I'm so excited about the 6th topic of this challenge, because it's one of my most favorite thing in the world: book shopping! This is something I already mentioned in the 1st challenge, so I guess it's no secret. The challenge today is to "describe how you shop for books". In this post, I'll share about how I choose a book to buy, where I buy them, and all the other stuffs related with book shopping. I assume everyone has their own habits in terms of book shopping; so if you do something differently compared to mine, feel free to share in the comment box or join this challenge here :)
In the 1st day challenge, I said that these days I buy more books through online-bookstore. My favorite online-bookstores are: pengenbuku (for local/Indonesian books) and bookdepository (for English books). Both are trustworthy for me; I have ordered lots of books from them, and everything comes to me in perfect condition. But if I didn't know what book to buy, it's kind of tiring to browse for books online - because they have so many books! Which is why I always go to goodreads first, see if there are new released books with good ratings, or good old books that I haven't got. And I also followed several publishers through Facebook, so it's easy to know their new released books - to decide which one to buy. Other than that, blog-walking to other book-bloggers is also a good idea to get inspiration for book shopping. When they write an awesome review about a book, I can't help but feel curious and want to read it myself. After knowing which book I want to get, I go to online bookstores to see if they have it, and place an order :)) *at pengenbuku, there's a chance to get autographed books. while at bookdepository, the shipping is free and there's always a bookdepository-bookmark inside the package.
But still, I can't deny that even when I buy lots of books online, there's always an urge to buy books whenever I get inside a bookstore. I have to admit that it's much more comfortable browsing for books in a bookstore, because all the books are displayed in front of us. I usually reached out my hand to the most appealing book-cover, and then start reading the back synopsis. And I also pay attention to books which have my favorite author's name on the cover. Bookstores I usually visit are Gramedia (for local/Indonesian books), Periplus (for English books), and Kinokuniya (which I rarely go because Surabaya doesn't have one).
Lastly, I also had this book-shopping habit where I use goodreads barcode scan (especially when I go to bookstores). When I spot a book that looks interesting (but I'm in doubt about it), I open my goodreads app and use the barcode scan to quickly see the ratings. It's a great tool that gets me second opinion on whether to buy it or not. If the book doesn't have a good rating, I will definitely put it back down. I guess this also helps me in restraining myself from buying too much books.
Everyone has their own way and habits in terms of book-shopping. Do you have a specific habit when you go book-shopping? Feel free to share by writing comments to this post or join this challenge in here.
But still, I can't deny that even when I buy lots of books online, there's always an urge to buy books whenever I get inside a bookstore. I have to admit that it's much more comfortable browsing for books in a bookstore, because all the books are displayed in front of us. I usually reached out my hand to the most appealing book-cover, and then start reading the back synopsis. And I also pay attention to books which have my favorite author's name on the cover. Bookstores I usually visit are Gramedia (for local/Indonesian books), Periplus (for English books), and Kinokuniya (which I rarely go because Surabaya doesn't have one).
Lastly, I also had this book-shopping habit where I use goodreads barcode scan (especially when I go to bookstores). When I spot a book that looks interesting (but I'm in doubt about it), I open my goodreads app and use the barcode scan to quickly see the ratings. It's a great tool that gets me second opinion on whether to buy it or not. If the book doesn't have a good rating, I will definitely put it back down. I guess this also helps me in restraining myself from buying too much books.
Everyone has their own way and habits in terms of book-shopping. Do you have a specific habit when you go book-shopping? Feel free to share by writing comments to this post or join this challenge in here.
I love TBD bookmarks too! ^__^
ReplyDeleteOne of the weaknesses of our local book stores is they don't arrange the categories properly, and it's often annoying!