Buying Used Books

4Chickens

I have just placed an order with Amazon for 1 new book and 6 used books. I have never purchased used books from the Amazon website before and was wondering if any of you had used this method and what your experiences were.
I know I will have paid extra for the postage but I was ordering from a very specific reading list.
Next question: To Kindle or not to Kindle? That is the question.
The rest of the books on my reading list are available in Kindle but they are only at most £1 cheaper that a new paperback. What do you reckon?
And if your'e really interested I will post my reading list on here (there are 18 books on it)

kiss_me_now9

Never had a problem with used books from Amazon before, wish they weren't so cheap though so I could sell mine on it!

ETA - Personally I hate the idea of kindles or e-readers, I like to feel the paper in my hands and the smell of a bookstore is

Cat501

No experience from Amazon but I've bought plenty from Playtrade at Play.com, never had a problem and no postage charges - result

I'm with kiss-me-now on the Kindle debate, and also love the smell of bookshops!:D

eta I'd love to see your list

whiteguineapig

i spent months debating a kindle then decided against it
i have just joined the library and got my first book , i can order online for £1 so feeling quite happy with that
my library doesn't do e books tho

Evie74_2

I've bought books 2nd hand from Amazon lots of times and never had a problem - although you pay for postage it's a good way to get an out-of-print book quickly if you need it. I'd be interested in your reading list too - I'm always to be found with my nose in a book so all recommendations welcome! Are you going to a book club or is it for study? Or just a list of must-reads?

Evie xx

4Chickens

The Corrections - Jonathan Franzen
Freedom - Jonathan Franzen
The Pillars of the Earth - Ken Folette
The Good Earth - Pearl S Buck
The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter - Carson McCullers
Cane River - Lalita Tademy
House of Sand and Fog - Andre Dubus
Open House - Elizabether Berg
The Poisonwood Bible - Barbara Kingsolver
Back Roads - Tawni O'Dell
Midwives - Chris Bohjalian
What Looks Like Crazy On An Ordinary Day - Pearl Cleage
I Know This Much Is True - Wally Lamb
Breath, Eyes, Memory - Edwidge Danticat
Black and Blue - Anna Quindlen
A Lesson Before Dying - Ernest J Gaines
As I Lay Dying - William Faulkner
The Long Way Home - Karen McQuestion

Taadaa

I nearly always go for a second hand option as well. I have had a couple of issues with books not quite as described, however this is over several years of buying.

4Chickens

I bet you are all busy reading reviews of my book list now.

I am not studying or anything but wanted to stock up on books to last me through the summer and hopefully my holiday in September. And it is the holiday to Canada and America that has made me consider a Kindle. Whilst in Canada we'll be staying in a cabin and fishing for a week, so it will be pretty sedentry and plenty of time for reading. Whilst in America I am at my Mums farm so again not alot of excitement but plenty of relaxation.
I would read approx 2 books in a week so I am thinking about the weight of my luggage really. I will need 4 books for the 2 weeks and that doesn't include the book I will read on the flight to America, the book I will read on the drive back from Canada and the book I will read on the flight home to England.
My husband doesn't let me drive in America and Canada, he says it's the only time he gets travel sickness, though I will admit to hugging the mail boxes and the road ditches.:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

shelley_crow

I would love an ereader but can't afford one at the moment, I'm on an Amazon boycott too so I would go for a Kobo touch, they work out quite a bit cheaper than the Kindle when I was looking a few weeks ago. I have very limited space in my house for storing books, otherwise I wouldn't bother with an ereader.

Charity shops are normally great for books, can be quite hit and miss though.

Evie74_2

Some good and interesting choices on there, and a few that I haven't read -thank you.

Evie xx

picklepick

What sort of phone do you have? I have an android, Samsung Galaxy S2 and you can download a kindle app for it and then get the books without buying a kindle. There's also the android book reading app Play Books. You get a few free classics too like Treasure Island, Alice in Wonderland, The Three Musketeers, some Dickens, Austen and Thomas Hardy etc.