Let’s Talk Bookish: Buying and Borrowing Books

I am so excited! The trio for the PJO TV show has been announced and I am in love with them already. I have not seen any of the actors in other films, but I have a feeling that they will be amazing in their roles. I also love the diversity in the actors. Rick Riordan said earlier that he’s not focused on what the actors look like, he’s focusing on whether they can play the character. I’m so glad he said that.

Today’s post is an LTB post that is a day late. I have not posted in a week but the end of the year is coming up and school is a bit chaotic. I counted and I only have 18 more days of school left. That cannot be true.

Let’s Talk Bookish is a weekly meme created by Rukky @ Eternity Books and hosted by Aria @ Book Nook Bits where we discuss various topics and share our opinions. Today’s topic is How do you decide what books to borrow or buy? (suggested by Jillian @ Jillian the Bookish Butterfly).

Prompts: Do you buy a lot of books? Do you borrow books from a library, or from friends? What do you look out for in books you buy? Are there any book genres you typically buy more of? Do the types of books that you buy differ from the types of books you typically borrow? Do you prefer to borrow or to buy books?

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I have always owned a lot of books. At the time of writing this, I have 121 physical books in my bookshelf. I mostly have fantasy, unsurprisingly, with contemporary and historical fiction taking second and third place, respectively. These are some of my favorite genres, so it makes sense that I have them the most.

The books I usually buy are ones that I think I’ll love. My sense of whether I’ll like a book is pretty accurate, and I keep a majority of the books I buy. Sometimes, I base whether or not I’ll buy a book based on reviews I read. If it’s generally positive, I’ll be more likely to buy it. If there’s a bit of controversy, I’ll probably borrow it. I tend to buy books that have some sort of diverse representation in them. A lot of the books I own have Asian-American protagonists in them, which is something that I can personally identify with.

My go-to place to borrow books from is Libby. It’s an app that connects you with your local library, so you can check out ebooks and audiobooks for no cost. All you need is a library card. I have gotten so many books from Libby in the past year, since I’m not going to the physical library. It’s seriously a life saver. I can save money and time with it.

Related post: Libby: All About the Platform and How it Works

Books I borrow are typically ones that I read just for the hype or ones that seem to have a lot of differing opinions. There are a lot of books on my TBR that got there because of the hype surrounding them. I may not necessarily be completed interested in the book, but if it sounds like something I may like, I’ll add it. I’ll also check a book out with Libby if I want to read it right away.

I almost never borrow books from friends. I may have a few times, or maybe that was borrowing books from family members, I don’t really remember. I also never lend books to other people, so that may be a factor. But I usually don’t need to borrow books from a friend, so it just never happens.

Overall, I prefer to buy books. The knowledge that the book is mine and that I can take my time with it is nice. Also, most of the books I borrow are ebooks and I prefer physical books for the majority of the time. However, borrowing books does have its pros. If I don’t like the book, then I’m not stuck with it filling another spot on my bookshelf.

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Do you like to buy or borrow books more? Is there a difference in them?