Despite what I have recently written about libraries, and I do indeed believe they are very important, I really use them very little. I’m not quite sure why but I do love to own my books. It is an inconvenient feeling and in many ways it would be better otherwise.
And then there is the question of how and where to buy them. I love bookshops, independent ones especially, but I do buy from Amazon. I do buy from Amazon a lot. The pandemic and the lockdowns made this habit worse. It is just too tempting; too cheap; too easy and so quick. And yet I clearly understand that those lovely bookshops will disappear if they are not used sufficiently.
One reading habit that is unforgivable is to buy from Amazon, read the book and then return it, getting your money back. When this happens Amazon obviously doesn’t count it as a sale and thus the author gets no fee.
My conscience, which is troubled by the seductive practices of this behemoth, is at least clear of cheating writers.
There does though remain the problem of buying second hand. I use Biblio which gives access to a whole variety of small, independent second hand book sellers. That sounds good in itself and works fine if your book is out of print. However, they also offer nearly new novels and volumes of poetry that are in good condition and vastly cheaper than buying new. So I might be supporting a small book business but I do know that this means the writer is not getting their fee.
Hence the dodgy conscience.