Bat Cave Consumer Survey

This is what happens when you flit in and out of Twitter. You miss brouhahas. There was apparently one yesterday, courtesy of a New York Times article. The uproar stemmed over (what else?) the sharing of e-books. I'm not going to rehash it here. Dear Author can give you the scoop, and my opinion on e-books as a whole has not changed since I wrote this piece for Romancing The Blog back in June.

Instead of wading into the Dear Author fray (sorry Jane, I'm just not up for it today), I thought I'd spin this whole thing in another direction. I'd been kicking the idea around anyway as potential blog fodder, and this brouhaha is too convenient to ignore. Specifically, what are the book buying habits of other readers?

I've never made a secret of the fact that the main reason I'm a participant in the romance reading community online is that I love "talking" to other romance readers. I love reading different opinions. I love hearing about what everyone is reading. I love hearing about what you like and don't like. And to be honest? I'm a librarian. I could talk books non-stop, all day long, and I'd be one happy girl.

So to satisfy my curiosity, and just to talk books, I'd love to hear about how everyone "gets" their books. How do you keep yourself in reading material? To kick it off - I thought I'd share mine.

• What I Buy New:

Hard cover books for those authors I can't wait for in paperback. This is a very select number. At this point? Maybe only 3 or 4? Any mass market paperbacks I just have to have. Especially historicals, and especially if it's a western. Any western that lands on my shopping list is bought new. It's my pathetic attempt to show publishers that some of us still like to read them. A select number of trade paperbacks. Depends on the author and genre - but these are mostly erotic romance or erotica.

• What I Get From Work (The Library):

All my audio books. The only time I buy audio books is for my father, for either his birthday or Christmas. I love 'em, but damn, they're expensive. Also, any hard cover books or trade paperbacks I'm not willing to fork over my own cash for. Authors whose last few books weren't that great for me, new-to-me authors, authors who I should probably give up on....but can't. Also, since I've been moderating a romance panel for our annual literary event for the past several years - I tend to get almost all my "homework reading" through work.

• ARCs, Swag And Buying Used:

I accept a small number of ARCs that I review for the blog. And by small number, I mean small. The Bat Cave has no staff of reviewers. Folks, it's just me. If I had to put an estimate on the number of ARCs I accept? Not even one a month. Seriously. It's a handful a year.

I'm getting some of my Harlequins through Sybil these days, and am reviewing them for her (although I've been slacking lately because of an evil slump). This has been great, because it's allowed me to travel "outside my comfort zone" of Harlequin Historical and Harlequin SuperRomance and try some of the different lines, with no "risk" to me, other than I might have to read and review a book I didn't like.

I do pick up swag at conferences, and swap print books with the So. Cal. Bloggers. These generally tend to be books I'm "on the fence" about. New to me authors I'm curious to try. Authors whose last book I wasn't in love with, but I wanted to give them another go. That sort of thing. Also, I unabashedly pick up any YA books at conferences and give them to the Lil' Sis for her classroom. She teaches high school English, keeps a small lending library in her classroom for her students, and most of those books are bought with her own money (OK, so she gets a tax write-off for it - but still). So yeah. I take freebies for her and the kids, usually disclosing this fact to authors when I do (and let me tell you, they're usually more than happy to know that's where the book is going.)

I'm also a member of PaperbackSwap, and love frequenting used bookstores. These days I reserve both for out-of-print titles and those "on the fence" books I mentioned above.

• What I Get In "E" And What I Get As Dead Tree:

98% of my Harlequin reading is done electronically these days. I still pick up Dead Tree Harlequins for out of print titles (that aren't available in e-format) or if the book is a keeper. I know it's warped, but I like seeing "tangible" keeper books. It probably sounds silly, but it makes me happy, so there you go. I still go with Dead Tree for everything else - unless I want to read it while I'm traveling. Then I get it in e-format and load it on Ye Olde Sony Reader.

Are your eyes glazed over yet? I can't help it - I truly am this dorky. I never get tired of talking about stuff like this. The rest of you might have fallen asleep. However, just in case you haven't - feel free to share some of your habits in the comments section. Or better yet? Take it over to your own blog. Because heaven knows I rambled on for a while....