This Week's Topic - Reviewers : Do You Still Buy Books?
Okay so I understand that we are ALL book reviewers but this one is manly for the book bloggers who receive book for review from publishers. I curious, do you guys still buy books? Do you still buy book even if you receive them for review? Do you still buy a book even if received an ARC? Do you still buy books even if you are piled under the ones you receive for review?
I have never been a big book buyer. I spend time in bookshops almost every weekend, but nine time out of ten, I come out empty handed. My mum drilled into me long ago 'don't buy something if you don't love it'. I love books and reading in general but when I take the whole concept apart, I only have a few favourites.
I started my blog thinking that an amateur blogger who has a limited vocabulary will NEVER get ask to review something for an author or publisher and I accepted that. I blog for me, it's something I love and I would keep doing it even with no strings attached. I was very surprised when an author contacted me to review book ( and send it all the way to Australia) ten days after I started my blog, I had exactly five followers so you could imagine my surprise :)
From there my blogging blossomed! Three months later I was asked to review for Penguin and then many other publishers. Even when I started blogging most of the books were from the library, I tend not to go back and re-read books, I find that there are so many books out there it would be a shame to spend precious time re-reading a book I have already read! Anyway, I stopped buying books altogether once more review copies started coming in. The last printed book I bought was in July, it was an hardcover copy of The Carrie Diaries by Candance Bushnell.
Don't get me wrong, it's not that I can't afford to buy books in fact my parents give me a weekly BOOK BUYING ALLOWANCE ( $5/week not much but still). I simply find that I haven't got the time to read books I bought along with those I get for review. For example, I bought a copy of Hourglass by Claudia Gray one year ago and it's still sitting on my shelf - unread. The books I buy just end up sitting on my shelf collecting dust.
Another reason I don't buy book anymore is because everything I want to read comes in the mail for review from publishers! I'm SO SO SO grateful for all the lovely publicists at publishing houses who are willing to send book to bloggers, thank-you! I don't usually go out and buy a finished copy if I receive an ARC but then again, Australia's ARC distribution is extremely low, we just get sent finished copies ( with the pretty covers =P )
So I for one, don't buy books anymore, although I would probably pick up a copy if I REALLY wanted it ( I counting down the days til paperback release of The Rise of Regenade X, I will cry if I don't read it soon). Otherwise, I would go to the library and get a copy ;) What about you? Do you still buy books?
Badass Bookie xx
well - yes i still buy books especially from the authors i love. though i admit, right after i accept book review requests, i couldnt buy more books for the very reason you stated. i don't have time to read all of them at once. BUT last november, i found myself posting a note in my review policy that i had to stop accepting requests!
ReplyDeleteit was soooo hard but im proud of myself that i was able to hold my excitement to the books being offered to me for review. so right now when i open my email for review requests, i make sure that i only accept 4-6 books a month and then i have time to read my bought books.
there are three books that i want to buy in the nexk weeks so i have to finish reading all march requests then i'm free to buy what i want to read. ;)
You are SO lucky to get a request within 10 days! I wish it were that easy for the rest of us. :(
ReplyDeleteI just buy my books. No other way I can get books because my local libraries are very limited.
I definitely buy lots and lots of books. I don't always get all of the books I want for review and there are books that are older that I want to read, so I buy those.
ReplyDeleteI do end up buying finished copies of books a lot of the time, even if I have the ARC. I see books as an investment for my classroom and love to have shiny finished copies (edited!) for my students. They love the ARCs, though, because they like seeing that their teacher gets books before they hit the shelves. They're adorable!
I can't stop buying books. Seriously. It is a problem. Even with all the egalleys I have waiting for me, I can't resist picking up those nice shiny covers in the bookstore (and at booksales I just grab everything that I may like). There are those books that have been sitting on my shelves for ages. I'd love to say that I had the budget to still buy the book after finishing the galley, but I don't.
ReplyDeleteI wish I had the self control needed for me to not to buy so many books :)
I've got the same problem as Daisy. Even though I get books for review I can't stop buying books, and there are still some books I want to read which I don't get review copies for.. granted I'm a somewhat new reviewer so we'll see what happens in another 6 months or something...
ReplyDeleteSniffly Kitty
Sniffly Kitty's Mostly Books
I definitely still buy books and prefer books on my kindle over the read book now.
ReplyDeleteI have read a few ARC's and realised I only want to read the finished version, some ARC's are terrible for editing. I love authors asking me to read their books though.
I am a mood reader so like to choose what I read not have to read for a review date, that will take the love of reading away from me slightly.
Enjoy your books.
Yes, I still buy books or I ask for books as gifts. I definitely try to get review copies if I can and I often feel guilty taking the time to read something that is not in my review pile. But, there are still books I don't receive for review that I want to check out! So, I buy them and I enjoy them as part of my book collection.
ReplyDeleteYes I do still buy books. It's a disease. I can't pass up Friends of the library book sales, Scholastic Warehouse sales and sometimes those Borders coupons are too good to pass on. So I end up with a ton of unread books on my shelves.
ReplyDeleteAs for books I review if I really enjoyed it I do try to buy a copy to support the author. I just finished an ARC for Demonglass and was totally bummed that I no longer have a book store close enough that I can go out and buy a finished copy.
This question isn't so much directed at me since I'm a new blogger, and I don't receive ARCs or books from publishers, but I thought I'd leave my thoughts anyway.
ReplyDeleteI've always been a big book buyer. When I was a teenager, I would always save up my allowance and either spend it on CDs or books. We'd go to the mall every couple of weeks, and by that time I'd have nearly $100 saved up. It was uncommon that I'd spent $70 of that on books!
Now that I'm older, saving money is more important, so I don't get to buy books that often. My family ALWAYS gives me gift cards to Barnes & Noble. And when I can fit it in, I do try to purchase a book or two with my own hard earned money.
I don't ever seeing me never not purchasing books.
I still buy books, but I mostly stick to sales and authors I adore. Every once in a while, I'll see something on the shelf that looks amazing and I have to have it...but with limited finances (unemployed) and time (reviewing), I usually talk myself down from impulse buying.
ReplyDeleteI have over 100 books on my shelves now that I've never read. I really don't need to be buying more. Plus, I haven't gotten to the ones I've been sent, or the ones I keep picking up from the library!
And yet...I love buying books. It's a thrill when I find a great deal on a book I know I'll love. For example, I saw a copy of Jessica's Guide To Dating On The Dark Side for only $4 the other day...but I talked myself down and left it because, really, is it for me? If it's still there when I go back this week, I'll probably pick it up (because it keeps gnawing on my brain!), but I have to give myself some space to rationalize my buying habits.