Musing Mondays (Nov.8)

Today’s musing is a sort of “read and respond”…

A blog I frequent suggested I check out several articles of interest… one of them which happened to be this one: “Trendspotting: Readers’ Spending On Books“. So — being the avid reader & book junkie that I am — I couldn’t help but click over and read the short piece about readers’ current spending habits.

My questions for today are ones that are asked at the end of this particular article: What are  your responses to this report? Does it match with what you –as a reader– have observed? With your own buying habits? When was the last time you bought a book? What did you buy and why?

My response is a little bit of shock, actually. For one, I didn’t know –even though it makes sense– that hardcovers were where publishers made their money. But, I can definitely understand why readers might not be buying so many of them… they’re expensive! And, if you read the responses of a previous Musing Monday, you’ll see that most readers buy hardcovers only when they intend to keep them in their collection — for general reading purposes, trade paperbacks are the preference.

The fact that eBook sales have increased does not surprise me. That’s the new trend. And, with more and more eReader devices becoming cheaper as time goes by, more readers are giving in to the temptation to buy them and give them a whirl. I know this because, in my online groups, I frequently hear the refrain, “I finally gave in and bought myself a [name of eReader device].“

The fact that nonfiction sales are down did surprise me a little, though. But, maybe with the current obsession with “vampire” or paranormal fiction, that’s why? Who knows. It does worry me a little, mind you, given that I’ve been wanting to write my own book, and I lean more toward writing nonfiction!

My own buying habits don’t really fit into this picture, as I’ve not bought many “new” books, recently (if I have bought any books, lately, they’ve been secondhand from the Goodwill store, or from the library book sale).

The last time I bought a “new” book was last month, though, when I purchased a hardcover copy of “Halo” by Alexandra Adornetto from Wal-Mart. I did so because I’d just prior to then found that book online and put it on my TBR list… so, when I came across a cheapo ($15) copy at Wal-Mart, I had to have it!

PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT with either the link to your own Musing Mondays post, or share your answer in a comment here (if you don’t have a blog). Thanks!