# do you buy or borrow?



## kaneda (Jun 24, 2005)

Just curious. Is this forum full of people who buy fantasy/sci fi books or people who borrow fantasy/sci fi books from the libary? 

Also, how many sci fi/fantasy books do you approx own in your collection? 

I'm definatly a buyer (because Im terrible at rememebering when I'm supposed to return things ) and i think i own about 50 fantasy books (but i do read other genres as well ) 

                   ******************************

By the way, im sorry if a thread of this nature has already been done - i did try searching but wasn't sure what to put as my search query  

Kaneda.


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## Jayaprakash Satyamurthy (Jun 24, 2005)

Mostly buy. Mostly second-hand though.


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## Leto (Jun 24, 2005)

Buy, approx 3000 books (shared between 3 houses) and roughly 1500 comics. Only 2/3 is sci-fi. If I've kept all the book I've buyed, I would have long past the 10 000 books. 
I re-read a lot, but even in the bad weeks, I read at least one new book since 25 years.


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## Calis (Jun 24, 2005)

Leto said:
			
		

> Buy, approx 3000 books (shared between 3 houses) and roughly 1500 comics. Only 2/3 is sci-fi. If I've kept all the book I've buyed, I would have long past the 10 000 books.
> I re-read a lot, but even in the bad weeks, I read at least one new book since 25 years.


why do i imagine you got a pool filled with books instead of water?


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## Jayaprakash Satyamurthy (Jun 24, 2005)

I need to find me a woman just like Leto.


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## Calis (Jun 24, 2005)

knivesout said:
			
		

> I need to find me a woman just like Leto.



one turned on by a person with 3000 books?


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## Leto (Jun 24, 2005)

No pool unfortunatly, but books even in the strangest places. Currently thinking of getting shelves in the toilets for some of them. 

JP, i've got a celibate cousin if you like...


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## garreth Jacks (Jun 24, 2005)

I have about 2,000 book at my house about 500 of them are mine and they are mostly fantasy the rest are my brothers and dads I buy most of my books second hand as I find that going out and buying from book shops is very expensive  and I do not have money to burn as for the Library it has a very poor fantasy selection I have most of the book they have and have read all the ones I have not got so it is definitely buy for me


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## Jayaprakash Satyamurthy (Jun 24, 2005)

> one turned on by a person with 3000 books?




Alas, yes. 


> JP, i've got a celibate cousin if you like...


 
Erm, d'you mean 'single'? I'm guessing someone who'se celibate wouldn't have much use for me, really.


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## Calis (Jun 24, 2005)

knivesout said:
			
		

> Alas, yes.



unless one of them has to do with Karma Sutra, I can't believe it.


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## Jayaprakash Satyamurthy (Jun 24, 2005)

It's *Kama *Sutra. Bookwormery is pretty sexy, y'know. People who read a lot usually have well-developed imaginations.


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## Calis (Jun 24, 2005)

maybe I was using a play on words 

well-developed imagination or plageristic mind?
and i am a little scared of what your meaning is....I dont wanna hear fantasies involving Snow White, Princes and Dwarfs.


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## Leto (Jun 24, 2005)

Yep, single. Sorry, working on my last article before vacation. 
And Ovid and Petrone re-reading.


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## Jayaprakash Satyamurthy (Jun 24, 2005)

Calis said:
			
		

> I dont wanna hear fantasies involving Snow White, Princes and Dwarfs.


 
How about ones involving a healthy sampling from The Memoirs of Fanny Hill, Don Juan and maybe some de Sade for flavour?


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## Jayaprakash Satyamurthy (Jun 24, 2005)

Oh, lord. I've dragged this thread into the gutter. Apologies.


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## Calis (Jun 24, 2005)

> How about ones involving a healthy sampling from The Memoirs of Fanny Hill, Don Juan and maybe some de Sade for flavour?



Who is starring in it?



> Oh, lord. I've dragged this thread into the gutter. Apologies.



Actually thats my fault. Not yours.


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## Jayaprakash Satyamurthy (Jun 24, 2005)

Oh, well. It happens.


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## kaneda (Jun 24, 2005)

knivesout said:
			
		

> Oh, lord. I've dragged this thread into the gutter. Apologies.


 

haha, like thats a surprise for this forum


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## Jayaprakash Satyamurthy (Jun 24, 2005)

I pride myself on being one of the few consistently erudite, sagacious and literary (if sometimes endearingly cranky) contributors to this admittedly somewhat mixed forum. Hence my chagrin.


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## Calis (Jun 24, 2005)

knivesout said:
			
		

> Oh, well. It happens.



well when your caught up in the emotions of kama sutra and don juan and me it does happens.


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## Leto (Jun 24, 2005)

The Marquis de Sade associated with gutters ? Do you want to be kicked to death (witih black leather boots of course) to show no respect for one of the greatest philosopher in the world.
 



BTW : I'm only half kidding.


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## Calis (Jun 24, 2005)

Boy dont I feel cheap seeing as i am the only one who chose Borrow.

Althought I owe $27 to the library so i dont think i will be borrowing anytime soon.


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## GOLLUM (Jun 24, 2005)

Why isn't the option Mostly Steal there??....


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## rune (Jun 24, 2005)

I do both as I try out authors not tried before at the library.  I do buy most of my books though.  Dont have a big library, only 200 books, because I have clean outs


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## Brian G Turner (Jun 24, 2005)

I probably buy, because me reading has plummeted to little over a long time. Still, like to have those reference books around...


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## Calis (Jun 24, 2005)

rune said:
			
		

> Dont have a big library, only 200 books, because I have clean outs



oh ONLY 200.

gee you should be embarressed.


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## GOLLUM (Jun 24, 2005)

Calis said:
			
		

> oh ONLY 200.
> 
> gee you should be embarressed.


Believe me compared to some member's collections this is small league...


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## Leto (Jun 24, 2005)

But in terms of book read and remembered, rune is well above most of us.


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## GOLLUM (Jun 24, 2005)

Leto said:
			
		

> But in terms of book read and remembered, rune is well above most of us.


No argument there...


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## Calis (Jun 24, 2005)

Well I got my old Goosebumps books, so if i included them i got about 100.


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## nixie (Jun 24, 2005)

I buy,because I would forget to return them.Just as well none of my friends read fantasy.Anyway I like to have all the books in a series,don't want to have to wait for the library to get them in.


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## Alia (Jun 24, 2005)

I have a friend that we swap books all the time. But looking back on the years I find I buy a good majority of them and loan them to her. Or we will buy the same book together and read them at the same time. I finally came to the conclusion some time ago that if I like a book, I should keep a copy of it. I don't have 3,000 books... unless you start counting the kid books.


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## GOLLUM (Jun 24, 2005)

Actually to be serious (who me?? ) I generally buy a lot more now than I borrow although occasionally someone posts me something.....


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## Culhwch (Jun 24, 2005)

Borrow and then buy, if I liked it and would want to read it again.


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## Calis (Jun 24, 2005)

can someone click borrow so i dont feel cheap.


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## The Master™ (Jun 24, 2005)

i don't just mostly buy - i ONLY buy... no library ones for me...

though i'm starting to buy them from markets... and might start looking in charity shops too soon... get a nice bargain!!!


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## Calis (Jun 24, 2005)

The Master™ said:
			
		

> i don't just mostly buy - i ONLY buy... no library ones for me...
> 
> though i'm starting to buy them from markets... and might start looking in charity shops too soon... get a nice bargain!!!



ebay


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## Alia (Jun 24, 2005)

I just bought a Feist book off ebay.


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## The Master™ (Jun 24, 2005)

can't get a nice book for less than a pound - and no postage and packing...

besides i don't know i want a book until i see it...

markets and charity shops seem to be GOLD MINES!!! mwahahaha!!!


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## Leto (Jun 24, 2005)

Time for you to realise this. Most of my books come from there, or inheritance from my father and uncle (the thriller ones). And roughly 50 of my favorites from subway travel. Mass transportation is also a good mine


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## The Master™ (Jun 24, 2005)

no one in the uk leave books on public transport, some uncooth youth would set fire to it and burn the bus or train!!!


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## Alia (Jun 24, 2005)

Often times, I get a really good book at an excellent price off of ebay... There has been a few times I have received a book I wasn't happy with the condition of...
I also find books at yard sales... people sell them for a dollar or less... but I will have to admit that I very rarely find fantasy or scifi books.  It seems that those people hang onto them...


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## Leto (Jun 24, 2005)

The Master™ said:
			
		

> no one in the uk leave books on public transport, some uncooth youth would set fire to it and burn the bus or train!!!


Found one in Picadilly Circus last time I went in London.


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## The Master™ (Jun 24, 2005)

weird...


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## Winters_Sorrow (Jun 24, 2005)

So did you set fire to it then? (sorry, but it's the rules....  )


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## Leto (Jun 24, 2005)

Nope, I've read it and abandon it two days later in Waterloo station, near the Boots.


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## kaneda (Jun 24, 2005)

GOLLUM said:
			
		

> Why isn't the option Mostly Steal there??....


 
Because i assumed that the members of chronicles are (although a bit loopy) good citizens who think that stealing is wrong (except for the singular sweetie nicked from the cinema or woolworths  )


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## kaneda (Jun 24, 2005)

Calis said:
			
		

> Boy dont I feel cheap seeing as i am the only one who chose Borrow.
> 
> Althought I owe $27 to the library so i dont think i will be borrowing anytime soon.


 
haha, i don't even want to think how much i owe my libary. I still have a version of henry V that i borrowed when i was about 16 and forgot to return


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## nixie (Jun 24, 2005)

Car boot sales,markets,second hand shops,Amazon are all good sources for books.Although when I buy from car boot sales I normally end with a load of books I'll never read,If any one wants a hard back copy of clash of Kings without the dust cover please let me know,Also I've got a spare paperback copy of Sabriel.I apolgise before hand if its inapporpiate to post this.


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## Calis (Jun 25, 2005)

kaneda said:
			
		

> haha, i don't even want to think how much i owe my libary. I still have a version of henry V that i borrowed when i was about 16 and forgot to return



and how old are you now?


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## Medieval (Jun 25, 2005)

I must confess that I'm a library whore. (Excuse.)
I borrow books like mad but I only buy books which I have already read and fallen in love with. Books are very expensive.


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## dwndrgn (Jun 25, 2005)

I used to always buy for two reasons, 1) I had money to spend, 2) our local library was the pits.  Now I mostly borrow for two reasons, 1) no money to spend, 2) our local library is much better than some in the big cities I've visited (and they don't charge late fees! though I rarely keep books late, it's a great policy).

I also had to move 10 times in eight years which means I was always getting rid of them to avoid having to move them.  So currently my home 'library' is rather bare - three small shelves full.  Nowadays I only buy if I've got some spare cash, I know the book will be good, or the library doesn't have it.


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## NSMike (Jun 25, 2005)

I'm a big-time buyer.  Just an estimate here, but judging from how many books I can actually fit in my bookcase, (and since my bookcase is full) I have somewhere around 244 books.


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## GOLLUM (Jun 25, 2005)

kaneda said:
			
		

> Because i assumed that the members of chronicles are (although a bit loopy) good citizens who think that stealing is wrong (except for the singular sweetie nicked from the cinema or woolworths  )


Define "good citizen"......


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## kaneda (Jun 25, 2005)

Calis said:
			
		

> and how old are you now?


 
21 now


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## littlemissattitude (Jun 25, 2005)

No need to apologize, JP.  I keep hoping to find a man who reads, but they don't seem to have many of those in my part of the world, anyway not who are around my age and single.

As far as the poll...there's not "mostly both" choice.  I buy when I can afford it and I check books out of the library constantly.  Of course, my library is horribly depelted right now, as I just moved at the beginning of March and had to leave most of my books behind.  I'm down to one bookcase that isn't even full.  It's so depressing to look at it.  I've got to get out to the Tower District and visit the used bookstores soon.  And, I buy and borrow all kinds of books - fantasy, science fiction, other fiction, not to mention a wide variety of non-fiction.  In fact, the majority of the books I did bring with me in the move are non-fiction, but even then I'm without most of my reference library now, which is really frustrating.


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## Calis (Jun 25, 2005)

littlemissattitude said:
			
		

> No need to apologize, JP. I keep hoping to find a man who reads, but they don't seem to have many of those in my part of the world, anyway not who are around my age and single.



well if i was single, your age and in your country


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## GOLLUM (Jun 25, 2005)

Great minds think alike HEY Calis?.....


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## kaneda (Jun 25, 2005)

I appologise for how poor my poll selection is  

But in my defence this is the first poll i've done on any forum! I'm sure i ll improve on my selection choices in time


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## kaneda (Jun 25, 2005)

GOLLUM said:
			
		

> Define "good citizen"......


 
Can't be bothered


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## GOLLUM (Jun 25, 2005)

kaneda said:
			
		

> I appologise for how poor my poll selection is
> 
> But in my defence this is the first poll i've done on any forum! I'm sure i ll improve on my selection choices in time


Actually I thought overall it was a pretty good idea and effort for a first up poll...


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## The Master™ (Jun 25, 2005)

kaneda said:
			
		

> I appologise for how poor my poll selection is
> 
> But in my defence this is the first poll i've done on any forum! I'm sure i ll improve on my selection choices in time


 
You'll learn... Some people do loads of polls and haven't YET learned to do a good one.. 

Next time, be empathic towards your target audience...  Although with this bunch of freaks, geeks and malcontents; you'd end up in a psychiatric ward!!!


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## rune (Jun 25, 2005)

Leto said:
			
		

> But in terms of book read and remembered, rune is well above most of us.


 
It's the only thing I'm good at is remembering stories I've read - especially ones I've enjoyed  


And I'm working on the size of my collection    I'd like to have a much bigger personal library - just got the loan to sort first


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## littlemissattitude (Jun 25, 2005)

The Master™ said:
			
		

> You'll learn... Some people do loads of polls and haven't YET learned to do a good one..
> 
> Next time, be empathic towards your target audience...  Although with this bunch of freaks, geeks and malcontents; you'd end up in a psychiatric ward!!!


 
Yep, Master.  That about sums us up, doesn't it? 

And you are right, polls are difficult to put together.  When I was at university I did a project for a class in which I polled the entire undergraduate student body (almost 1,000 people) by campus mail - every student there gets a box in the mail room when they enroll, which is really cool.  It took me forever, seemed like, to get the survey questions ready, and even when I sent it out, it could have been improved.  I was really proud of it, though.  I got about an 18 percent response rate, which is far above most mail-out surveys.


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## McMurphy (Jun 26, 2005)

*Buy*

Although not the most economic choice out of the two, I prefer to buy rather than borrow. I purchase usually the paperback version of books because they are cheaper in price and I can stuff them in my coat pocket and bring them anywhere I go. Never know when an opporunity will present itself.


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## Rosemary (Jun 26, 2005)

rune said:
			
		

> And I'm working on the size of my collection  I'd like to have a much bigger personal library - just got the loan to sort first   [/QUOTE=rune]
> 
> Just a loan?  I need to mortgage the house!
> Sometimes I borrow a book from the Library first and if it is very, very good then I will buy it.
> ...


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## Lacedaemonian (Jun 26, 2005)

Why have you discounted theft?


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## kaneda (Jun 26, 2005)

Lacedaemonian said:
			
		

> Why have you discounted theft?


 
First poll blah blah, didn't think of options etc etc etc etc etc etc etc


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## Calis (Jun 27, 2005)

kaneda said:
			
		

> First poll blah blah, didn't think of options etc etc etc etc etc etc etc



boy, havent you been torn up by this poll. lol.


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## Taltos (Jun 27, 2005)

Have to buy mostly, as the libraries don't have many SF/Fantasy books in stock. And what they have, I've read already  Buying habit however as it's negative side, sometimes I tend to buy things at random, to see how this or that feel like, but when the beginning isn't good I feel obligation to read through anyway, as I've paid for it.


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## GOLLUM (Jun 27, 2005)

Lacedaemonian said:
			
		

> Why have you discounted theft?


You obviously didn't see my earlier post on this thread Lace.... 

Great minds think alike....


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## Leto (Jul 4, 2005)

Lacedaemonian said:
			
		

> Why have you discounted theft?


Count it as buying, it just miss one half of the exchange.


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## GOLLUM (Jul 4, 2005)

Leto said:
			
		

> Count it as buying, it just miss one half of the exchange.


That's sneaky BUT I like it....


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## kaneda (Jul 4, 2005)

Leto said:
			
		

> Count it as buying, it just miss one half of the exchange.


 
very cheeky


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## kyektulu (Jul 31, 2005)

I always buy my books as the local libaries never seem to have a big enough stock of fantasy books to keep me happy! So when I read everything I could get my hands on in the fantasy section I decided to start a libary of my own!

xxxkyexxx


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## rune (Jul 31, 2005)

kyektulu said:
			
		

> I always buy my books as the local libaries never seem to have a big enough stock of fantasy books to keep me happy! So when I read everything I could get my hands on in the fantasy section I decided to start a libary of my own!
> 
> xxxkyexxx


 
Good idea, just make sure it's in Cumbria so I can borrow too   The libraries in this County are pretty poor when it comes to fantasy.


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## silvermage2000 (Aug 8, 2005)

I mostly buy,but sometimes i borrow when i can't buy a book i wan't to read.


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## Asmer20 (Aug 9, 2005)

so id rather buy the books its hard to keep up to date on the writers they earn the buck for us reading their work well thats not too bad as long as they are really good books


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