Library vs. Bookstore and Mini Library Haul

I have pretty much equal love for libraries and bookstores. I even considered becoming a librarian for a short amount of time, but I ended up choosing a different path. 

Libraries and bookstores both have their pros and cons. In libraries you can browse and pick between endless amounts of books and you don’t have to worry about your budget. However, you do have to worry about getting all the books read before they are due back on the library shelves, and if you are looking for specific books they might no be available from the library. Similarly you often have to wait quite a while for new releases to become available. 

In bookstores you can also browse through a good selection and pick whatever suits your fancy. However, here you do have to worry about your budget (I assume you are not a millionaire with endless funds to spend on books). And sometimes you will be disappointed by the book and feel like you have wasted your money. I know I do sometimes, when a book does not live up to my expectations.  But you do get to bring home your book and keep it there for as long as you want, without having to worry about due dates, and if the bookstore doesn’t have the book you are looking for, they will most likely be able to order it for you. 

I am a big fan of both institutions and have used both in a very high degree to satisfy my reading lust. In the past I was a massive library-goer and got pretty much all my books from there. If I really liked a book I would then go to a bookstore and buy it, so I could have it on my shelves forever. About a year ago, however, I decided to stop stressing about the due dates and stop being so cheap, and just start buying books instead of going to the library 3 times a week. You can get pretty cheap books online and sometimes in physical bookstores too, so I bought a bunch of books and was quite satisfied with not having to stress about getting them back in time. 


However, I am just finishing reading the books from my last haul, and most of them are going straight out of the door again, because I didn’t really like them. And then my cheap side rears its head. I am just too cheap to keep buying books, knowing I will probably give away about 80% of them after reading, because I didn’t enjoy them. So for the first time in a long time I went to the library and checked out 3 books that I am actually very excited to read. These are “The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer” by Michelle Hodkin, “Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children” by Ransom Riggs and “The Diviners” by Libba Bray. Now I just have to read them before the due date!


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