How do you read your books?

[Nostalgia]

Do you buy each book from a store?
Do you borrow them from a library?
Do you download then read them on the computer?
Do you download them, then put them onto something like this http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sony_Reader
or do you do something else?

[VVeathers]

I have a select few second hand book shops and market stalls where I go and stock up a pile for next to nothing. These then go on my 'unread' shelf. When that's empty I go and forage for more.

[sdmf_from_hell]

i buy em. i just love the satisfaction of holding the physical book in my hands.

I sometimes borrow as well, but i usually go off on my little tangents and read stuff no one around me has heard of (but are extremely brilliant and epic in their own right).

[ManCannon]

I would imagine most people do a combination of the first three.

I would like to own an e-reader like the Kindle 2, but that fucker is expensive and I don't really travel so the cost isn't justified for me. If I did I'd be all over that slick little bastard though.

[Magpie_Tendencies]

i buy em. i just love the satisfaction of holding the physical book in my hands.

I sometimes borrow as well, but i usually go off on my little tangents and read stuff no one around me has heard of (but are extremely brilliant and epic in their own right).

This.
I hate reading e-books of any kind. Including ones I've downloaded. It just doesn't have the same effect to sit in front of a computer screen. Feels more like research than fun and I don't get quite as into the story.
I love the look, smell and feel of books.

[Mantikore]

i swap with friends mostly, but i will buy a new book every now and then

[bornkiller]

This.
I hate reading e-books of any kind. Including ones I've downloaded. It just doesn't have the same effect to sit in front of a computer screen. Feels more like research than fun and I don't get quite as into the story.

This ^ rather a real book when it comes to novels.

[sexualjesus]

library, store theft, most of my books are on my computer but reading off the computer screen to long gives me a headache.

i wish i had more hardcopies that i owned, feels good owning a piece of history

[Magpie_Tendencies]

Oh, I also like having books I've read at my fingertips. I hate thinking over something a few years later (which I often do) and trying to remember some detail about it before realising it was a library book that I'll probably never see again.

And I like that they're mine and no one can damage them. Aside from a slightly bent spine, almost all my books are in the condition they were boguht in.

[Caramello Koala]

How do you read your novels?
I usually start from the end and work my way to the beginning.

[Nostalgia]

I usually start from the end and work my way to the beginning.

Knew something like that was coming eventually.

[Caramello Koala]

Knew something like that was coming eventually.

Haha, well it had to be said. But in all seriousness, I always buy my books. I can't read them on the computer and I hate borrowing them. I like to own my books so that I can re-read them if I ever want to.

[LiquidIce]

Ebooks on my Nokia n95. Can't get any normal books for reasonable price. Only bad thing is the fact that when you read green letters on a black screen without feeling the paper, staring at the cover... they tend to jumble up (I've read like 10 warhammer:40k ebooks and could only name 2-3 of them now :()

[Lao Tzu]

I use my eyes

[kfc v lot]

Buy them, i cannot read off of a pc its just not natural. Plus i love having a collection that i can choose to read at leisure.

[Miaow]

Buy them in a store, read em on a train.

[PirateJoe]

Buy 'em used off the tubes.

[jurassicalien]

I buy my books used and cheap, and plop on my couch reading for at least two hours a day, if i don't get in my two hours I just feel depressed.

[supperrfreek]

Do you buy each book from a store?
Do you borrow them from a library?
Do you download then read them on the computer?
Do you download them, then put them onto something like this http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sony_Reader
or do you do something else?
I do buy books from the store. I enjoy having a book I can read when/if the power goes out (I have around a 20 book back up just in case).
I don't borrow from the library anymore. I used to borrow the book and not read it, read it and lose interest or just forget about it. I'd always wind up paying late fees.
I have a hard time reading books off the screen of my computer.
I don't own an ebook reader: I buy books because they work out better for me because if I don't like the book I can re sell it (something you can't do with ebooks) or I use it as a doorstop (unfortunately the sony reader will be a poor one ;))

[M. Samuel Chevalier]

back 2 front :hrmph:

[Mr.Happy]

Buy, beg, borrow, swap, receive as gifts. New, second-hand, pristine or beat-up and dog-eared, I don't care as long as it's a physical copy.

[bornkiller]

Buy, beg, borrow, swap, receive as gifts. New, second-hand, pristine or beat-up and dog-eared, I don't care as long as it's a physical copy.QFT!:thumbsup:

[MissC]

I spend a small fortune and buy them from bookstores!
i love cracking the spines on them, opening clean, fresh pages without dog ears, and clear bold type.
theres nothing better.

After I'm done, theyre added to the shelf. One of the perks of having a crap memory - I can forget the entirety of a book, and reread it from fresh 6months later.

If it bores me - theyre given away pretty quickly.
Otherwise - all books should go to charity i believe. Whether for assisting education in poor places/countries or for reselling. Knowledge and words should be passed on. What you find dull another may love. Tis the power of words.


I do however quite fancy one of those snazzy book readers so i can keep a library in my handbag :D

[LiquidIce]

Why are people so against ebooks? I understand that the feeling of having a nice paper thing in your hands is just plain awesome but is there anything else that I'm missing?

[Caramello Koala]

Why are people so against ebooks? I understand that the feeling of having a nice paper thing in your hands is just plain awesome but is there anything else that I'm missing?

Reading a whole novel on a computer would suck, for one it would strain the hell out of your eyes, you can't bookmark your page, it's not as compact and it's just not as satisfying. I tried to read a book on the computer and I never got past the second page.

[bornkiller]

Why are people so against ebooks? I understand that the feeling of having a nice paper thing in your hands is just plain awesome but is there anything else that I'm missing?
http://thumbs.dreamstime.com/thumb_110/1167878970er0ecs.jpg:rolleyes:

[LiquidIce]

I read one novel, some part of the pre-dune series by brain herbert and that anderson guy, it did suck. But from then on I started using my phone, been a lot better.

Also, are there any official stats about screens damaging your eyes? I've read 30 books since November, and about another 30 on my old phone since last year and nothing is happening (no bad-eye-demons. Yes, I know, a year is not long enough to fuck up my eyes).

But it's the only way I can satisfy my hunger for books :(.

[sdmf_from_hell]

I read one novel, some part of the pre-dune series by brain herbert and that anderson guy, it did suck. But from then on I started using my phone, been a lot better.

Also, are there any official stats about screens damaging your eyes? I've read 30 books since November, and about another 30 on my old phone since last year and nothing is happening (no bad-eye-demons. Yes, I know, a year is not long enough to fuck up my eyes).

But it's the only way I can satisfy my hunger for books :(.

Actually, i'd be interested to know of this (if any) study as well. Although i can't do it because reading off a screen for me is incredibly uncomfortable, i'd still like to to know scientific effects.

[Silverfuck]

Most of my books are borrowed from libraries, and a lot of the ones I have are stolen. Not always intentionally, I just borrow them from people and forget to give them back. If I do buy them I get them second hand, or on the very rare occasion new from a bookstore. The only books I've read online were the Twilight books because there was no way I was going to spend money on them. I very much agree with the consensus that a physical book is infinitely better than a digital copy. I'd also rather own my own copy whenever possible so I can read it again and again, and I almost prefer really used, battered book because it has the feeling that someone else has loved them first and it feels nice.

[BadShovelhead]

Do you find present tense novels hard to read?

I'm wavering between finishing my work in present tense, or rewriting it to past tense. It works so much better in present tense IMHO, but I don't want people to pick it up and say "fuck this" ten pages in. That's bad for sales.

[ArmsMerchant]

I have an insane amount of books and vodeos stored in my 3x4 meter cabin, so I try to favor library books. The advantage of owning them, of course, is that you can make marginal notations.

Some of my favorites--such as How to Know God by Deepak Chopra--I own multiple copies of. A hardbound copy to keep at home, a trade paperback to keep in the car.

[constantinople]

In book form, like God intended. Reading something off a screen, especially a whole novel..*shudders* I can feel the headache coming on just thinking about it.

And I buy my books, then pile them up in my room in precarious, teetering piles on my night stand, shelves, dresser, any flat surface really.

[Dionysus]

I will only ever read a physical book; I despise E-Books. Other than that, unless its an author I really like I don't care how I get em as long as I get em. If I know i'll read it again I will but it.

[Nero]

I hate the thread title.

Change "novels" to "books" and the period to a question mark.

This is not good for my OCD.

[Equinox]

I occasionally buy books brand new, but only in special circumstances (i.e. a series I'm following, and want to collect).

Mostly, I'll buy them second-hand, get them from the library, or download them.

[Tunicate]

Buy, beg, borrow, swap, receive as gifts. New, second-hand, pristine or beat-up and dog-eared, I don't care as long as it's a physical copy.

:thumbsup: I'm at University. I spend LOADS on books

[Travis Bickle]

I prefer to buy my mine from a store.

[Rocko]

I get most of mine from secondhand book stores. Occasionally the library.

[Genesis93]

i read to many books, would be expensive to buy all the new ones that come out, i just mooch off my friend with a library card

[pygar]

I read books on my phone.

I personally use Qreader (http://my-symbian.com/s60v3/software/applications.php?name=QReader&fldAuto=52&faq=12) (for Symbion S60 v3 or above) and I've tried everything else.

[LiquidIce]

I read books on my phone.

I personally use Qreader (http://my-symbian.com/s60v3/software/applications.php?name=QReader&fldAuto=52&faq=12) (for Symbion S60 v3 or above) and I've tried everything else.

Exactly. Good encoding handling (allows to read many different texts, not only english). But I still don't know whether reading something on a 2.8" screen is healthy. So far so good.

[AndroidD5]

Usually I buy them out...say 6 times outta 10 and the rest comes from libraries,internet or from friends shelf.......

[Proots]

I either buy them or steal them from Borders/Barnes and Noble.

If not, there's a great half-priced bookstore down the road from me.

When I'm through, I trade them with an older lady I work with. I give her books I think she might like, she gives me ones she thinks I might like. We like generally the same things, so it saves quite a bit of money.

[Cytosine]

I buy them new or secondhand, usually. Sometimes I borrow them from friends, and I've even been known to read e-books. I'm currently looking for a portable e-reader, but the Amazon Kindle is a scam and the Sony version is not only expensive but it looks like shit. It's 2009, you fucks. Get working on a decent looking e-reader that doesn't CHARGE ME TO PUT MY PIRATED E-BOOKS ON IT.

Also; I read naked.

[chameleon]

I don't know how anyone can read a book online. You miss out reading it in those awesome positions. In bed, I'm all over the place. I start off reading it lying on my back, then on the side. Then I'll lie on my stomach with the book dangling off the edge of the bed, then I roll off the bed and sit on the floor leaning against the bed. On the couch I do pretty much the same thing except I put my feet up on the back rest and lie on a sort of angle.

My point is, you can't be a contortionist when you're reading it off a laptop.

[Lawlexander]

Download and read off computer.
or.
Borrow from my Father's library.

[LiquidIce]

I don't know how anyone can read a book online. You miss out reading it in those awesome positions. In bed, I'm all over the place. I start off reading it lying on my back, then on the side. Then I'll lie on my stomach with the book dangling off the edge of the bed, then I roll off the bed and sit on the floor leaning against the bed. On the couch I do pretty much the same thing except I put my feet up on the back rest and lie on a sort of angle.

My point is, you can't be a contortionist when you're reading it off a laptop.

Pix ;).
And you can do the same if you're reading it on a portable ebook reader or maybe a netbook.

[SHANE14]

buy them from a store, from the internet if I have trouble finding them. It works out well seeing as my parents pay for them

[PROJECT PAT]

get them from the library or purchase them. reading books on the computer is for faggots.

[#1 Stunna]

I've read like 10 warhammer:40k ebooks and could only name 2-3 of them now :(
It's probably because those books are shit.

[the animals were gone]

I just got the Kindle. It will never replace finding a rare or signed copy of an author I love. Though as I am on the go quite a bit- I just love it. Further, I save a ton when downloading a book to the kindle vs buying it in a store.

[JREwing]

I save a ton when downloading a book to the kindle vs buying it in a store.

So have you done the maths on how long it will take before you've fully recouped your investment?

To read my books, I first have my warrior monk clan transcribe them onto heavy slate tablets. Then I pack the tablets into a backpack and I climb onto a 40 foot pole balanced on the summit of the highest mountain. I stand there on one foot, and read each slate and meditate on it. When I finish with a slate I throw it into the air, then high kick it into a million pieces to remind myself of the futility of knowledge.

[LiquidIce]

So have you done the maths on how long it will take before you've fully recouped your investment?

To read my books, I first have my warrior monk clan transcribe them onto heavy slate tablets. Then I pack the tablets into a backpack and I climb onto a 40 foot pole balanced on the summit of the highest mountain. I stand there on one foot, and read each slate and meditate on it. When I finish with a slate I throw it into the air, then high kick it into a million pieces to remind myself of the futility of knowledge.

That's why I prefer reading them on my multipurpose communication device, also called a cell phone.

Also, lol at your way of reading.

[Mullen]

I find a summary on the internet.

[PROJECT PAT]

i find the whole concept of the kindle disgusting. i am shocked that anyone would read off that fagatron device.

[Qhost]

i find the whole concept of the kindle disgusting. i am shocked that anyone would read off that fagatron device.



+1

I read my books in the sofa or in bed lying down. I often read when im about to go to sleep, or if its a new books, when I want.

[BlackRoseGeisha]

I borrow from my boyfriend occasionally, the Megatokyo manga and the Dexter books mostly, but I prefer owning my own. I just love being able to slot them in my bookcase and watch my collection grow. It also means I know how the books are going to get treated - and that's really quite important to me.