Ikeanic Hallucinations and Book Buying Habits

I don't go to Ikea often, and every time I do, I'm afraid I'm going to return home to pop-up video hallucinations annotating our furnishings à la Fight Club. Recently, we returned with a fairly sizeable bookshelf which assumed its proper form after a successful personal transition through Formbyosis.

Nature abhors a vacuum, but the general rule is an understatement when the vacuum takes the form of a spacious empty bookcase--at least in this house. It translates into call and response: for every chorus of "I'm lonely, I'm lonely" from the new bookcase interesting books I see bellow in responses with operatic overtones: "Buy me! Buy me! Buy me!"

For a spell, the Internet seemed to stifle my book buying desires, but this past year has probably been a personal record in terms of the number of books I've purchased. The Internet still affects my book purchases in various ways, but it doesn't seem to be affecting how many books I buy, but rather which books I buy. As far as quantity goes, I can think of at least a few titles I probably wouldn't have purchased if I hadn't stumbled on to them and perused them on the Internet.

Reflecting on my most recent purchases, I tend to buy more hardcovers than ever before, and they tend to be the sorts of books that are classics, foundational, highly technical and/or solid theoretical references, etc. Books that involve extreme concentration or offer extreme comfort. Seems nowadays, I try to buy books built to last and surf for the other stuff. While there still is the occasional guilty paperback, I can see a noticeable change in my book buying habits.

And, finally a book buying tip. I may have mentioned it before, but I've had great luck with used books from 3rd party sellers via Amazon. Make sure the seller is one that's shipped a lot of books and has a rock solid rating. The second criterion (if the price doesn't vary too much) is finding a seller in geographical proximity. Occasionally, I've found a seller efficient enough and close enough to get my purchase overnight without having to pay Fedex rates.