"Why own Books?"

[Linksquest]

"Why own Books?" This is a question that one of my friends asked another one of my friends in middle school. She went on to reason that she never reads a book twice so why should purchase a book that she is never going to open again? The library was good enough for her.

What is all of your takes on purchasing books vs. just borrowing them from the library? Do you purchase only your favorite books, or do you purchase every book you have to read for summer reading because all of the ones at the library are already checked out?

Do you purchase a book just because it sounds interesting and looks like a good story, or do you do some research on the book first, and read the libary's book before deciding to purchase a book?

And if you do own books, what would be your answer to my friend?

[Warrior 4 Jesus]

I love reading! I own only books I really enjoy or that I've bought from a garage sale and thought are good. To me a good library is invaluable as there are many books that I wish to read/look at, but don't have the money to buy them all. I visit my library every couple of weeks. I buy books I really enjoy because I'm the sort of person that does read a book more than twice if I find it a really good read. That's the reason I buy books.
I don't usually buy books on whim though, I don't have that kind of money. So I usually research a little and find out what others think, or whether I really would be interested in the book.

[Felix]

Hmm...interesting. Generally I tend to only read and/or finish books I enjoy a lot so I usually end up buying them. It just makes me feel good to have them <3 Something about using a library book makes me feel cheap, like I'm cheating someone or something. o_o *shrug* I don't know, but usually, yes, I do often buy books I enjoy or rhink I will enjoy.

[LorentzForce]

No different question than "since all the music I listen to is on the radio why bother buying the albums?". There's a certain charm in buying the book directly, in that you can give it to someone as a present, read it over and over again for as long as you want, or just generally give credit for the author of the book so they can write more books, or etc.

I personally buy books when I can, especially if they're really good. It's nice to have a shelf full of books of awesomes, kinda like having a full shelf of manga or DVDs.

[Mave]

Return deadlines can be troublesome at times. While I do visit the library and borrow books (mostly novels), there are some books that end up purchased.

Anime/Manga Artbooks
.....I've never heard of anyone borrowing this type of book. It's not like you can get them from the library anyway.

Cookbooks
I would like to think that I can cook. But if I had cookbooks to assist me to begin with, I suppose it speaks otherwise.

College textbooks
These books serve as memories and living proof that I did go to college. It's also nice to show off what I used to know.

Christian living/Apologetics
These books serve as textbooks for my faith. I typically highlight points or write notes in them like you would a textbook. I don't think I can do that with library books.

Manga
Selected manga volumes serve as great art references and carry some sentimental value, depending on the manga title.

[Technomancer]

When I buy a book, it tends to be one that I am likely to use or want to refer to on occaision. This is mostly based on my living on a student budget, and also having a rather limited amount of space to put them all. As a result most of what I have are university text books with a few non-fiction books as well.

I do like reading fiction, but have the limitations mentioned previously. As a result I mostly use the library. Even if my circumstances weren't so tight, I'd probably still use the libarary more simply because I tend not to repeatedly reread novels.

[Linksquest]

Hmm...interesting. Generally I tend to only read and/or finish books I enjoy a lot so I usually end up buying them. It just makes me feel good to have them <3 Something about using a library book makes me feel cheap, like I'm cheating someone or something. o_o *shrug* I don't know, but usually, yes, I do often buy books I enjoy or rhink I will enjoy.

Wellll. In a sense you are cheating the author's when borrowing books from the library, because you are not purchasing the book and therfore they aren't getting paid.. <<]Return deadlines can be troublesome at times. While I do visit the library and borrow books (mostly novels), there are some books that end up purchased.

Anime/Manga Artbooks
.....I've never heard of anyone borrowing this type of book. It's not like you can get them from the library anyway.

Cookbooks
I would like to think that I can cook. But if I had cookbooks to assist me to begin with, I suppose it speaks otherwise.

College textbooks
These books serve as memories and living proof that I did go to college. It's also nice to show off what I used to know.

Christian living/Apologetics
These books serve as textbooks for my faith. I typically highlight points or write notes in them like you would a textbook. I don't think I can do that with library books.

Manga
Selected manga volumes serve as great art references and carry some sentimental value, depending on the manga title.[/QUOTE]

I do agree mave, there never seems to be enough time to read the books i check out from the library. I always end up renewing them, and even after that, half the time they end up being over-due.

Actually, with anime/art books, my library, and the other libraries in oour county has a good number of these books. ... and i have checked them out from time to time. I do need to purchase some, however


ROFL: COOKBOOKS! hahaha. yea, i think these are the types of book you def need to purchase... but still, there are cetain specialized cookbooks (i.e. Asian cooking, Chinese food, Italian Food, etc. ) that you may only want to check out from the library and use for one recipe. But, when i was referring to books i was really meaning like, the traditional fiction/non-fiction books... but... m3h, i guess i should have been more specific.


Welll, unless the college txt books will be necessary for the rest of my life, i don't think i'll mind selling them back to the colllege. I need to get back some of those millions i paid in txtbooks somehow! hahah. Annd. prolly some of those txtbooks, ill never want to see again. !

Christian living/Apologetics---> Yea... i agree with you Mave. You really do need to own those cause of underlineing, highlighting, etc.

Yea... if it's a good manga, i would want to own it. Azu Manga Daioh shall be mine! XD. RAI-kun's B&N is better than mine though. T.T. His has 2 levels... mine only has 1.

[Starfire1]

i always buy books on a whim. once in a while i wont finish reading one that i've bought. but a lot of my money has been drained at the bookstore. thank God that over the summer i discovered where the public library is, and even better, that they're building a newer and bigger one closer to my house. i dont own any manga because i have other expenses and no job. i don't cook, but if i start, i'll buy cookbooks that i think are worth the money, such as a really good one specializing in indian or mediterranean cuisine. the rest of the recipies i'll call up my mom and family for.

[cbwing0]

Even though my mom is a librarian, I almost never go to the library for books. Most of the time I buy them on Amazon.com. Generally I will become interested in a subject, search on Amazon.com to find out what the best books are on that subject, and the buy a few (either that or they sit in my wish list, which is about 14 pages long now ).

In addition to the utility of being able to refer to books at any time and read them at a leisurely pace, I just like owning books. I have all kinds (fiction, nonfiction, and reference books).

Unfortunately I don't get a lot of time to choose what I read during school. As an English major I am already reading an entire book (sometimes 2) each week, along with articles/essays in my other classes. They are great books, but I would rather pick them myself.

I also have a preference for large books. If a book is under 300 pages (without any good reason for being less than 300 pages), I will probably not buy it. Perhaps if I went to the library I would deign to read shorter books more often .

[Kawaiikneko]

I absolutely love buying books, and while the library is great for finding titles I know nothing about, if I'm into a really series I'll buy those books.

On the topic of manga and the books I own though, I have a ton of them and my dad is always bugging me to sell them once I've read them o.o;; He doesn't like reading much and doesn't understand the concept of re-reading

[Linksquest]

Unfortunately I don't get a lot of time to choose what I read during school. As an English major I am already reading an entire book (sometimes 2) each week, along with articles/essays in my other classes. They are great books, but I would rather pick them myself.

CB! i feel your pain!!! >.<. I have AP ENG, and we do have a baxxillion books we need to read... e.e, it's soooo aggrivating. lol. But there are good books in the lot. It's sorta cool, cause, we have a list of authors that we can choose from, and then we get to choose any of the books that they have written. Kind nifty. I really think, though, that school destroys books, like, even if they are great ones.... summer reading, and school makes them boring- all over-analyzing them and such. But, a good teacher can make a dull novel interesting as well!! ^^ I am planning on being an english major/writing major. Still not sure yet. hehe. but i want to be a writer! XD

I absolutely love buying books, and while the library is great for finding titles I know nothing about, if I'm into a really series I'll buy those books.
re-reading

WHOA!kawaiiknecko! I do that too! i love browsing the library and finding books that i have never seen before and falling in love with books that aren't mass-media-ized. Book hunting is so much fun ^^.

[kazekami]

I agree with Mave. Plus if i'm doing rsearch on a subject it's nice to have a book at hand I can use. Such as my stupid boook the Cultural Origins of the Frech Revolution. Since the local library has a poor selection of acedemic books and I'm not attending an acedemic institution at the moment it's better to just purchase the books I want to use to write with. Then i don't have to locate a library with it, fill out the paperwork, and have a time limit in which to look through the book. Plus I don't want to have to travel around to get to a library. I'm still learning to drive and no one has time to haul me around all over the place. I also don't have money for publisc transportation. Plus its just nice to have a good library. I'd have more books in my library if I hadn't been a poor college student and had to sell a number of them to buy medication. 0_o Plus books are fun. Haveing books is just nice.

cbwing0 I know how that is. i majored in English and History. Both of which are reading and writing intensive majors. Though I did do more writing and reading in the history major then in the English major. heh

[Kaori]

The main reasons I buy books are as follows:

1. For class. Unfortunately, it's not possible to rent college textbooks. I have occasionally been able to borrow some of the more expensive texts from friends, but usually I simply buy all of them.

2. Owning a book gives you the ability to mark in it, which in the case of college texts can be a helpful studying technique.

3. I sometimes buy novels for pleasure reading, but usually only if it is a book that I know I will want to reread. I rarely buy a book if I haven't either read it already or know that the author is one that I like (with the exception of texts for college, of course).

4. Manga. My local public library has a few titles, but they aren't the ones that I am most interested in reading. Since I have several friends who are anime/manga fans, it's normal for at least a few other people to read any volume of manga that I happen to buy, and the fact that other people benefit from my purchase makes it more worthwhile.

5. Increasingly, I find that there are certain books I would like to read that are difficult to find. While it is always possible to request an interlibrary loan, it's sometimes more convenient to buy a copy so that I can refer to it anytime I want.

Nevertheless, I am grateful to have a few good libraries available to me. My school library I use primarily for research, and if I have the leisure to read for pleasure I will often go to a public library to find something to read.

[Mr. SmartyPants]

buying is better cuz its fresh and not full of weird stains!

[Technomancer]

Welll, unless the college txt books will be necessary for the rest of my life, i don't think i'll mind selling them back to the colllege. I need to get back some of those millions i paid in txtbooks somehow! hahah. Annd. prolly some of those txtbooks, ill never want to see again. !

With very few exceptions, I've actually kept all of my old textbooks. Since I'm an engineer, it really does help to be able to refer to them from time to time if I need to look up some principal or other. Right now, my books are actually all organized on the basis of how frequently I use them, with the more important ones bineg closest to my desk and PC.

[Raiden no Kishi]

Books make good weapons, both melee and projectile.

.rai//

[Alice]

I don't buy many books. Moneys. The library pwns.

But, something like manga, which I can't get elsewise, I'll buy. Or if I really really want a book badly and can't get to read it otherwise.

But I don't buy many books.

I <3 the library.

[The Grammarian]

I buy a lot of books, and almost never go to the library. In fact, the only times I go to the library are when the books are out-of-print and hard to come by. Interlibrary Loan is pretty useful then.

That said, my answer to your friend is simply that it is far easier to cite a passage from a book or to re-read a book when it is in your possession than it is to check it out from the library first, then cite or re-read it.

[The Last Bard]

I buy books because I like to have the feeling that if I want to read something, I have it right there. Anytime I wish to pick it up again.
And some people collect trading cards and such, and I collect books!
I'm just a reading person.

[livewire]

I usually buy a book that looks or sound interesting....whether I have read them before or not. I think that books are amazing! ...and I love to read....I also believe that books are knowledge...whether they are fantasy, sci-fi, horror...or non-fiction or biblical prophesy or even self-help books...I think that owning a bit of that knowledge so that I could someday re-read them or offer them up to another so that they may enjoy them is invaluable. For that same reason I love libraries...though, spending hours reading in a bookstore appeals to me more than spending that same amount of time in a library...I dunno...I love the smell of new books.

[uc pseudonym]

Generally speaking, I read a moderate amount, use libraries considerably, almost never reread and rarely buy books. However, that does not mean that I feel it is not worthwhile to own books. Many of the reasons have already been stated here, and some of those I will state anyway will not be wholly new.

One example: I own The Lord of the Rings though I doubt I will reread it except for a literature class. However, it is a very interesting resource to look to occasionally to examine certain fantasy elements. More exactly, many texts are worthwhile to keep for the sake of reference.

[Fsiphskilm]

So you

[agasfas]

I buy textbooks.... for other things I'm interested in I'll just goto the library because in most cases, we only read books one time. I mean, once you know what's going to happen, it doesn't have the same dramatic feel to it.... Novel type books in a sense.

Though on the other hand, things like cook books are good to buy. Heck even a book of card tricks or card games would be okay. It would be quite annoying to always run to the library to borrow a book for that stuff. So reference type books are always a good thing to invest in and chances are you'll look at them again.

[blkmage]

I almost never buy books. They're too expensive for me. I can usually find something in the Toronto Public Library system and have them ship it to my local branch. If I can't, then I usually cry and give up.

[TurkishMonky]

I buy good books (lots) but usually i do a bit of research or library reading beforehand. However, Most of my collection are classics (Like Using your PCjr - although i do get lots of scifi too) from garage sales.

[Slater]

it depends on the book. I kept my HS Physics book and I'm gonna keep my Java book, but books I get for like Philosophy or English classes? I'll sell.

[Alice]

I almost never buy books. They're too expensive for me. I can usually find something in the Toronto Public Library system and have them ship it to my local branch. If I can't, then I usually cry and give up.

Basically, I usually do the same thing. Except I don't usually cry over books. I mean, I can buy them if I save up long enough. It's just not worth it 90+ percent of the time. (I read *a lot.*)

[~Natsumi Lam~]

Hear about it.... read front inside cover...

Than if i like-> i buy.

If i buy -> i read at least 3 times.

If i buy another bible... i dont think i have read it all more than a couple times... i just read all over. I dont like the begots... and someone begot someone.

~Natsumi Lam~

[bigsleepj]

I love the feel of books, especially those I like. I like to read my favourite parts or the book as whole. Why own books? Why not own books! Why own games even when you've finished them? Why own DVDs or VHS? Because you can justify the price mentally.

[~Natsumi Lam~]

i agree