How-To Saturday: How to Know When to Buy a Book

A lot of people complain that they buy too many books (me included!), but over the last few months I have tried to be more conscious of the books I’ve been buying and where I buy books. Today’s How-To Saturday post is about how to know when a book is worth buying.

As a person who lives in a place with absolutely no local independent bookstores, my only options for buying books quickly is buying from big companies. Therefore I try to be careful about the books I buy and order them from independent bookstores. I use the library to get most of the books that I read, but sometimes I like to have my own copies of books. Here are some things to think about when deciding when to buy a book.

If you liked it- Don’t buy a book that you hate (unless it’s purposeful, maybe?) Try to find books that you will liked and will likely return to once you have a copy of them
If you like the author- If it’s a book that’s coming out that is written by one of your favorite authors, then it can be worth getting.
If you’ve read good reviews of it – If I reviewers and blogs I trust say the book is good, I am a lot more likely to buy it.
If it looks good on your shelf- There is nothing wrong with the physical appearance of the book being weighed into your decision about buying it, but don’t buy (or choose not to buy) a book soley because of its cover.
When/if the library will get it- This is usually the biggest question that I ask when I want to buy a book. My library typically only gets really big releases in YA, so if the book is lesser known (or a debut), I’m much more likely to buy it so I can read it.

What are your thoughts? Do you think you buy too many books? How do you determine whether or not to buy a book? Let me know in the comments below!