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Buy the books?
- This topic has 17 replies, 15 voices, and was last updated 10 years, 7 months ago by
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One thing I love about CM is that I can find so many of the books for free online.
We bought an ereader for this purpose. However, having a virtual library isn’t the same, I love holding a book, especially a lovely vintage book!
However, with our small space and the savings, I just keep collecting ebooks or using public domain stuff.
Do you buy the books or use ebook versions?
Ok so we have a small home, and I love books! Right now I am doing the same thing as you, getting free books for my kindle. If I see one of my books, especially a hard cover, I buy it. I’m not searching for them online to buy, but I not going to pass one up. I think it would be nice for read alouds I I read from the kindle and the kids can look on in their paper copy.
KaylaWell I’m not the one to answer this question because I buy books in bulk. 😉 But I do believe it’s important for children to grow up with books. When Charlotte talked about the educational atmosphere of a home, books were always a treasured part of that atmosphere. There’s just something about being surrounded by real books, being able to pull them off at will, meeting new friends and revisiting old ones that a digital gadget simply cannot replace. I always encourage the moms in my library to designate a space in their home and a portion of their income, no matter how small, and dedicate that to books.
“When I have money, I buy books. If I have any left over I buy food and clothes.” ~Erasmus
We have a mix of the two. Generally if there are no pictures, I might get an e-book. If it’s a book full of color pictures (or one I know we’ll be using for years), I like to have a regular copy. I buy most of our books used on Amazon.
I held off on buying LDTR for Children so I could “save up” for the print copy since I new we’d be using it for many years. A chapter book we’ll be reading once, I’d probably be okay with an e-book. Generally I buy my free-reading books on my Kindle as well.
I don’t have an ereader or any ebooks, so I’m going to vote for real books for sure. But I was wondering what you do when two or more people want to read books and they are both on the device (same book or different book). It would seem if you only had one, people would have to wait their turn to read. And if you had one for each person, that would just seem like more “screen time” to me. I love, love, love when all my kids are sitting around with books. The quiet of everyone reading is more peaceful and satisfying than if they were just all being quiet. Does that make sense?
We have both. I love my kindle for all of the free books that I can get and if I need a book, like right now! I can purchase it or download it for free (yes, that’s happened, not realizing I needed my student to start reading that day). And, I love that I can take hundreds of books with me wherever I go.
But, that has not stopped me from buying real books. We have a large library that I shop for on a weekly basis and will continue to do so cause I’m completely addicted and for the same reasons as robinp and art have mentioned. If we have the book on the kindle sometimes we have a paperback/hardcopy on our shelf as well. Not all the time, of course, but that way if we leave the house without the book we have a device to read from (we do have iphones with the kindle app so that works GREAT as well).
And, even though we have several reading devices that hasn’t stopped my dc from going to the library and/or helping me buy new/used books…they still love it when I surprise them with real books. I love books, real books, but I love my kindle/iphone as well for different reasons.
We have both. I’ve found that having at least some of my school books as ebooks lets us all have a copy to use more cheaply and helps when we travel. I tend to travel with a suitcase of books otherwise! I also collect real books in bulk. I love living with and using my own library.
For school, I almost always buy the books. For myself, I really enjoy getting e-book bundles (like the one that’s currently on sale at Village Green Network!) because I can take 25 books with me anywhere on my iPad. Anytime we leave the house, even if to go to the store, both of my kids will load up in the car with a book in hand. They don’t take them into the store, but they love to read in the car. I’m also building our home library, and something about real books on the shelves makes me VERY, VERY happy.
I am a confessed book sniffer! =) I don’t like the smell of plastic. Hehe
We live in a singlewide mobile home with limited space, so I find anywhere I can to place shelves; for example the hall. I have been known to have books under the sofa, etc. I also have a very limited income so I look for the best deal possible.
Agreeing with Robin. While I certainly don’t fault any one for using an ereader, it is just not my thing. But if you do use one, make sure to have books because that electonic device will not replace what a book can do for you. 🙂
We buy all of our school books, and I get all of my personal leisure reading from the library. I’m not comfortable with everything being on computers/devices, least of all books. It’s so tempting for me though because of the convenience, but I just can’t bring myself to do it. We’re low income in a small home, but I really like that quote Robin posted! I used to run a book club and it was called Sleep, eat, read. Clothes wouldn’t even make it on my list, lol.
Rachel
There’s no reason it has to be an all-or-nothing decision. We have space and money constraints and will never have the “library” that some describe. I could bemoan it, but it is what it is — the e-books work great to fill that need for more books than our budget or space would otherwise allow.
We actually only have one Kindle, but have a couple of defunct smartphones so we have the Kindle app on those as well (and although the phones no longer have “service” on them, they can connect to the WiFi and that’s how it works), thus enabling us to have multiple copies of one e-book being read simutaneously — extremely cheap or free wtih no additional shelf space needed.
Having said that, I love “real” books and always will. And my kids grow up using and enjoying both!
I do a combination of things.
BUY: I buy books that I know we will use a long time or ones that more than one child will want to read (they’re two years apart). I buy books that I find at Goodwill, thrift stores and library sales, etc. I do not buy new books. I think it’s crazy to pay full price! The closest I get is a used book on Amazon.
I have mixed feelings on having a huge home library. I sort of think I’d like it more if I lived in a grand, old mansion and had a true library complete with ladders and floor to ceiling books. Because that might not happen, I don’t tend to want loads of books. I try to sell or pass on ones I know we’re done with and not using. I keep about 3 six foot bookshelves full. That’s good for my house. I confess I do have several dozen boxes for ages 0-7 in storage in Florida! 🙂 To pass on a full children’s library to my grandchildren. Silly!
BORROW: I’ve borrowed some books over the years from other HS friends, but only ones I wanted to “test” out before buying. I don’t borrow books we are going to be using because I think it’s too long, too risky. What if I lost one?
LIBRARY: I am a HUGE FAN of the local libraries. I use them for most of my books for Science and for biographies for History and Science – which I’ve yet to find I’d want to own. Something about biographies … not keepers in my mind. Although my daughter is reading a fantastic biography of Muir right now, so maybe I’ll change my mind?!
The key to library use is to be a sleuth in your library! Find out all the nooks and crannies. Befriend a librarian and you’ll be very well rewarded. Using their online catalogs lets you “see” the collection from the comfort of home. You can place “holds” on books you need that are in other locations. You can request they purchase titles you will need in the future, but that they don’t have yet. They are eager to hear from their public about your wants and needs. The bigger libraries are better. Bigger cities even better too. But even the small guys are good about “inter library loan” books.
We visit the library at least 3x a week. My children have grown up in a library and are knowledgable about where to find things. I “park” them in different sections of the library to help them become familiar with what it offers. Reference is a fabulous place to hang out. We’ve often done our lessons tucked away in the section containing all the beautiful, oversized art books. Ones you would never buy.
E-ANYTHING: Not interested. I just gave away our iPad and a MacAirbook. Far too much technology in our house and I did not like where it was going. Screens take people away from people. IMO. Reading on a screen is so awful in my mind. I do it rarely. I am right now for our Plutarch because I’ve yet to print the life out. But I will! I am reminded by this post.
Hope that helps give another perspective!
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