Monday, August 17, 2009

Referring to Reference books


Had a wonderful time on Saturday hanging out in Sisters with a good writing friend. She needed to get away form her hectic newspaper schedule and two young sons and I was ready for some girl talk. We met at a coffee shop, visited, then meandered through the tourist shops, visiting. As is normal for writers, we spent the longest time in a used book store. My friend came out with a couple more books to add to her Pearl S. Buck collection and gift. I purchased Steven King's book on writing. She said it was good and I've had several other people tell me it is a good book to help with inspiration and craft. And used.. I could fork over a couple dollars for it.

I don't know about you but I am partial to purchasing used books for my reference books. They're cheaper and I don't feel bad if I want to highlight sections or turn down corners or put tabs on pages. I received two last week on gambling and riverboat gamblers. They are both interesting and I have already marked pages that I know I'll return to as I write other stories that will use gambling and gamblers.

Do you have an aversion ot purchasing used books? I try to purchase new frpm romance authors knowing it helps their sales, but when it come to reference. The less expensive it is the better.

9 comments:

susan said...

Hi Paty, i buy new books too but if I can add some from yard sales and used bookstores that helps me and allows me more money for the new ones I want. Does that make sense?Hard to believe it's the middle of AUGUST. SUSAN l.

susan said...

your books looks so good. I retired recently and sure been ading new authors to my list and your name is there too. Happy AUGUST. SUSAN l.

Judy said...

I like buying my books new, mainly for the sales of the authors. When I stop by a garage sale, I always check out the books they have, alot of times they have the older books that are now out of print and hard to get. I really get excited when I find one of those:)
HAPPY AUGUST!!

SiNn said...

Hi paty Happy August time for back to school and new projects i have to say i like the idea of buying used referance books your right you do feel less guilty when you mark in them then you would when its new.

Anonymous said...

I'm not a writer, just a reader. Books that I am reading I buy new. When my kids were in college, we always bought used if they were available. For short term use it saved a lot of money. And speaking of college makes me realize that it is AUGUST.

Lauri said...

I'm with you, I love to find reference and research books used, for the same purpose, highlighing and page tags. Favorite authors I buy new, but have to admit to picking up vacation reads (by the dozens) at my library's annual book sales.

Paty Jager said...

I wasn't sure my contest experiment would work this well. I'm lovin' it! Thank you all who are entering my monthly website contest- via my blog.

susan said...

Morning Paty, so glad the comments are coming in for this. I know I already added my comments but wanted to stop by anyways and tell you some news that just happened to me. I love cook books but do not normally buy new ones as , let's face it I rather spend money on good books with great story lines and not a food dish. ha ha Anyways I found this sale going on and I ended up with a big box of cookbooks for just a couple dollars. Now this made my day . I was so happy I stopped after work and got three brand new books from the book shelves in wal-mart and they weren't COOKBOOKS either. ha Now I think I already added my limit for AUGUST.

Unknown said...

When it comes to reference books, I am all about the used books. BUT when it comes to my romances, there is nothing like a new book!

Have a really happy AUGUST!

Val
lastnerve2000@gmail.com