Where do my books come from?

AKA. A Love Letter to My Public Library. I came across this post by way of Rachel @ pace, amore, libri and thought that it was a really interesting way to look at my reads so far. The idea is to go through everything you’ve read this year and make a note about where you got them. Here are my 2017 reads to date from most recent to oldest:

1. That Inevitable Victorian Thing by E.K. Johnston: Library
2. War & Peace by Leo Tolstoy: Library
3. Elegy by Vale Aida: Purchased from Book Depository
4. The Language of Thorns by Leigh Bardugo: Library
5. One Dark Throne by Kendare Blake: Library
6. All the Birds, Singing by Evie Wyld: Library
7. The Heart’s Invisible Furies by John Boyne: Library
8. The Stone Sky by N.K. Jemisin: Library
9. Our Dark Duet by V.E. Schwab: Library
10. American War by Omar El Akkad: Library
11. Ancillary Mercy by Ann Leckie: Purchased from BMV (used bookstore)
12. Obelisk Gate by N.K. Jemisin: Borrowed from my mom
13. Now I Rise by Kiersten White: Library
14. All The Birds in the Sky by Charlie Jane Anders: Library
15. The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzi Lee: Library
16. Too Like the Lightning by Ada Palmer: Library
17. The Refrigerator Monologues by Catherynne M. Valente: Library
18. Tash Hearts Tolstoy by Kathryn Ormsbee: Library
19. A Closed and Common Orbit by Becky Chambers: Borrowed from another library
20. If We Were Villains by M.L. Rios: Purchased from Indigo-Chapters online
21. The Dark Forest by Cixin Liu: Library
22. The Love Interest by Cale Dietrich: Library
23. The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane by Lisa See: Library
24. Defy the Stars by Claudia Gray: Library
25. The Upside of Unrequited by Becky Albertalli: Library
26. Giant Days Vol.1 by John Allison: Library
27. Ninefox Gambit by Yoon Ha Lee: Library
28. The Three-Body Problem by Cixin Liu: Library
29. Exit, Pursued by a Bear by E.K. Johnston: Library
30. Saga Vol. 5 by Brian K. Vaughan: Borrowed from a co-worker
31. Queens of Geek by Jen Wilde: Library
32. City of Miracles by Robert Jackson Bennett: Purchased from Indigo-Chapters online
33. Ancillary Sword by Ann Leckie: Library
34. Twelve Angry Men by Reginald Rose: Library
35. Sonora by Hannah Lillith Assadi: Library
36. Pachinko by Min Jin Lee: Library
37. Villains by V.E Schwab: Library
38. Swing Time by Zadie Smith: Library
39. The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden: Library
40. When The Sea Is Rising Red by Cat Hellisen: Library
41. The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers: Library
42. The Chosen Maiden by Eva Stachniak: Library
43. History Is All You Left Me by Adam Silvera: Library
44. A Conjuring of Light by V.E. Schwab: Purchased from Indigo-Chapters online
45. And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie: Library
46. Everfair by Nisi Shawl: Library
47. A Gathering of Shadows by V.E. Schwab: Library
48. Breakfast at Tiffany’s by Truman Capote: Library
49. The Sun Is Also A Star by Nicola Yoon: Library
50. A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab: Library
51. The Invisible Library by Genevieve Cogman: Library
52. More Happy Than Not by Adam Silvera: Library
53. Fear the Drowning Deep by Sarah Glenn Marsh: Library
54. Saga Vol. 4 by Brian K. Vaughan: Borrowed from a co-worker
55. An Untamed State by Roxanne Gay: Library
56. Wake of Vultures by Lila Bowen: Library
57. Of Fire and Stars by Audrey Coulthurst: Library
58. Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie: Library

Of the 58 books I’ve read to date in 2017:

50 – Borrowed from the Toronto Public Library
3 – Purchased from Indigo-Chapters online
2 – Borrowed from a co-worker
1 – Borrowed from a neighbouring Public Library System
1 – Purchased from Book Depository
1 – Bought from a used bookstore (BMV)

As expected, I am a heavy library user. A whooping 86% of books I read this year were borrowed from the local library system! There are a few reasons for this:

1. As a Librarian (I work in a corporate library and my job is primarily research-based), I strongly believe in supporting libraries whenever you can. Stats MATTER. Public libraries constantly have to justify their existence, and circulation stats, visits, etc. are all important and concrete ways in which they can demonstrate to politicians, etc. that libraries are useful.

2. I’m fortunate enough to live in the City of Toronto, which has a huge and well-used library system. The City has 102 (I think?) library branches and Toronto Public Library (TPL) ranked first in North America in circulation, visits, and electronic visits per capita among libraries serving populations of two million or more in 2015! I also live within a five minute walk of a library branch, it’s quite literally on my way to and from work, which makes it easy to borrow and return items. I am so privileged to have this fabulous library at my fingertips, and its size means that the library gets almost everything I want to read. The few times that they don’t have something, or its not available in print, it’s frustrating because I’ve become so accustomed to being able to borrow anything I want!

3. I don’t have an e-reader or tablet. Not having an eReader definitely holds me back from being able to receive ARCs from NetGalley and from taking advantage of sales on eBooks. I’d like to take the plunge, but the eBooks provider used by Canadian library systems, OverDrive, isn’t compatible with Kindles in this country, and I’d like the option of borrowing eBooks from the library as well as borrowing/receiving from NetGalley. If anyone has any insight on dedicated eReaders or on tablets, especially Canadians who use their library to borrow, please comment and let me know what you think!

4. Cost/Space. For a Toronto-apartment I have a lot of space. It’s still a city apartment though, so I try to be very careful about what I buy. Generally I buy the latest in a series that I can’t wait to own, or keeper copies of books I’ve read and loved that I know I will want to re-read. Definitely cost is also a factor, especially when it comes to hardcovers, so I tend to borrow from the library and decide whether to buy later.

I’ve also been really bad about buying items and not reading them this year, so I think I’m going to do a few months of reading only what’s on my shelves already at some point in 2018.

If you want to do a post like this, pingback to me here so I can check it out, I’d love to know, where do your books come from?