Escape the Tower: Booking Through Thursday (3)

Booking Through Thursday is a weekly book meme about (mostly) books and reading, hosted by Booking Through Thursday.

Some people like to be surrounded by books, and keep everything they’ve ever read. Others don’t like the clutter, and keep them long enough to read them. Most people seem to be somewhere in the middle…

Do you buy the books you read, or do you borrow them from the library or from friends or from somewhere else?

I either buy or borrow from the library. The reason that I can't borrow from a friend is because I will not lend a book that I really like. I learned in high school that when you lend a book four out of five times you will never see it again. Yet while I will assume a person borrowing from me won't return a book, I assume that they want it back. In as good if not better condition than they lent the book in. The stress is just too much for me.

Do you prefer new or used books?
I don't really mind whether the book is used or new. I only care about the condition it is in. I like my books to look new but they don't have to be new.

If you buy them, do you keep them?
I used to keep every book that I bought but I just don't have the room. And keeping books that I bought in middle school is just excessive because I am not going to read those books again because I have outgrown them. I try only to keep the books that I really like and most likely will reread again even if I have to make time to do so.

On the other hand because of my Nook if I buy a book in the e-version I can't really give it to my library or a friend. Legally I am the only one who can read that version and because the Nook can hold so many books I don't see the point in erasing the book just because I finished reading it. Even if I really hate the book I can just put it in my archives so it will not take up space on my Nook.

If you don’t keep them, how long do you hold on to them before letting them go? What do you do with them?
I give most of them to my library. How long it takes depends on when I have the time and energy to lug the books over. I have also given a few of them to family members and the fastest that I have given a book away that way was literally a few hours after I finished the book.