Over the last couple years I have manufactured something of a tradition here in the Nation of PDR. National Bookorderin’ Day is the one day in the year I waste some money on the ordering of new books from the Internet (I get books from my mother for Christmas as well, but I don’t pay for those, obviously) and the date of National Bookorderin’ Day is entirely decided by when the new John Swartzwelder novel is made available on Amazon. Well, the announcement of that novel has just been made: The Million Dollar Policeman will drop in a matter of months, so I’ve got to start figuring out what books will be coming with it.
Obviously this year has the Nation of PDR in a sort of financial state where maybe we shouldn’t be spending much money on books, but I remain confident that by the time this book rolls out (in the vicinity of April or May) I should have at least enough disposable income to make this one order. I’m diggin’ myself out of the red, so it’s good to have a reward waiting on the other side.
Really, you only buy books once a year? Actually, the library is a great place to get free books, but I prefer having my own copies.
With my order of anywhere from six to ten books in the Spring combined with about the same at Christmas, I’m usually covered for a year. Add onto that the two or three times I’ll go to a used bookstore for a single purchase, plus being given books to read, which I’d average at one or two a year, and yeah, I’d say that about covers it. I’ve also got a shelf full of books I haven’t read yet but keep meaning to get to.
I’ve not got a book from a library in easily a decade. Which is odd, because the whole sharing aspect of libraries is, basically, a model example of how PDR wishes most of society worked. But I’m also a pretty slow reader and I’d have to keep renting the same books or paying late fees or whatever. Plus, as you say, I just prefer owning a copy. Especially if it helps support an author I like. I may not be big on a capitalism-based economy, but I still try to help the people I like to succeed within it.