Fantasy Book Club discussion

I'm curious as to where everyone gets and disposes of their books (this is directed specifically at people that read hard copies and not e-books or audiobooks). I've been spending increasing amounts of time at my local Half Price book stores, but since it's mostly used, the selection is very hit and miss.

I buy occasionally from eBay or third-party Amazon sellers, but I'm curious if anyone can speak to their experience using any other websites.

I also registered on paperbackswap.com, and would like to know if any members have experience with this or other swap/trading services. There have to be more people out there who want to trade partial or full fantasy/sci-fi series' with me.

I have, from time to time, traded some of my books in to used bookstores, normally only when I've upgraded a copy from paperback/BCE/non-1st edition, though to be honest I often just give my paperbacks away to friends when I have read and upgraded my copies.

I buy online regularly and also pick up books for used book stores and books sale pretty often.

There are a couple used book shops here that have good sf/fantasy sections, but no major ones like Half Price. I tend to hit them every few months, although I don't find all that much anymore as I tend to be looking for specific titles or authors, not just looking for random books to read. We also have a fantastic semi-annual public library fundraising sale where I'll usually pick up 15-20 books every time, they have a huge sf/fantasy selection.

I don't usually trade books in, although I do have a box of books that will eventually go somewhere. They may end up donated to the aforementioned library sale.

I mostly buy my books from Amazon, Amazon sellers, or ebay. I occasionally use biblio.com, abebooks.com, or powells.com.

As for paperbackswap.com, I used to trade books fairly often a few years ago, but cancelled my account when they started to add a fee to every trade. Unless you are prepared to list a lot of books and wait for people to claim them, you have to game the system a little if you want to trade regularly. I used to search for books that I owned and wanted to trade, and if there were people who had them on their wish list, I'd post them and see if they were claimed. That gave me a slow but steady supply of trading credits to use on books I wanted. You also need to watch out for books that have hundreds of copies posted, as yours will never get claimed.

I donate all my books (hard or soft covers) to my local library when I'm done with them. There are many I keep forever, simply because I enjoy re-reading them but when I replace print with digital copies, the print goes to the library, too

I used to trade my extra copies here on Goodreads, when they had the opinions 5 years ago.

I usually just give my extra books away when I see people who would enjoy it when I get a better condition copy or a older printing.

Kevin wrote: "I used to trade my extra copies here on Goodreads, when they had the opinions 5 years ago."

I give many of my copies away to friends also, but I'm starting to accumulate more than I can give. Is there still an existing trade forum, or is that sort of thing frowned upon here?

I get most of my books through Barnes and Noble. As far as giving them away, I don't do it very often. It can be hard to part with books. Unless I really didn't like certain books, then I would give them to a used bookstore.

Elise wrote: "I get most of my books through Barnes and Noble. As far as giving them away, I don't do it very often. It can be hard to part with books. Unless I really didn't like certain books, then I would giv..."

Yeah, it could be hard if all you buy is new books. I get most of my books for $0.5 each, so it really doesn't matter to me.

Elise wrote: "I get most of my books through Barnes and Noble. As far as giving them away, I don't do it very often. It can be hard to part with books. Unless I really didn't like certain books, then I would giv..."

Wow, you don't buy any bks online? U don't like used bks?

U must have a membership card there.

I generally don't get rid of hardcover books. that's what bookshelves are for! When I do need to thin out my collection I generally donate them to the local library.

A far as buying books, most of my auisitions these days are from Amazon. There aren't any good second hand book stores near me, except for a couple that specialize in paperbacks. There is a cool bookstore in Chicago where my brother lives. it's not used but rather publisher overstock. I generally walk out of there with a whole armload of new books for 50 to 75% off msrp.

Kevin wrote: "Elise wrote: "I get most of my books through Barnes and Noble. As far as giving them away, I don't do it very often. It can be hard to part with books. Unless I really didn't like certain books, th..."

Yeah, I do buy books online sometimes (mostly ebooks though). I prefer to support those brick and mortar stores, and they've mostly gone extinct where I live. B&N is my go to place and I do have a membership card, yes. There's something nice about just going into a bookstore and browsing even if I end up not buying anything, but usually that's hard to resist ;)

Elise wrote: "Kevin wrote: "Elise wrote: "I get most of my books through Barnes and Noble. As far as giving them away, I don't do it very often. It can be hard to part with books. Unless I really didn't like cer..."

Good reasons.

Kind of sad that you don't have an indie bookstore near you.

I use amazon to by my books. And occasionally go to my local book store but there is a limited selection of fantasy books.