a lot second hand, though.

Except there is nothing like the feeling of holding the new Harry Potter (no longer) or the new Stephen King, hot off the press and never before tainted by somebody else's bookmark - or train ticket - or bacon slice - or whatever they use as a bookmark!

I hate it when I buy a new book full price though (ie not from Amazon) and then it's rubbish: I feel cheated in some way.

I guess you don't need to buy new books if you are happy to read only what is available at charity shops - i.e. books people have given away because they will not read them again & don't feel they are worth keeping.

That is an interesting point cote, maybe i am missing out - i am a bit strapped for cash just now though.

I do get excited when i grab something recent - i found the mumsnet book of the month in a charity shop a few weeks back - i had to buy it, but im glad i didnt pay full price.

I get really anal when i buy a new book and enjoy it, i feel as if i have to lend it on else im not getting my money's worth.

I buy them new, from charity shops,car boot sales, village fetes and ebay-I don't think that it is a question of either or. I also use the library a lot. I prefer new books that haven't been opened and smell nice.

work FT,cant be arsed faffing about on my days off through shelves of guff to find a gem

yards of schlocky crime -no thanks

i click and buy

I would rather buy a new book from my favourite authors than buy new clothes.

But I only buy new books if I am sure I will read and reread it. I get 95% of my books from the library as I can't afford to buy all the books I read new!

I didn't mean it in a bad way. It's just that all I see in charity shops are either old and tattered books that nobody has heard of or newish 'bestseller' books that nobody would read twice and hence the reason why they are given away.

I have a pet hate for the latter and have given away all recent 'bestseller' books I read for our book club (Memory Keeper's Daughter, 1000 Splendid Suns, Book Thief, etc). All quite incredibly bad. Normally I don't give books away, because I re-read them.

Most of the time, I read books by specific authors that not many people have heard of and it would be very rare to see their books in charity shops.

Yes. YABU.

I didnt take it in a bad way its a good point. I do feel quite out of the loop when i look at this part of the board asi dont kepp up to date

I buy new books, but never full price. I do the BOGOF offers, the buy 2 get 3rd free offers, the half price offers etc.

in fact, apart from food, I rarely pay full price on anything, die to sales, offers, freebies etc. we all need something to thrill us tho, books, brand new books especially, is mine

I have to say though, if it is a big book then i quite like that someone else has broken its back, then i dont get thumb ache!

Sort of agree with ScottishMummy although I am the reader of schlocky crime....

Also sometimes find I buy things twice by mistake.

I buy new, love the new smell etc but really can't find time to get to library as I used to before DS appeared. I keep v few books as I read about 3 a week, and many are whodunnits, so no point re-reading.

They go to like-minded mates, or charity shops.

i give mine away to pt library,so someone else can have pain of memory keepers daughter

I buy some books full price, some books discounted, some books 2nd hand. It depends.

If I buy full price it's because I feel the author needs the support and I buy it from our local independent bookshop who certainly needs the money.

If I buy discounted it's because it's a major player who doesn't need the royalties.

If I buy 2nd hand it's usually becuase it's someone I secretly despise and don't want to give any money to at all, or someone who's dead.

Fine to shop around, but just be aware that without our support, independent booksellers and up-and-coming authors will get even thinner on the ground than they are now.

I think that BOGOFs and 3-for-2 offers have been a very bad thing for diversity and choice in the publishing industry, sadly. Many current big names would have sunk without trace if they were starting out in today's market.

youngvisiter

I do agree with BOGOFs etc, but I have to admit that if you are in Tesco and there are a couple of contemporary paperbacks which you'd read anyway, and it might be weeks before you hit a proper bookshop or even a Borders etc, it's very tempting.

We have a great local bookshop and I do buy when I can, but I can't stop the cash register in my head thinking that I could be getting two books for the price of this one...

Agree with compo - use your library - hey it's what I do! (for a living)
Pretty much anything you want will be ordered for you either new or old and you will be delighted by how welcoming they are to your Little Ones.(can only speak for Central Scotland actually)
Also it's free and eco friendly.
And.......if you really must own it consider us as try before you buy service.

oh completely - and I am as guilty of this as anyone .

I think buying, borrowing or stealing a book on any terms has got to be better than not reading at all - that if anything will be the death of the UK publishing industry.

But it's nice to support small players when you can.

I've just got a brand new book today and the smell and feel of it's pristine pages and cover have given me untold pleasure,even before reading it ! I don't buy new books often so it's a real treat

sorry, x posted, that was to tigerdriver.

I love libraries.

DS1 got his library card at 1 week old. DS2 I was more slack and he was nearly 2 weeks old .