13 votes

Where do you purchase your books online?

This is kind of a meta question I suppose, but I was wondering: where do folks here purchase books online?

(As an aside, I check out books from the library often and I would highly recommend that you do too, but there are certain books that I want to keep, highlight, and write on. The library usually doesn’t sell these.)

12 comments

  1. [5]
    Comment deleted by author
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    1. [4]
      alyaza
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      this actually makes me think it'd be neat for us as a community to compile a list of DRM free or cost free book/pdf/etc. resources. i know i personally have a few to offer up, so maybe i'll make a...

      this actually makes me think it'd be neat for us as a community to compile a list of DRM free or cost free book/pdf/etc. resources. i know i personally have a few to offer up, so maybe i'll make a post about that in a second.

      2 votes
      1. [3]
        esrever
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        I didn't know of any that weren't already listed on the site rfr linked to other than OpenLibra and Wikisource. DRM is easily stripped with calibre and DeDRM, though I do understand wanting to...

        I didn't know of any that weren't already listed on the site rfr linked to other than OpenLibra and Wikisource. DRM is easily stripped with calibre and DeDRM, though I do understand wanting to make purchases which are DRM-free to begin with as a philosophy.

        1. [2]
          alyaza
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          that would be part of why i added 'cost free' in there with DRM free, because i personally know a bunch of free digital libraries, but not really anything specifically involving DRM free stuff.

          that would be part of why i added 'cost free' in there with DRM free, because i personally know a bunch of free digital libraries, but not really anything specifically involving DRM free stuff.

          1 vote
          1. esrever
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            Oh, I'm sorry! I must have completely glossed over that point. Indeed, that does open up some additions.

            Oh, I'm sorry! I must have completely glossed over that point. Indeed, that does open up some additions.

            1 vote
  2. esrever
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    Honestly, I mainly stick to ebooks these days. If I'm looking for a physical copy and trying to avoid Amazon when shopping online, I usually go to BookFinder.com and check to see what prices are...

    Honestly, I mainly stick to ebooks these days. If I'm looking for a physical copy and trying to avoid Amazon when shopping online, I usually go to BookFinder.com and check to see what prices are like at the various online shops. If ThriftBooks has it at a decent price comparatively, I usually go with them.

    2 votes
  3. patience_limited
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    Aside from the Safari Books subscription for professional materials, I'm sad to say that Amazon owns my book collection, at least for the legitimate e-books. There was a time when I was a...

    Aside from the Safari Books subscription for professional materials, I'm sad to say that Amazon owns my book collection, at least for the legitimate e-books.

    There was a time when I was a significant presence on some "free" book sources. I take my share of the blame for the proliferation of low-quality content because legitimate authors didn't get paid.

    At one time, I probably had a couple of thousand paper books. I rarely, if ever, purchase paper any more, except as gifts for friends and loved ones.

    It's a little sad, when you think about the near-death of a medium with so much history, that served so well for so long. After Border's Books failed, it's been an increasingly depressing tour of dire airport pop-up book shops, mall chains with nothing but bad bestsellers, and peculiar-smelling antiquarian places.

    Of the genuine bookshops, Powell's Books in Portland, OR, and John K. King Books in Detroit, MI, have scratched together business models that still function, after a fashion.

    2 votes
  4. BlackCentipede
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    Probably Amazon Kindle and the library, if neither have specific book, then I just opt to go to Barnes and Noble (they have Nook and if still not available, then you probably have to obtain a hard...

    Probably Amazon Kindle and the library, if neither have specific book, then I just opt to go to Barnes and Noble (they have Nook and if still not available, then you probably have to obtain a hard copy.)

    1 vote
  5. alyaza
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    as far as online, the places i buy from are pretty consolidated at this point. i've never really found myself in a position where i needed to buy a book outside of barnes and noble, amazon,...

    as far as online, the places i buy from are pretty consolidated at this point. i've never really found myself in a position where i needed to buy a book outside of barnes and noble, amazon, and--for leftist political books--verso and zero books. between them, just about everything i'd ever want probably is carried, so yeah.

    as far as physically buying books from places, i don't have that much experience beyond the aforementioned barnes and noble. occasionally though i do visit the local book stores around here, and that's usually a pretty rewarding experience. definitely if you get the chance and if they exist, support the smaller local book stores in your area, because they're usually wonderful and in my experience they're very glad to have you buy from them.

    1 vote
  6. gyrozeppeli
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    Amazon Pragmatic Bookshelf - https://pragprog.com/ Gumroad occasionally if someone is selling their book through that
    • Amazon
    • Pragmatic Bookshelf - https://pragprog.com/
    • Gumroad occasionally if someone is selling their book through that
    1 vote
  7. OptimusPrimeRib
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    www.abebooks.com I have a painting by a listing artist. She was an illustrator as well. She had done two book illustrations that I wanted. I tracked down the 1st book on that site. Years later,...

    www.abebooks.com
    I have a painting by a listing artist. She was an illustrator as well. She had done two book illustrations that I wanted. I tracked down the 1st book on that site. Years later, her ultra rare 1919 book came across that site. I bought it too. I've never seen a physical copy of the book before!

    1 vote
  8. pleure
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    Powells!

    Powells!

    1 vote
  9. CrazyOtter
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    I'm from the UK, most of the time I try to get my books from https://www.hive.co.uk/ They give a percentage of each sale to local bookshops, you can even nominate which shop you'd like to receive...

    I'm from the UK, most of the time I try to get my books from https://www.hive.co.uk/

    They give a percentage of each sale to local bookshops, you can even nominate which shop you'd like to receive the cut.