Crime Detective Mystery Thriller Group discussion

I had a discussion with someone regarding this and it seemed like a good question to ask.
In my case, it depends on the book although I have a wish list on Kindle and there are cases where I will wait for the price to drop on a book before I buy it.

Another point to this question. A new hard covered book could be $25 yet it would also be $10 on Kindle or Nook. Any thoughts?

Very definitely I now have price point on books. Since I gotten the Kindle, it is lower. It also depends on how much I want to read the book. My price is around $6 if it is a book I want to read. Books on the Kindle now coming out; check my library or wait until the price drop. I have access to a lot of books and there are a lot of good BOKS out many of them free for the first book. I have 5 New authors on my must read list. In fact I have brought the rest of their books.
I have limit for books (it can disappear)of $25 a month. Last month's I brought 7 books for the amount. If I had brought the latest books of my favorite authors I might got only one possibly two. This month so far I have brought 6 books.
I have already read two of the $10+ books from my library and have one I am now reading. On hold another and on hold for several more.
Group reads if I want the book I will probably buy; if not I won't.
Our income is social security.

I am on a limited income so I won't really pay more than $10 for a book. I use Kindle, betterworldbooks.com (for used), or even request via an Interlibrary Loan.

Let me add a few things to think about:

1. It takes me about 8-10 hrs to read a 400 page book, so even paying the $25 for a hardback it's costing me only about $3 per hr. There aren't a lot of pleasures you can get @ that price (certainly not a movie), not to mention the artistic, moral & spiritual values of reading them. Morally and spiritually valuable BTW includes some fairly tough stuff, like Gillian Flynn's Sharp Objects & Robert Kolker's The Lost Girls, that shows evil for what it is.


2. Even so, I tend to limit my purchase of new hardbacks mostly to works by authors I like personally & tho' I've not met them in person are friends through Facebook, email, & blogs. Currently they include Andrew Taylor, Sharon Bolton & Francis Cottam.

3. As cheap books take just as long to read as full-price hardbacks, the 99p specials & freefers aren't bargains it if they are not worth 10 hrs that could have been better spent doing something morally or spiritually valuable, including reading something better. If you check my Goodreads shelves, you can find out what I think meets those criteria.

4. Still, I'm always curious & try to be open to new authors & experiences. I'll download almost anything that looks appealing if it's under $2 or I can get it from the public library.

5. Whilst I was typing this, the UPS man arrived with a lb. of coffee @ $15. So I'm literally 'penny wise & pound foolish'!

As I read a lot of books I do not buy a lot of hardcovers anymore (2-5 per year max.). Before buying my first eReader, a Sony PRS-505 from eBay March 2008 (an import one year before being sold officially in Germany), I bought often used books, which due to p&p where between 3-5 Eur. But some where very used, and sometimes the printing was too small, and when my bookcases got full (4-5 rows of books on each shelf).
So I like ebooks more, you can adjust the Font-size and it takes no place on the shelf. But I do not like to pay a lot, for english-language books I set myself 10 Eur as the maximum price for fiction (non-fiction is ok to cost more), thats just under 14 Us$.
For a few writers I tend to make exceptions but never in the range above 15 Eur (nearly 20 Us$). Being that my backlog of owned (bought) books is now rather large, I will rather wait for a bargain or the general price of a book I want to sink.
As I am German and that is my first language I tend to read a few books in German, be it the original language in which they are written or a translation from non-english, say french ( Jean-Christophe Grangé ). JC Grange is the perfect example, the books are too long and not perfect (older 4 stars, the last ones I read 3) and I do not want to pay too much for them. The last one I bought used and got a big softcover, that was heavy, but ok, and the one I still want to buy I have waited nearly a year, only now it is cheap enough for me, but still 9 Eur, so I am not sure it is worth it.

I thought that with bargains under 2 Us$ or free books I could read a lot and still save money, but most cheap books I do not like, bad grammar, little spellchecking - a no-go for me, if there are too many mistakes, plot holes (The Chaos I am looking at you) or too much bad romance. So I rather spend money on a few good books, and look for price-drops in ebooks and sometimes buy a book at Barnes and Nobles, rather than at Amazon.
If I had bought all my books in their printed version, I would have spent a lot more (100%?) and gotten less books, and would still have to store them somewhere.
For me: ebooks. Still thinking of buying a waterproof device (Kindle PW is available modified, Kobo will offer the H2O in October), so I can read in the bath tube.

I have a book budget also. I'm no longer able or willing to drop the $20+ for a hardback or $12-18 for an ebook on a regular basis. I'm not opposed to paying for a decent book, but I'll wait until it's been out a little while and the price drops before buying it. I generally won't pay more than $6.99 for an ebook unless it's something pretty special. I try to hang onto my book budget for the things that I know aren't going to go on sale.

This isn't about value per hour for me - this is purely about being a voracious reader who can no longer afford that habit.

Good to know. Hope to hear more on this. I wonder if I should get kindle unlimited but I don't think I can read enough books in a month to make it worth my while.

You can get a 1 month free trial, and then it's $9.99 a month. For the authors enrolled, they get paid if someone reads past the 10% point of the book. It's giving me the opportunity to try some new authors that I might not otherwise be willing to fork over the $3-$6 to try.

Right. I'm guessing that only certain authors are available for this. So, for $10, in order for it to be worth it, you have to read at least 4 books a month. Something to think about.

I'm averaging 4 books a week, even at lower Kindle prices it can add up quickly. I've been looking for opinions on the Kindle unlimited because $9.99 per month would save me the $60+ I currently spend. Living on a fixed income it is hard to justify the amount I spend per month on books even though it is my only vice. I plan on signing up for the Kindle unlimited free trial this week.

It's worth thinking about if you can do 4 books a month. Not sure I can.

Last week I downloaded these 3 books on my TBR list totaling $15.97 at no charge. I'll be done with these over the weekend and still have several more weeks to shop and read.
Fire Storm by Mike Worley $2.99
Deadly Bonds L.J. Sellers 4.99
The Finisher by David Baldacci $7.99
I've not read either by the first two authors before - Mike's book has grabbed me and I'm loving it. Baldacci's book is for a group read that I will be participating in. I wouldn't have spent the money on this particular Baldacci book if I couldn't have gotten it under the program.

Well I went to sign up and you have to use a credit card. My bank card works as both credit or debit but they won't accept it. Good enough for everything I purchase though. :-(

I buy hardcover books through Literary Guild. When a book is coming out in a series that I read, I add it to my wish list and then when they have a sale, I buy the lot. I buy when they are either $10 each or buy one get one free, which is a better deal because their regular price is around $18. Plus, the shipping is free if you spend at least $25, which is easy enough. I think $10 or less for a new hard cover book is a good deal.

In order to activate my Kindle I had to give them my credit card number. On Cozy Corner there is a,thread for free/cheap cozy mysteries. From my that site my Kindle is full of books. My 5 New authors I found through that group. Many probably not too good but for free what do you loose. You can always delete and DNF. I use my money to buy books I want. Some as low $.99.

The price point I am looking for is zero. Mostly I read books from the library, get books on interlibrary loan, and free kindle through the library. When I do spend money it is as cheap as possible for kindle or ordering books (from the UK or published there originally) for as little as possible.

Yahoo Finance helps, currencies of today (NSYE closed due to Labor Day):
GBP 3.99 = Us$ 6.33 = Eur 5.05
GBP 6.99 = Us$ 11.62 = Eur 8.45
As a rough estimate for buying without looking it up, I would say a British-Pound is just under two US-Dollars.
Buying quite often at Amazon.Com and Amazon.co.uk (being in Germany) I built myself a few additional links to Safari and Firefox to mark a number and right-klick to view it in converted currency.
Here is a link to the Yahoo Currency converter:
Us$ 5.05 to Eur.

Also I agree, that a lot of free or cheap books are just not worth it (to stay on topic).

Lynn wrote: "I'm averaging 4 books a week, even at lower Kindle prices it can add up quickly. I've been looking for opinions on the Kindle unlimited because $9.99 per month would save me the $60+ I currently sp..."

I read one book a month, more if it is a really tood book and listen to 1 or 2.

DianeAlice wrote: "Sorry *Ingo* , misspelt your name."

Thanks for noticing, you should try spelling my surname ...

LOL! I had a teacher once tell me I mis-spelled my name. I told her: "No, ma'am, I've been doing it longer than you."

LOL! We have quite a few Hispanic place names around here. But they are pronounced like an Anglo would say it. For example the town of Mesa is pronounced MEE-SA

My maiden name starts with McC with the little c in the air and not on the line. I had teachers who argued with me about this and even tried to take points off my paperwork because I wouldn't comply. Finally just started to tell them to tell my Dad that his name was wrong.

Oh, I have SO been there @Lynn. I remember in HS one year I was just so tired of arguing that I let my teacher call me Christina for a whole semester!

Yes, I have to admit the price can be an influence on my book purchases. I love to shop 2nd hand shops. I feel that all books need a good home, and in a perfect world I would own them all. Not out of greed, but of pride...I love them all. I do enjoy ebooks, but my favorites need to be in hard copy also. Getting a bargain just adds to the experience, and my library.
Happy reading!

I, too, have a hard time passing the bargain bin or a charity sale without browsing.

Well, I signed up for the 30 day trial of kindle unlimited. We'll see if they bill my account or say no when the time comes.

Lynn wrote: "I'm averaging 4 books a week, even at lower Kindle prices it can add up quickly. I've been looking for opinions on the Kindle unlimited because $9.99 per month would save me the $60+ I currently sp..."


Zowie! Four books a week? That's impressive! :) In this case it seems like the Kindle Unlimited would work out well for you. Keep us posted. . .

Betty wrote: "In order to activate my Kindle I had to give them my credit card number. On Cozy Corner there is a,thread for free/cheap cozy mysteries. From my that site my Kindle is full of books. My 5 New auth..."

Good point, Betty, and a good way to try out new-to-you authors. Have you read any of the five yet?

I'm a cheapskate when it comes to fiction--I like to borrow from the library or buy inexpensively via my Kindle. BUT I will pay for non-fiction books (usually I only buy print) because I generally keep them and refer back to them. I find these online, at B&N, used book stores, library sales, thrift shops--wherever/whenever I see a sign for "books."

I love that I can check out new-to-me authors/books on Kindle for low prices though. Then if I enjoy their work I would be happy to pay for other books from the same author.