Earlier this afternoon I found myself in Midtown because I needed to pick up a paycheck and once I’d gotten all of my bank business done, I decided that since I finished reading The Hunger Games yesterday, it was time to go pick up copies of the next two books, and since I wasn’t sure when I’d be leaving the house again and I was within walking distance of Barnes and Noble, I hoofed it over.
I left empty handed.
Reason? The second and third books in the series are still hardcover only when it comes to being book books and I cannot under any circumstance think of a reason why I would purchase a copy of a book in the young adult section that’s hardcover and $17.99 (actually, it would be more than that because I live in a state with sales tax).
I’m desperate to find out what happens, but I’m not that desperate.
Besides, it’s like $5.99 for the Kindle… and clearly, $5.99 is better than $17.99 as in I can buy the third book AND a sandwich and soda with the $12 that I saved.
I couldn’t help being disappointed because I was expecting to pick up two paperbacks costing $8.99. I wanted these books in paperback.
And so, the internal debate begins… In what format do I buy these books? I have to weigh the pros and cons every time I make a purchase.
I had wanted to get these books in paperback because while James hasn’t read The Hunger Games yet, he wanted to and I fully expect that he’s going to like the books and would probably want to read the rest of the trilogy. If I buy the books as e-books and he ends up wanting to read them, chances are we’d end up buying the books again in paperback because James doesn’t like the Kindle (actually no, that’s not true… he’s never tried to read a book on the device so technically he’s adverse to the idea of reading a book on the Kindle)… which I guess is still going to be better than buying the hardcover book because $5.99 plus $8.99 is only $14.98 but you know… if I can avoid spending money on something, that’s generally what I want to do.
I seriously have a love/hate relationship with e-books.
I love the fact that they’re cheaper than their book book counterparts. I love the fact that they’re a total instant gratification purchase. I love the fact that I can read the books I purchase on my Kindle device, or on the app on my phone, or the app on my computer. I love the fact that since there’s an app for my phone, I can read books in the dark. I love the fact that e-book reading is totally conducive to reading while standing on the subway. I love the fact that I can carry tons of books around in my pocket so I can switch what I’m reading on a whim.
I hate the fact that when I absolutely love a book, I feel compelled to buy a second copy in physical book form making me wish I’d just waited to go to the store to buy the book. I hate the fact that I don’t have a physical copy of the book to loan to friends.
Okay, fine… so the love does outweigh the hate… but that whole wishing I’d bought the book when I bought the e-book after I finish thing drives me three loves worth of crazy.
Then from there is the whole hardcover vs. paperback debate… which I suppose I’ve never really gotten into because I tend to gravitate towards what’s cheaper 90% of the time. I’ve only ever bought hardcovers if I absolutely could not wait when something came out and since e-books exist now, generally in that scenario I cave and buy the e-book.
How about you? How do you like to consume your books these days?
Hey, just stopping in from BBN and I have to say this debate rings so true to me right now!
Except for the statement that ebooks are cheaper than their real copies! In the UK it seems that most ebooks are approximately the same price as their released copies! That drives me crazy!
Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE holding a physical book. It’s just, I have so many I could use a few being electronic!
In terms of The Hunger Games, have you considered buying them off of amazon, where they should be cheaper? (We have the paperbacks out in the UK so I am not sure if this would hold true for you!)
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Hey Lizzi! Welcome!
I was considering ordering the books from Amazon, but it seems that the only paperback editions that they have out in the US is the large print edition.
Hi! I’m here from BBN too
I feel your pain. In Australia, books are phenomenally expensive (approx $30-40 for most paperbacks) due to taxes (aimed at protecting Australian authors. It doesn’t work).
So: my logic is that I buy books I think I’ll only read once (e.g. pretty much anything that doesn’t look like a classic – I’m not a huge re-reader) on kindle, and anything else I buy on Book Depository. I have to buy a lot of textbooks for work, so Book Depository is my go to. It’s based in the UK, so you get the advantage of their ludicrously cheap books, and they ship internationally for free. I LOVE them! (Plus, books usually get to me in Perth from the UK in about a week and a half).
I do love my kindle though
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Yikes! That’s expensive!
I hadn’t heard of Book Depository before, I’ll have to check them out. Thanks!
I have not bought a book for fun in awhile since law books take up a lot of time, and after reading those you just don’t want to look at another book for awhile! But I tend to gravitate towards buying hard copies of books that I think I will really like and paperback of books that are just cheap thrills. The reason for this is that someday, once we move out of the city and buy a house, we plan on having a room with nice bookshelves to display all our books and the hardcovers just look so much prettier [along with the $5000+ collection of law books we are accumulating].
I don’t have a kindle and haven’t invested in one mainly because my boyfriend really has a vendetta against them. He loves books and thinks they look so nice on the shelf, and I tend to agree, so having them in digital form loses that. Also, when you purchase them in digital form you always run the risk of losing them. Obviously, you are supposed to be able to keep them forever, but really it is just until the company you are purchasing them from goes in a different direction or goes out of business, not like paper books where you actually own the book.
Kindles do have convenience which I wish that I could have sometimes, but I don’t think it outweighs the benefits of a solid book.
Linda
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That’s a very good point about not truly owning the book when you buy it as an e-book, and one that I’m surprised I forgot to mention in my post because I had thinking about that before I made the post. (Yay swiss cheese brain!) I know that was the leading reason I had been hesitant to get into the whole e-book thing in the first place.
Hello, I found you through BBN as well.
Generally, my physical books are those I truly love (or haven’t read yet). I definitely prefer paperback to harcover, both because of cost and weight. (Reading a hardcover while lying in bed is much too difficult after awhile.) Also, I hate dust jackets with a passion. These days, I tend to get most of my books from the library (including the Hunger Games books) which is definitely the cheapest option (it’s free!).
I reserve my Kindle for free books. I have yet to buy anything for it but there are many sites where you can download free ebooks. Often, these are books that are in the public domain (i.e., old books) but there are several new authors that keep their work freely available in ebook format. I’ve also been wanting to try out the ebooks my library has available, but haven’t yet.
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Getting myself a library card has been one of those things on my list to do that I’ve just not gotten around to… and I should! Especially now that I live somewhere that has a really awesome public library system.
Hi Nikkiana! (I don’t know if you remember me, but I recently came across you again and am super happy for it!) I’ve been thinking about transitioning to an e-book reader (after grad school is finished and I’m rolling in the big social work bucks), though I think I’d miss the experience of reading a physical book. Still, the savings you describe are pretty amazing. But I want to remind everybody that there is often a TOTALLY FREE (within some parameters) option for book consumption, which is the public library.
At my city’s library, I’m pretty sure you can borrow e-books, even. I know that you can download audiobooks. Despite the fact that I worked in libraries for YEARS, I had kind of forgotten about it until recently. Then I bought The Magicians, The Magician King, and Never Let Me Go all at once around Christmas and spent WAY too much money on books that I didn’t even like (except for Never Let Me Go). Grabbing them from the library would’ve been preferable for sure.
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Eileen! Oh my gosh! It’s been so long! How have you been?
I just realized something. When you mentioned that you can borrow e-books from the library I suddenly realized that I have an Amazon Prime account and part of the reason I got that was because of the Kindle Lending Library where you can download a book for free, take as long as you want to read it and then return it when you’re done. I totally don’t even have to buy the books to read them. I win!
Oh, that’s awesome. I will have to share this information with my partner!
Eileen recently posted..Singing (all the way home)
Also, I have been well. I have no idea how long it’s been now–seven years or something? I dropped off the blogosphere when I was teaching because I was paranoid about being found by students. Considering jumping back into it in a more committed way (we’ll see what happens this month–it’ll get established now or go by the wayside til grad school’s over). I’ve been going back in your archives a little (not much yet) and it sounds like a lot has happened for you, too
Eileen recently posted..Singing (all the way home)
Great post! I am in California and I have to say I like books better (sorry Kindle). I look at a computer screen all day at work and then a lot of the other time on my blog. It feels good to not look at a screen for a while. Books are a lot cheaper on Amazon here in the states. Plus, when I go to the beach, I like having a book and not worrying about sand on my Kindle.
Just my thoughts…now if I had an iPad…..
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Yeah, I hear you at taking a break from the screen. The Kindle that I have is one of the e-ink ones, so it doesn’t really feel like you’re looking at a screen, which is one of the nice things about it. But yeah, I’d probably be more inclined to bring a book rather than a Kindle to the beach.
I think that ebooks are better if you’re just checking a book out, but if you find a book you’re really in love with, it’s totally worth it to buy the physical copy.
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I agree. If it’s something that I absolutely love, I have to have a physical copy.
My whole family has switched over to various e-readers and I have one myself, but there is something undeniably satisfying about reading a physical book and snapping it shut after the last sentence.
I had this digital v.s. media fight for years back when CDs were still popular despite the rising use of MP3 players. Today, I own virtually no CDs, and listen to all my music on iPods and computers.
I’ve really come to see the benefit of owning everything digitally. Books and CDs take up a lot of space, and require a lot of time and effort to collect and store.
No contest here. I’d rather grab my Kindle with a thousand books on it to take with me everywhere, instead of having bookshelves lining my walls, weighing hundreds of pounds.
I devoured the first Hinger Games book in a weekend, and was eager to get y hands on the 2nd one, so ordered it online (paperback) almost immediately, but found the wait was practically unbearable, so by the time I finished the 2nd, I just ordered the kindle version so I could carry on reading!
I realise now that I could have just been more organised and ordered the 3rd a little earlier, but that’s just not my style!
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