July 30, 2009

Money Wasters to Avoid: Books

by

Do you really need to spend money on this?

Do you really need to spend money on this?

Buying the newest hardcover is not very smart, says a helpful article in the Baltimore Sun.  Huh? The same newspaper that just unloaded their Books Editor (in the same industry that constantly wails, help us! Print is dying!) encouraged its online readers yesterday to avoid buying books (among other things).  Apparently, this is one of the easiest ways for the paper to help its readers trim expenses during this current economic climate.  Should we not buy newspapers or magazines as well? Well, they didn’t say that!

The Sun lists a whole slew of things to avoid in these difficult times: buying movies, eating out, going to bars, even owning a pet (time to give up Fido. Sure, your four-legged friend may be fun and loving, but between food, vet bills and toys, how much are they really costing you?).  They make some good points (stop buying $10 packs of cigarettes, stay within the speed limit to avoid having to pay speeding tickets), but many of the things they warn against seem plain silly. It appears that nobody is paying attention to editorial content at the paper anymore.

And what do you do if you don’t buy a book, or watch a movie, or can no longer cuddle with your puppy?  Every one deserves a little indulgence, and nobody deserves to sit home alone on a Saturday night staring at a wall, just because our economy has hit a rough patch.  The paper offers up some meager alternatives, but they neglect to look at the real economics of the situation.  By not eating out, buying books, or taking your car to the car wash, in the long run you’re hurting the local economy, of which you are a part.  What if your livelihood is as a bookseller?  What happens when the local independent bookstore shuts down? The economy will turn around, but right now it is important to both save and spend.

The article instead speaks volumes about the state of the particular newspaper: instead of running an informative, intelligent article on smart ways to be savvy with your money during a recession, the paper throws together a mishmash of suggestions in as many pictures as words. The Sun, a local business in dire financial straits itself, should be more self-conscious.

In fact, now is the time to buy books.  Spending $25 on a hardcover goes a long way: a book is something to own, cherish, share, and read over and over again.  A far more sound entertainment investment than a night at the movies, or dinner out on the town (although both things that I won’t be giving up either!).  So support your local bookstores and show the Baltimore Sun that we haven’t forgotten how much of a treasure a book is.

  • http://www.petelit.com Pete

    If it’s unneccesary frivolities they’d like us to cut, a daily print copy of the Baltimore Sun would be a very good place to start.

  • http://www.petelit.com Pete

    If it’s unneccesary frivolities they’d like us to cut, a daily print copy of the Baltimore Sun would be a very good place to start.

  • http://www.candlelightstories.com Alessandro Cima

    I spend a lot of time in Washington, D.C. and Baltimore and I can tell you with absolute certainty that the reason The Sun would print a list suggesting that people in Baltimore should not buy books is because they can. I don’t know if you’ve ever been to Baltimore, but people not buying books there is already the normal course of business.

    Unless you are on the Hopkins campus, don’t look for books in Baltimore. Get out while you can still read.

  • http://www.candlelightstories.com Alessandro Cima

    I spend a lot of time in Washington, D.C. and Baltimore and I can tell you with absolute certainty that the reason The Sun would print a list suggesting that people in Baltimore should not buy books is because they can. I don’t know if you’ve ever been to Baltimore, but people not buying books there is already the normal course of business.

    Unless you are on the Hopkins campus, don’t look for books in Baltimore. Get out while you can still read.

  • http://mattcozart.blogspot.com Matt

    I dunno. I’ve kind of always thought people who actually paid full price for new hardcover books were kind of foolish (unless it’s as a gift). Most of them end up at used bookstores for 6 or 8 bucks, for like a 75% discount! I try never to pay the sticker price for books. It just takes some patience.

  • http://mattcozart.blogspot.com Matt

    I dunno. I’ve kind of always thought people who actually paid full price for new hardcover books were kind of foolish (unless it’s as a gift). Most of them end up at used bookstores for 6 or 8 bucks, for like a 75% discount! I try never to pay the sticker price for books. It just takes some patience.

  • http://www.theoccasional.org Andrew Hazlett

    The Baltimore Sun book blog bites back at the finance section today: http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/entertainment/books/blog/2009/07/in_defense_of_books.html

  • http://www.theoccasional.org Andrew Hazlett

    The Baltimore Sun book blog bites back at the finance section today: http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/entertainment/books/blog/2009/07/in_defense_of_books.html

  • http://www.constellaitonbooks.com Lauretta Nagel

    Speaking as a Baltimore area independent bookseller, I must say

    a) Thank you for noticing us indies – we can use the love in this economy!

    b) There ARE great indie bookstores in Baltimore and the surrounding area. Atomic Books, Breathe Books, The Ivy, The Children’s Bookstore, Daedalus, The Book Escape, Sepia, Sand & Sable, Red Canoe, Red
    Emma’s…and that’s just IN Baltimore City.

    c) It has been my experience that Baltimoreans buy books. They may
    not always buy NEW books but they buy them. God bless ‘em.

    Books are a relatively inexpensive vice and are recyclable and green
    (especially if you buy local from a seller that buys from a publisher
    who re-plants the forest from which they take the paper).

    Thank you again
    Lauretta

    PS The Sun *does* run a nice Book Blog called Read Street.

  • http://www.constellaitonbooks.com Lauretta Nagel

    Speaking as a Baltimore area independent bookseller, I must say

    a) Thank you for noticing us indies – we can use the love in this economy!

    b) There ARE great indie bookstores in Baltimore and the surrounding area. Atomic Books, Breathe Books, The Ivy, The Children’s Bookstore, Daedalus, The Book Escape, Sepia, Sand & Sable, Red Canoe, Red
    Emma’s…and that’s just IN Baltimore City.

    c) It has been my experience that Baltimoreans buy books. They may
    not always buy NEW books but they buy them. God bless ‘em.

    Books are a relatively inexpensive vice and are recyclable and green
    (especially if you buy local from a seller that buys from a publisher
    who re-plants the forest from which they take the paper).

    Thank you again
    Lauretta

    PS The Sun *does* run a nice Book Blog called Read Street.

  • http://gametorg.net babafisa

    I’m tempted to say “what a load of crap!” just for the sake of irony, but I’ll refrain

  • http://gametorg.net babafisa

    I’m tempted to say “what a load of crap!” just for the sake of irony, but I’ll refrain

  • k.sol

    With you on the books, but I’m more horrified about the dog thing. One thing to not bring a new pet into the house when you’re strapped… but do they propose you just drop an existing animal off at the shelter, likely to be euthanized? As far as the family dog is concerned, you are his family. Doesn’t appear that the article makes that distinction, which I think is terribly unethical and cruel. I realize some families are in desperate straits and have had to resort to giving up pets, but it should be a last option, not on a list of money-saving tips along with giving up the daily latte. I’m not some wild-eyed animal rightist here, just a responsible dog-owner.

  • k.sol

    With you on the books, but I’m more horrified about the dog thing. One thing to not bring a new pet into the house when you’re strapped… but do they propose you just drop an existing animal off at the shelter, likely to be euthanized? As far as the family dog is concerned, you are his family. Doesn’t appear that the article makes that distinction, which I think is terribly unethical and cruel. I realize some families are in desperate straits and have had to resort to giving up pets, but it should be a last option, not on a list of money-saving tips along with giving up the daily latte. I’m not some wild-eyed animal rightist here, just a responsible dog-owner.

  • http://www.unboundblogzine.com hagelrat

    I only occasionally buy hardbacks, usually if it’s a favourite author and eight months really is too long to wait for the next fix. I rarely leave a bookstore without two or three paperbacks happily freed from their shelves though and in this economy while I am buying less music, fewer movies and clothing/makeup etc has fallen away almost completely, my book buying has remained sacrosanct.

  • http://www.unboundblogzine.com hagelrat

    I only occasionally buy hardbacks, usually if it’s a favourite author and eight months really is too long to wait for the next fix. I rarely leave a bookstore without two or three paperbacks happily freed from their shelves though and in this economy while I am buying less music, fewer movies and clothing/makeup etc has fallen away almost completely, my book buying has remained sacrosanct.

Stories from related categories