(The winner of Laura Josephsen’s book is Eileen Astel! Please email me! Congrats.)
I received the email that the books at Borders were 50-70% off. So I made one last journey and brought my kids. I had no idea what to expect.
But I was looking for some deals.
The middle grade section was completely wiped out. Completely.
Most of the YA but not all was gone. Borders had brought out a lot of warehouse books. Nothing I wanted to buy though. Lots of vampire books. I guess vampires don’t live forever after all. #finally
I did purchase two books. DELIRIUM by Lauren Oliver. And WITHER by Lauren DeStefano. Honestly, even at 50% it wasn’t much cheaper than Amazon. And we wonder why bookstores are crumbling. Srsly. #not-ebooks
I also just received a shipment from Amazon. I have a major theme going. I just finished IMAGINARY GIRLS by Nova Ren Suma. And I can’t wait to read HOURGLASS by Myra McEntire. BETWEEN by Jessica Warman. And HEREAFTER by Tara Hudson.
Can you say paranormal? Ghostly? Time travel?
Yes that’s a big part of what I read and love to write. #can’thelpit
But the covers are gorgeous. The writing drew me in from page one.
And I absolutely love that I have the hard covers and they aren’t on my Kindle.
Why did I purchase those? A combination of buzz and cover love and genre. But I didn’t buy any of them until I’d read the opening pages.
How do you decide which books to buy? Any last purchases from Borders?
We don’t have a Borders where I am. I don’t even think there’s one in the next big town over.
My decisions for books come from recommendations, and then the cover art and the first few pages.
Even still, some of the hype built up around certain books is an #epicfail. I’d heard so much about one book in particular, it was everywhere, including a few agent sites, and so I finally picked it up. I was soooo disappointed. Not only was the plot shaky, the characters were flat, and the book itself was filled with typo’s and errors.
I’ll go with my gut next time.
Our Borders shut down a while back, so wasn’t able to go to this last sale. What I buy is influenced so much by topic that I’m interested in at that moment as well as personal recommendations. When I’m in a store, I can be easily swayed by books in my favorite areas that are on the great bargain racks. I tend to buy a lot of non-fiction for research. 🙂
Wow, sounds like you have a lot to choose from there. Happy reading!
I just ordered a bunch of YA from Barnes and Noble (combo of gift certificate & coupon), so I paid $16 for five books. FOUND by Margaret Haddix, ASH by Malinda Lo, WAITING FOR YOU by Susane Colanti, TWENTY BOY SUMMER by Sarah Ockler, THE SUMMER I TURNED PRETTY by Jenny Han. Unfortunately, I’ve got so many other things on my TBR list, I’m not sure what’s coming next…
I use recommendations, blogs, and trends to decide what to read. I put a lot of my final decision on the cover and back copy. #ThatDoesntMakeMeShallow
Kris- I’ve heard a lot of good things about those books!
Talli – I’d been waiting for a couple months, so I knew exactly what I wanted! 🙂
Susan – I can be swayed too esp. with nonfiction – if I know what I need to research.
Anne – Our Borders is40 minutes away so I understand. I had to check it out though one last time!
I picked up one book at 40% off (ONLY because it was cheaper than Amazon) about a week ago. But the whole clearance thing sort of made me realize the same thing you did…if I can get the same books normally off Amazon for the same or cheaper…it’s no wonder Borders went out of business. Oh well.
Enjoy your reading!
I went to Borders and bought books for my son. None for me. Although I do enjoy Knuffle Bunny. Maybe not as much as my boy, but still…
For me, it’s a mysterious combination of word-of-mouth, cover, title, first page, back cover blurb, and author.
I’m skipping these sales at Borders. We went in for the 20-60% sales, and even then most of the books that I like were gone. MG, children’s, YA, mystery … the schoolbooks were still healthy, but I stocked up then and don’t need anything more for this year!
I think I’ll be relying on the library more this year for my reading needs, even over Amazon. Inter-library loan is a wonderful, wonderful thing.
I haven’t been to Borders. The last three books I’ve read have all been on my Kindle. I miss real books!
I never went to Borders before the bankruptcy – now I’m just focusing on keeping my local B&N alive.
I think my reading choices are somewhat random, because I have so many I want to read – but they all get on the list to begin with by word of mouth or, as you say, cover love! 😉
I haven’t made any last minute purchases from Borders.
When I choose a book, I usually tend to ignore the covers…at first. I try and look past them by reading the blurb and then flip to the middle of the novel, reading a few pages there. But sometimes the cover does just say “You need me.” “)
Congrats to Eileen! Sounds like your tbr pile will keep you busy for a bit. 🙂 Happy reading!
Oooh, great list! Let us know how you liked them! I’ve been meaning to read one by lauren oliver for awhile.
Louise – I do love interlibrary loan but the books have to be at least a year old or more before they’re available. 🙂
Matthew – I don’t mind reading on my Kindle but I prefer books.
Susan – B&N is too far away for me to visit on reg. basis. My local bookstore only stocks classics and huge bestsellers. Looks like it’s amazon for me. 🙂
Sheri – I can’t ignore covers. They are what makes me pick up a book but it’s not the deciding factor.
Karen – Yes, I’ve been wanting to read these books for a while. So far they have not disappointed!
Katie – Borders had a tone of Delirium. Like stacks. So I”m not surprised there were some left. I loved BEfore I Fall so I imagine I’ll like this one too.
We don’t have Borders in my part of Canada, but it’s so sad to see any book stores close. I’ve been buying more ebooks than real books lately – unless they’re for my classroom 🙂
I’m ashamed to say I buy most of my books through Amazon.com–because of my ereader and because of fast free shipping.
I have so many books from the last writer’s conference so I haven’t bought anything in a few months
**Glad you weathered Irene well and have power. So thankful you’re safe too.
I’ve made a few forays and hope to make one more before it’s all over. I got a lot of stuff I wanted my first trip (not so great of a deal), some stuff I wanted and some stuff I bought just to have (a much better deal), and cross my fingers for last minute items.
It saddens me that it comes to this, but I’m still buying books.
I love when you get to read a snippet on-line! Many title has hooked me in with this approach.
Shelley
Shelley – Snippets can totally hook me too!
Bluestocking – I’m still buying books too. I just like them better. Maybe that will change someday.
Jennifer – I’d been waiting before I bought these books b/c I had a lot of catching up to do too, reading wise.
Jemi – It is sad but there are still books to be bought. I hope small bookstores make a comeback!
Yes, I too get fed up with hearing about vampire books. It seems the paranormal stuff which I write, has been taken over by blood-letting.com!
I am literally overwhelmed by my TBR list and I keep adding to it. I have books I’ve promised the authors I’d read (which I only do if I actually want to read them) and recommendations, and ones I’ve already got that I just haven’t found time for yet!!! Sheesh. Anyhow, I would love a last visit to Borders, but since there isn’t one close by, I don’t know if I’ll actually make it.
Hubby and I got too many books at Borders last week and I don’t even recall what I got though I know I got a lot of contemporary YA. I think we’ll be doing one more swing through this week. (Just in case.)
Alicia – It’s nice to look back through my tbr pile and remember the books I wanted to read – and still do!
Lisa – That’s why I’m so enjoying these books. They weren’t beta. They weren’t a review for a blog tour – even though those are wonderful. These books were purely for me, which is probably why I’m loving them so much!
Pat – Some of the vampire books I really did like but I never really got into all of them. Other paranormal books – yes.
I might take one last swing by Borders today. I read Imaginary Girls too, what great prose!
Well, I feel pretty special b/c I’ve read four of those books! :-))))
I guess vampires don’t live forever after all. #finally
ROFL. I’m wiping Mountain Dew off my screen. Rock on, Laura. Rock on.
The nearest Borders is 45 minutes away, so I’ve never actually shopped there. As for how I choose what to buy…let me start by saying that I’m very cheap, lol. I almost always read books first at the library, and if I loved them and know I’ll want to read them again, I buy them. As for choosing what books to read and consider buying, I get most of my recommendations from friends and fellow bloggers. My last purchase was a MG (which I don’t usually read), How I Survived Middle School by Donna Gephart. Donna’s in my Wednesday night writing group and I wanted to support her. I was happy to see that it was, in fact, a great book–one I’m proud to own.
Becca @ The Bookshelf Muse
Awesome book choices! Enjoy!
I do buy books due to the postive response I hear on blogs.
Our Borders closed a while ago, so no great deals there lately. I do buy a lot of books on amazon due to the convenience (and price).
Congrats Eileen!
We recently stopped into the nearby Borders just to say goodbye. 🙁
I sometimes get a book from the library and read it before I buy my own copy (I did that with Life As We Knew It and first book of the The Hunger Games). But after I’m hooked on the series, I often end up buying the second or third books in hard cover because I can’t wait for them in paperback.
I’ve been adding books to my to read list on Goodreads whenever I read a review by someone and it sounds good. Problem is I have so little time to sit down and read that my to read list has 90 books on it.
I suppose I should go down to my Borders. I haven’t even thought of it! But I have read a lot of those books on your list, and they are good! I especially liked HEREAFTER. You’ll have to let me know what you think of it.
You know the price isn’t the much higher than Amazon and since I live near the KY warehouse, I can usually get books shipped to me in 2-3 days.
I went to the Borders in midtown Atlanta, and they still had tons of YA and kids books.
I bought IMPOSSIBLE by Nancy Werlin and ASHES, ASHES by Jo Treggiari.
I also bought some craft books. I was excited to see some of them still available.
Still so sad though. That was my off-location writing spot.
You know the price isn’t the much higher than Amazon and since I live near the KY warehouse, I can usually get books shipped to me in 2-3 days.
I went to the Borders in midtown Atlanta, and they still had tons of YA and kids books.
I bought IMPOSSIBLE by Nancy Werlin and ASHES, ASHES by Jo Treggiari.
I also bought some craft books. I was excited to see some of them still available.
Still so sad though. That was my writing spot.