Why we should buy lots of books
Yesterday I decided pretty much at the last minute to book a ticket for Inspector Morse: House of Ghosts, a play which is having a short run at the Lyceum in Sheffield. Of course I am curious to see how Tom Chambers, who is playing Morse, will measure up to the great John Thaw, but that is not what I want to write about today (though I may report back on it). It is the cost of theatre tickets that struck me as worth thinking about. The best seats at the Lyceum will set you back £47.50.I know that is cheap by West End standards and of course it costs a lot to put on a theatrical production and that is fine. It is good value in its own way.
Still, a few hours previously I had gone into Waterstone’s where I bought a copy of Golden Age Whodunnits, edited by Otto Penzler, which cost £8.99. It is almost 400 pages long and will provide me with hours of entertainment. It struck me not for the first time, what an amazing bargain a book is. My copy of The Count of Monte Cristo, purchased a few months ago, was even better value: same price for over 1200 pages. All that for under a tenner! Books can be so many things: they can become old friends who comfort and soothe, they can be portals into strange and disturbing worlds, they can be a place to live when real life gets too much – and so much more. You can read them again and again. You can lend or give them to friends. You can pass them on to a charity shop and benefit a deserving cause.
I used sometimes to feel that I was buying too many books and perhaps I should have the occasional break. I don’t feel that now. I also used to feel that buying a hardback was an extravagance and that I should wait for the paperback. But – most authors do not make much money and they need those royalties. So if I want it, and I can afford it, I’ll have it. And I will usually buy it in a real bookshop or from Bookshop.org.
I’ve left the most amazing thing for last. You can also get books for free at your local library and writers benefit from that too through the public lending rights scheme. So support your local bookshop and your local library. I love them both.
6 Comments
Margot Kinberg
October 29, 2025Books really are such a wonderful bargain, aren’t they, Christine? When you think of the enjoyment one gets from a book, to say nothing of the way books make so many things (like rail commutes, doctor visits, etc.) more pleasant, they’re even more of a bargain. And yet, we so often hesitate to buy a book, thinking, ‘I’m on a budget – shouldn’t spend money that way.’
I get that point of view; I’m on a budget, myself, like most people. But honestly, a book is a value at twice the price, considering what you can get from it. And buying a book makes some author somewhere very happy…
Christine Poulson
October 29, 2025Thanks, Margot. Yes, a lovely new paperback is a real treat, and then there is the thrill of discovering a book you have long wanted in a second hand bookshop. Few things have given me more unalloyed pleasure.A bargain, really …
Bev@My Reader's Block
October 30, 2025Books are the most wonderful, magical things. And, while I enjoy theatrical performances and musical concerts, those entertainments are so ephemeral. A book–especially a physical book–once purchased is yours forever (barring accidents to it) and never changes. Your reactions to it may change over time, but the book is the same. No two performances are ever the same–a slightly different emphasis or tone here, a difference in the passion in the musical performance there can change the play or concert in subtle or not-so-subtle ways.
And, Christine, I absolutely agree–it is thrilling to find a book that’s been on the To Be Found List for ages. And it’s also thrilling to scan the shelves and find a treasure that you never knew you needed. There are so many great authors that I’ve discovered by chance while searching for something I’ve long wanted.
Christine Poulson
October 30, 2025What a lovely comment, Bev! Thank you! and yes, sometimes the books you come across by chance or buy on a whim become precious friends who go on enriching your life for years.
Moira@Clothes in Books
November 3, 2025You must have known I would agree with every word!
I used to very rarely buy anything but paperbacks, waiting longingly for a favourite author to move from hardback (it’s a strange system when you think about it, not really paralleled in other areas), but 20+ years ago made the decision to not wait around, read it while it’s fresh! Have never regretted the change, it’s money well spent.
I also have a mental cap on how much I will pay for an out of print book I’m looking for: it’s never clear why some are available for pennies, and others are ludicrously over-priced. But I have conscientiously raised the cap over the years. I wonder what other people’s top prices are….?
Christine Poulson
November 3, 2025indeed! Yes, a strange system, not really paralleled elsewhere, I agree. The nearest equivalent is perhaps the brand of clothes that is so expensive that I nearly always wait for the sale. Yes, I have a cap on what I am prepared to pay for an out of print book, but I can’t say exactly what it is. I am not a collector, only a reader, so certainly wouldn’t pay hundreds for a rare first edition.