I also read like crazy.  Some months I spend more on books than I do on food – and I love food.  I buy plenty of new books, but I can save money and have more books by buying some of them as "used".  I say as-used because many of the books I buy are unread, and in great like-new shape.  For used I go to Amazon for some, but most of my used come from Better World Books (love their donations to literacy programs, their purchase of carbon credits, just-enough-but-not-too-much packaging, and their sense of humor), Powell's, Thrift Books, and Book Brothers.

I tried going the Audible route, but I miss the physicalness of a book.  The touch, the smell, etc.  I don't have a Kindle, but I have the Kindle app on my Touch.    I've bought a few Kindle books, but that experience too, is watered down compared to a real book.  Plus, going back pages and pages to look at an illustration, or map, or just to try to remember what someone said, is not so easy with an ebook. 

But I do think that Kindle and other e-readers are great for those who like to read when travelling or commuting.  If I didn't have my heart set on getting an iPad this year I think I'd buy a Kindle just for fun.

To answer Scout, if I'm gonna give up the tactile pleasures of a real book, the Kindle version must be a great bargain.  I don't mess with the samples.  I either buy books by authors I am already familiar with, or those that Amazon recommends based on what I've bought in the past.  Amazon is so good about this.  Not often, but every once in a while, I'll look at that long list that they recommend for me, and I'll check "already own", or "not interested".  After years of this, their recommendations can be counted on to be at least 80% accurate as to what I will like.

If a new hardcover is $17.49, for instance, and I can get a used copy for $6-7, and the paperback for $7.99 new or $4 used, then the Kindle price would have to be $8-10 for me to bite.  I'd pay for the convenience of light-weight-for-on-the-go, but would prefer the hard copy for all other reading.

As for sticking with tried and true, if I'm going to try a new author that I'm not sure about, I'll buy used paperback.  If I fall in love, then hardback will be worth the price. Since Amazon raised many of their prices on Kindle editions I haven't bought a single one, but I will when I need the portability.

I do have a backlog of book, and it's a big one.  They are all books I intend to read, but the time must be just right.  Two books in my backlog pile are the last books by those two authors before they died.  I just can't open them yet, knowing that they are the last I will get from favored authors.

Aside about games, not books:  I never intended to have an unplayed games backlog, but I ended up with one, and the fault for that lies squarely in the Bethesda/Valve lap. 

This is sad.  I buy some of my books from them, but rarely new, as I can get new cheaper elsewhere.  There are so many books that I want that buying all of them at new prices would be out of the question.  Powell's used books (at least the ones I buy) are always in good/very good condition, and the prices are competitive.  I also like the fact that they often have books that are kinda out of the mainstream - books that I can't find at just any old book reseller.  I think its funny that quite a few of the books I buy are just the books that many people THINK they should buy and read, but never do, so I get an unopened book at a used price.  This always makes my day.

With their long history, I hope that the layoffs give them breathing room to either wait out the lousy ecomomy, or reinvent themselves for the new ecomomy.  I had thought that they were doing the latter well (worldwide online sales, etc.).  I think ebooks are wonderful things in theory, and I believe that they will account for an increasingly larger share of the $$$ people spend on books, but I also think that there is nothing that beats the sensory delights of a physical book.  Books for traveling are a different story.  It's good to be able to load a dozen books on my iPod and go.

well I was very saddened to hear the Powell's is laying off employees.  What a great bookstore.

Scout said:

The future of books?

For me, someone who never NEVER dogears pages, never dribbles food or drink on books, and otherwise cares well for them, this kinda hurt to watch.  But they are also recycling books that might otherwise end up in a landfill.  The finished product is kinda cool.

I try not to fetishize books. Hell, I have built furniture out of books and that smell we're all fond of? Mildew.

I still wanted to find and club them to death with baby seals. Seeing someone dog ear or god forbid put an open book face down is physically painful. Of the thousands of books I've bought, I've sold ten. Bought them back the next day. Meritless novels but I've got 'em!

Color me insane bibliotaph.