The Path of a Used Book, or why the Kindle and the Book are Two Different Species

Robin Agnew

Just pulling a few used books off our shelves, here's what I come up with:

A Virgin on the Rocks by Michael Butterworth.  This has a price sticker on the back (something I am about to rectify) for $2.25.  This was the price we charged for used books when we opened the store 17 years ago.  Thanks to inflation and an ever increasing rent, our used books are now $3.50.  This book, published in 1985 by Canadian publisher Totem Crime (a division of Collins) is still in pretty good shape.  The pages are tight and there are a few creases and chips on the spine, but other than that it's good to go.

Appleby on Arrarat by Michael Innes.  This one is priced at the standard $3.50 (Innes sells pretty steadily no matter what, so no old price sticker).  This book, a copy printed in 1964, is a reprint of the original 1941 edition.  It's a US edition put out by Berkley Medallion, and as you might expect from a 45 year old paperback, it has some miles on it.  It also (for some reason) has a hole punched in the lower right corner of the front cover.  Inside is one of those little address stickers from the previous owner - who knows how many years ago.  In any case this paperback definitely made the trek from Ypsilanti to Ann Arbor at some point (a distance of some 10-15 miles).

Banjamin Franklin and a Case of Christmas Murder by Robert Lee Hall.  Despite the fact that this is the newest of the three books, published by St. Martin's in 1991, it's the most worn.  This book has seen some love!  Also it looks like at some point it has a passing acquainatance with water, and the front cover is creased.  Neverthless this somewhat hard to find title is priced at a reasonable $3.50.

Used books have a kind of history aside from their content.  There are different editions, different publishers, different countries of origin (I have a fondness for old Penguin U.K. paperbacks myself) and different cover art.  We have customers who collect John D. MacDonald titles with only a certain cover atist, for example.  Used books are tactile, they sometimes smell old, and the pages feel smooth and yes, loved, in your hands.  It's hard not to think about past readers when you have a used volume in your hand.

Someone reading a Kindle - and I admit they must be handy for travel - does away with all that history and (any) connection to past readers and book lovers.  And yes, I have customers (very few) who only want new books.  I'm just saying. It's all worth a bit of thought.

Comments

[Maria]

I still want a kindle.

:>)

AND my used paperbacks.

:>)