There was a long period of time where I bought very few books. I've been going to the public library as long as I can remember, and even longer than that because I have pictures of me attending story time there BEFORE I can remember. There just didn't seem to be a huge reason to buy books when I get them from the library for free.
My position on this has changed a bit over the years, going from purchasing used books, to pre-ordering books, to back to not buying many books. There are space constraints, budget constraints, and still a deep devotion to the library. Plus, I don't like nearly all the books I read enough to give them space on my shelves (if, hypothetically, I HAD space for all of them on my shelves).
The first books I bought word unread was nearly anything Robin Jones Gunn published. I bought A LOT of her books without reading them and I still have ALLLLL of those (not currently in my possession, my sister is borrowing a dozen of them and my niece has another dozen). Those are also books my library didn't always buy and I wanted to read right away. So I bought them. An author I have been supporting for years and I would continue to buy her new books but she hasn't had one in awhile.
Then, starting around 10 years ago, I went through a long stage where I was buying many books used, nearly all books I had read and really liked. Most of these were from half.com, when it existed. This was a time when I was getting into more home decor things (heavily influenced by Young House Love) and I wanted some books to fill my shelves but I wanted those books to be books I actually knew I enjoyed. I was also highly particular about the hardcover spine cover, under the dust jacket because I nearly always took those off (and still do, depending on the color of that spine). I'd carefully watch for a hardcover that I wanted to be available to buy and then order a few at a time. I'd also carefully consider what books I liked enough to have on my shelves. I still have many of these books because I really was picky about what I was buying! This was a stage where, other than Robin Jones Gunn, I ABSOLUTELY would NOT consider buying a book I hadn't read yet. What if I didn't like it?!?!?!
Then 2020 happened. Our library was shut down for about 3 months and I was getting desperate for new books. I had stocked up when we got word that the library would be closing and was heavily relying on e-books but I was still running low. This is when I made my first purchase from The Bookshelf in Thomasville, Georgia. I had been listening to their store podcast for 4 years but had never purchased from them. I bought Beach Read by Emily Henry. That book was everywhere in the early pandemic days and it was SO EXCITING to buy a highly anticipated book that I hadn't read yet! Seriously, such a high. I loved that book and my nostalgia for that purchase is probably why it's my favorite Emily Henry book. I continued to auto-buy her new releases until the most recent one, after being ehhh on a few of them (and her switching to publishing hard covered which increased the price).
I think I bought Beach Read in April 2020 and then treated myself to one new book a month until our library opened in June...so 3 books. I was supporting their podcast via Patreon at this time and one of the perks was free shipping so this made it even easier to just buy one book at a time. I was SO delighted to pick out my book each month and it was so fun to have a new book to read while our library was closed.
Supporting small businesses is important to me, as imperfectly as I do it, and wanting to support The Bookshelf is a big reason why I keep buying books before I read them, a thought I never had until just now (see! I really do have to write to figure things out!). We often, not always, visit indie bookstores on vacations and I make a book purchase one of my souvenirs from the trip. Other than the occasional used purchase from Thriftbooks, I buy all my books from indie bookstores.
As I said, I bought Emily Henry's new release for a few years. After enjoying Nora Goes Off Script Annabel Monaghan and Every Summer After by Carley Fortune both in 2022, I pre-ordered each of their newest last year and this year. It's fun having authors that are auto-buys and the thrill of getting a new book in the mail, especially highly anticipated ones that I don't have to wait in the library line for! (My sister gave me the heads up on when Funny Story was added to the library catalog so I could get on the list early, nearly 2 months before it was released). Annabel Monaghan and Carley Fortune, right now, are the only fiction writers whose new releases I auto buy. They release in paperback so the expense isn't high and, for 2 books a year, it's not taking up a lot of room on my shelf. But it's also not a big expense to donate if I end up not liking them enough. I don't want to buy a $18 book each month but a few a year isn't going to hurt much. As long as I keep liking their newest books enough to keep them after reading, I'll probably keep pre-ordering their newest.
There are other authors I will auto-buy who aren't putting out books each year. I've pre-ordered all the Lazy Genius books, including her newest for this fall. I've pre-ordered some of Anne Bogel's. I know of two more Instagram follows who are writing books right now and I will definitely pre-order those. These are the case of supporting people whose work I've followed and mostly enjoyed for free for many years. I like what they have to say since I keep following them and I want to show that support by buying their books. These will probably all come from The Bookshelf (the new Lazy Genius is) but these are cases of supporting the author more than just the book store. This amounts to me buying myself maybe 3-4 books a year before I've read them. Not a huge expense or bookshelf space.
For many years I have wanted a book as a gift for my birthday and Christmas from Matt and I always pick these out. Neither of us trust his book tastes (also, he has no book tastes). What I've picked has varied over the years from books I had already read but didn't own to now nearly always a new book. I really think hard about what I want these two books a year to be! Katherine Center has been reliable for me so he got me her newest for my last birthday (which we picked up in person at The Bookshelf!) and maybe have pre-ordered her new June release for my birthday this year. Not many books I'm reading are releasing in November and December so my Christmas book can vary a bit more. Last year it was Welcome to The O.C. which is nice to have on my shelf.
With our small house we are limited on space; I read 160+ books a year and have for many years. I do not have the space to store all those nor do I want to deal with getting rid of hundred+ books a year. Plus, the expense of buying that many books, most new releases, would just be too much. We could go on a vacation for that amount! A handful of books I can handle but over a hundred is too many. That's why we have libraries! As I said last week, there are a good number of books that I reread nearly every year and I do own almost all of those but they have earned their spots on my shelves over their many rereads and these are exactly the kinds of books I want - ones I know I enjoy and that I reach for often. Plus, I bought many of those used after knowing I've liked them!
I remain a steadfast library user, we checked out 1700 items last year alone! We live close enough that it's not hard to grab books once or twice a week. I will continue to keep buying a few books a year from authors I have enjoyed either in print or on social media and probably almost entirely purchased from indie bookstores. I LOVE the thrill of new book mail but not enough to buy all my books a year (I cannot fathom that kind of life). I have books in nearly every room of our house (not the kitchen or bathroom) and it's been fun to accumulate those and also curate them regularly!
Do you buy many books? How do you decide what to buy vs. what to borrow?
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