Timewaster's Guide Archive

Departments => Books => Topic started by: fuzzyoctopus on January 16, 2005, 08:09:14 PM

Title: Fell off the wagon
Post by: fuzzyoctopus on January 16, 2005, 08:09:14 PM: Gah, amazon and half.com are taunting me. "Buy more booooooks!" they whisper in my ear. "More boooooks!"

"No!" I cry, "I already spent $40 on books at half.com this month!"

"No, no - not enough! MORE books."

I was doing so well for years, I'd stopped buying books and stuck to libraries. Now I'm back on the book buying binge again, and I don't know how to stop other than abject poverty.

Help?
Title: Re: Fell off the wagon
Post by: Eagle Prince on January 16, 2005, 08:13:39 PM: Yeah I got the same problem with movies. If you find a way, let me know. heh.
Title: Re: Fell off the wagon
Post by: Entsuropi on January 16, 2005, 08:16:34 PM: I suggest blindness.
Title: Re: Fell off the wagon
Post by: fuzzyoctopus on January 16, 2005, 08:24:16 PM: Ooooooh..... yes that would work.
Title: Re: Fell off the wagon
Post by: Mad Dr Jeffe on January 16, 2005, 08:27:56 PM: "Buy more booooooks! yes precious, booksies"
Title: Re: Fell off the wagon
Post by: stacer on January 16, 2005, 09:02:47 PM: Get an internship at the Horn Book. Or go to ALA. I just got 6 free ARCs and 4 or 5 picture book galleys. I could have gotten more if I were interested in the subject matter. And I'm going back for more tomorrow.

Better yet, though, I got two business cards of people to send my resume to.
Title: Re: Fell off the wagon
Post by: The Holy Saint, Grand High Poobah, Master of Monkeys, Ehlers on January 16, 2005, 09:26:33 PM: actually, what stopped my book buying (temporarily) was working 5 minutes from a public library. I did most of my reading at that point at work after lunch, so I'd go borrow a pile, read them all. I'd make at least a trip a week.
Title: Re: Fell off the wagon
Post by: fuzzyoctopus on January 16, 2005, 10:58:04 PM: Yeah it's probably partially due to not being on campus anymore and therefore not just being near a library daily.
Title: Re: Fell off the wagon
Post by: Peter Ahlstrom on January 17, 2005, 01:32:31 AM: Give yourself a book allowance and stick to it.

There's nothing wrong with buying books. I've got quite a few, and I prefer hardbacks, so I've spent quite a bit. But you've got to find some balance with...oh...paying back loans...

Karen volunteer(s)(ed) in a "friends of the library" bookstore so she picks up quite a few old books cheap from there.
Title: Re: Fell off the wagon
Post by: Mistress of Darkness on January 17, 2005, 11:06:17 AM: My success in this department is the budget, like Ookla suggested. Only since I'm in charge of the whole budget I have an overall picture of how little we have in saving, and how little there is left over at the end of the month.

Right now I have a "list" on which I have put some of the big purchases I would like to save up for. This helps me remember not to nickle and dime all of my free money away.
Title: Re: Fell off the wagon
Post by: Lieutenant Kije on January 17, 2005, 12:27:00 PM: Man, I thought this thread was some stupid joke about Fellfrosch.

Well, here's my solution to your book buying problem. Just give me all your money, and I promise you won't buy any more books. It's that simple.
Title: Re: Fell off the wagon
Post by: House of Mustard on January 17, 2005, 12:28:20 PM: I have a sure fire way to stop buying books: be really poor. It's worked for me!
Title: Re: Fell off the wagon
Post by: Fellfrosch on January 17, 2005, 12:34:25 PM: Kije, I think this thread is about me every time I see it--despite having checked it several times and being fully aware that it's not. Such are the depths of my arrogance.
Title: Re: Fellfrosch off the wagon
Post by: fuzzyoctopus on January 17, 2005, 04:33:27 PM: Well that wasn't my intention, but it amuses me regardless.
Title: Re: Fell off the wagon
Post by: Oseleon on February 01, 2005, 12:28:06 PM: I have the problem with the Used book store arround the corner from me.
It's huge! A larger Library than Boarders, Shelves to the ceiling and Blessed DUST (I love a book store with dusty shelves)
Anyway, I can't go in there anymore cause I'll go to a section, start at AA and grab everything off the shelf I find intresting....
So, now I have a stack of unread books a Mile high and other books on the stack that I had been working my through already!
I have TOO MUCH to read (Or not enough time)
Title: Re: Fell off the wagon
Post by: The Holy Saint, Grand High Poobah, Master of Monkeys, Ehlers on February 01, 2005, 12:31:54 PM: we should all be able to just quit and read all day.
Title: Re: Fell off the wagon
Post by: Spriggan on February 01, 2005, 02:01:27 PM: I don't know if it's anything any of you would think worth buying (except maybe SE) but I just spend $40 on a 1000 page XML manual. It's a good deal considering Programming books usealy cose about $40 for 200-300 page and the 1000+ page books usealy go for $120 or more.
Title: Re: Fell off the wagon
Post by: The Holy Saint, Grand High Poobah, Master of Monkeys, Ehlers on February 02, 2005, 09:00:44 AM: ...

/me adds it to the list.
Title: Re: Fell off the wagon
Post by: MoreDew on February 03, 2005, 01:17:11 AM: used bookstores are so dangerous for me. I always leave them with a ton of books and no money. I always buy the cool stuff that's out of print.
Title: Re: Fell off the wagon
Post by: Master Gopher on February 07, 2005, 06:42:24 AM: My ~~two~~ ~~three~~ four book related wishes: (at least, I think there's just two...)

- being able to read some books again for the 1st time
- being able to buy all the books I love in hardcover
- being able to buy all the books I want
- being able to read all the books that are near my bed. I used to do this by ignoring my work. However, I do want to pass the odd exam, so *sighhh*
Title: Re: Fell off the wagon
Post by: Peter Ahlstrom on February 08, 2005, 11:51:15 AM: Karen volunteer(s/ed) at the Newport Beach Library Friends of the Library store every first Saturday (since we're moving, she's quitting, but turns out we're not moving THAT far away, so...hmmm). When she was closing up this week I walked by the $1 hardback book cart, and they had a beautiful copy of Sylvia Engdahl's Enchantress from the Stars that I just had to get. Great book from 1970, and the new 2001 edition is gorgeous.
Title: Re: Fell off the wagon
Post by: Oldie Black Witch on February 09, 2005, 05:10:29 AM: I love the Newport Beach Library. The architecture was the only thing that kept me and my brothers from going insane when our mother used to drag us down there to do geneology.
Title: Re: Fell off the wagon
Post by: fuzzyoctopus on February 24, 2005, 04:00:12 AM: Rawr. See and now I'm REALLY broke. I suppose I could use all this free time to, you know, go to the library or something...