I'm talking about books, of course.
I don't buy many books these days. Too expensive and, even after giving away/selling a large chunk of my collection (as well as storing a not-insignificant # of boxes of favorites I just can't part with at my mom's... sorry, ma), AND still living in a fairly book-choked pad with the wife, I just don't have to room to store any more than I currently have.
Making this decision about a year and a half ago freed up a ton of money and space for me and, more importantly, forced me to reacquaint myself with the Chicago Public Library system.
And you know what? For all the griping every Chicagoan has done about this city and its services over the last few years, the CPL deserves some kudos. Yeah, Daley and his hand-picked commissioner of the system get little if any of the credit, given that they've been trying to fuckball the system for years, but the rank and file are doing a bang-up job.
I go to the Harold Washington Library Center (HWLC) every three weeks like clockwork, and I've never come away with less than five good books to read. The system's website, which was finally, much-neededly and AWESOMELY redone sometime in the last few years, allows a patron to easily search for any books they may want, find out if the system has them and, if so, at which branch (if you don't mind traveling around) or you can just put it on hold and have it shipped to whichever branch you want.
So, my system of using Amazon to browse around and find interesting new books I want and then queuing them up on my CPL account has been working great. The HWLC also has a nice Popular Library, which is basically an easy-access, 1st Floor library that just has what's most recent. I often just drop in there to browse around and have had good luck finding basically brand-new books I didn't even know were out yet being available to borrow right then and there.
Essentially, the system works for me. I _really_ do miss having a stack of shiny new books around, and that awesome feeling of cracking the spine on a hardcover for the first time as a ritual of taking ownership, but I'm not spending insane amounts of money nor am I stacking the latest histories on top of a cat for lack of anywhere else to put them.
This also has turned my few trips to real bookstores into special occasions. There's the pain of walking in and finding $200 worth of books within 15 yards of the door. That kind of sucks. But there's also the joy of those moments when I can reward myself with a nice, new book by a favorite author or on a favorite topic. I'll look forward to hitting Borders like an 8-year old who knows daddy is taking him to the LEGO store after school. I'll spend a delicious hour or two wandering the stacks, choosing, putting back, re-choosing... even now, I still try to limit myself to two books per trip, tops.
This oddly makes the entire trip more enjoyable. I used to treat bookstore runs like a trip to a buffet; eat whatever comes to mind without much thought, you can always go back and get something else if it sucks. The downside of book-shopping like that is, of course, that each book I typically buy runs about what two-three full buffet nights would cost me (Christ, that was a shabby analogy, but fuck it) and each bad pick meant I'm out $25-$40, usually. I could get away with that when I was single, but wives tend to get really ornery about that kind of idiot spending.
So I get the best of both worlds. Most of my reading these days is for free, thanks to living in a world-class city with a library system to match. As an aside, this is yet another item on my miles-long checklist of Reasons I Will Never Live In A Small Town. I also get to still hit brick'n'mortar bookstores and actually treasure the experience instead of treating it like a run to Jewel.
If any of y'all are like the old me, convinced that one had to basically tithe to the gods of Amazon and Borders to keep entertained by the written word, I humbly suggest you cut back on that shit and get cozy with your local library. Thank me later. Preferably with an Amazon gift card or the like.
