The Price of Books
Discussion
Am I becoming a grumpy old man before my time, or are books becoming increasingly expensive?
I managed to find a softback copy of a book I've been after for a while, as well as noticing a newly released hardback by the same author. (Neil Asher for anyone curious, he writes excellent sci-fi).
Cowl, the softback, was £7.99...
This is crazy for a 300 page softcover!
The hardback ("Brass Man" admittedly a big book) was £19.
Most of the new release books seem to weigh in at about the same price, with the exception of the very few ultra-sellers that tescos etc discount to the bone (£12 IIRC for Thud was reasonable for a hardback, Paid less than a tenner for the last potter hardback and that was the size of a breeze block!).
I randomly go through phases of book buying, despite reading a couple a week I've a library of literally thousands so I tend to buy the latest books by my few "must own" authors and randomly spend a few months a year buying a couple a week when I fancy something new.
Are we going to see the start of "book piracy"? At softback prices pushing a tenner, it would be worth it for someone to feed a copy through OCR and print them themselves...
I managed to find a softback copy of a book I've been after for a while, as well as noticing a newly released hardback by the same author. (Neil Asher for anyone curious, he writes excellent sci-fi).
Cowl, the softback, was £7.99...
This is crazy for a 300 page softcover!
The hardback ("Brass Man" admittedly a big book) was £19.
Most of the new release books seem to weigh in at about the same price, with the exception of the very few ultra-sellers that tescos etc discount to the bone (£12 IIRC for Thud was reasonable for a hardback, Paid less than a tenner for the last potter hardback and that was the size of a breeze block!).
I randomly go through phases of book buying, despite reading a couple a week I've a library of literally thousands so I tend to buy the latest books by my few "must own" authors and randomly spend a few months a year buying a couple a week when I fancy something new.
Are we going to see the start of "book piracy"? At softback prices pushing a tenner, it would be worth it for someone to feed a copy through OCR and print them themselves...
... 
My point being more the rate of increase, and unfortunately the rate I pile through, unless its highly technical or otherwise requires a lot of thought or internal translation (ie try reading Machiavelli's "The Prince", its small but will take a while to plow through due to the writing style being several centuries old) then I can easily clear 150 pages an hour.
I'm sure it was about a fiver for most softbacks last year...
I'm sure it was about a fiver for most softbacks last year...
Machiavelli's "The Prince" £3.99 from Amazon. (fee postage on orders over £15...
)
I'd say books are in fact cheaper due to the big stores and companies like Amazon. The downside is the independent bookshops are suffering and the less popular titles will be relatively expensive and harder to find.
) I'd say books are in fact cheaper due to the big stores and companies like Amazon. The downside is the independent bookshops are suffering and the less popular titles will be relatively expensive and harder to find.
lots of very cheap secondhand books on Amazon Marketplace - lots of independent/small book stores sell through there.
I get most of my books from there & the wife recently saved £200 on the booklist for her MA course.
I do prefer brand new books, but I get through 1 a week & this makes so much more sense.
Abebooks is pretty good too.
I get most of my books from there & the wife recently saved £200 on the booklist for her MA course.
I do prefer brand new books, but I get through 1 a week & this makes so much more sense.
Abebooks is pretty good too.
Hmm Cowl softback and Brass Man hardback for under £18 from amazon bought together...
New Feist Hardback £11 instead of the £20 retail.
Judas Unchained - the new Peter F Hamilton 1000 page hardback - £11 (Never buy his softbacks! They are just too big to survive years of re-reading in softback format.)
Looks like Ottakers / Waterstones / the rest of the bookshops I frequent are going to lose my business. I didnt realise there was such a price differential!
Its a shame really, I like bookshops and browsing through them - every so often a new author jumps out at you and your able to have a quick flick through and see if it grabs you.
New Feist Hardback £11 instead of the £20 retail.
Judas Unchained - the new Peter F Hamilton 1000 page hardback - £11 (Never buy his softbacks! They are just too big to survive years of re-reading in softback format.)
Looks like Ottakers / Waterstones / the rest of the bookshops I frequent are going to lose my business. I didnt realise there was such a price differential!
Its a shame really, I like bookshops and browsing through them - every so often a new author jumps out at you and your able to have a quick flick through and see if it grabs you.
c c said:
Machiavelli's "The Prince" £3.99 from Amazon. (fee postage on orders over £15...
...or it's free to download here at Project Gutenberg.
It's an online catalogue of about 17,000 books whose copyright has expired. Mainly old stuff, and obviously you'd either have to read them on screen or print them out yourself, but it's good to know. I downloaded Gulliver's Travels, The Prince, Thus Spake Zarathustra and The Art Of War from there.
ecks ridgehead said:
Machiavelli's "The Prince" £3.99 from Amazon. (fee postage on orders over £15...
...or it's free to download here at Project Gutenberg.
It's an online catalogue of about 17,000 books whose copyright has expired. Mainly old stuff, and obviously you'd either have to read them on screen or print them out yourself, but it's good to know. I downloaded Gulliver's Travels, The Prince, Thus Spake Zarathustra and The Art Of War from there.
Great when its quiet at work as well.
They've got most of the classics, but there are a lot of gaps due to the constant extension of copyrights in the states...
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