Latest / Galaxies and Goddesses: A Sci-Fi & Fantasy Bookcast / To Borrow or To Buy: The Ultimate Book Lover's Dilemma
Transcript
- Andrea: I’m Andrea. Elizabeth: And I'm Elizabeth. Andrea: Join us as we chat about sci-fi and fantasy books and beyond. Elizabeth: Looking for a little escape from reality? So are we. Andrea: Welcome to Galaxies and Goddesses! Elizabeth: On this week's episode, we're talking about one of our favorite reader dilemmas: borrowing versus buying books. Andrea: We'll chat about what makes us reach for our library card, or borrow from a friend instead of adding to our overflowing bookshelves. Andrea: Let's get started! So Elizabeth, have you ever bought a book after you read it from the library? Has that ever happened to you? Like you had to have a copy for yourself? Elizabeth: I dunno if that happened with a library book, but it definitely has happened with a book that I've read. A book called Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe. He's a Nigerian author and it's so good. I read a copy of it in the Peace Corps and I'm sure I passed it along after I read it. The Friends of the Historical Museum at Fort Missoula have this annual used book sale where people will donate books, but they'll collect them all year long, and then they'll put them on sale this one weekend and it's a great sale. It'll probably be a little bit too dangerous for me to go on the first day. Andrea: Because you buy too many books? Elizabeth: That like all of the books are available, whereas like if you wait until like Saturday or Sunday, where they've been sort of picked over there aren't gonna be as many books available to buy. The good ones are gone first, but it's a great sale. They sell them to you for I think $2 an inch, and you bring up your stack of books and they measure the stack. Andrea: Wow. Elizabeth: So I was there the year before and there's this copy of Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, and I was like, you know what? I'm gonna buy that book. Like it's not a very long book. It's probably half an inch, so it's probably a dollar and it's such a good book that I was like, “you know what? I'd read that again”, and it's a good enough book to like, yeah, I'd put that on my shelf and I'd have that on my shelf, so, so yeah, I bought it. It doesn't happen very often where I buy a book that I've already read, but that was one example. What about you? Andrea: I recently did that with the last book we talked about When the Moon Hatched by Sarah A. Parker. I got it from the library, but I wanted to increase my dragon section at home. Andrea: Yeah, I think that'll be a nice, yeah, I think that'll be a nice series to have next to Fourth Wing, like my little dragon collection. Elizabeth: Yeah, of your like romantasy series. Andrea: Yes. Elizabeth: Involving dragons and other tropes that go along with romantasy books. Andrea: Yes. I also have the last George R.R. Martin book, Dance of Dragons. That's, that's also up there. Elizabeth: Is that like Game of Thrones? Andrea: Yeah. It's a Song of Fire and Ice number five. Elizabeth: Oh yeah. Andrea: So I haven't read that one yet. Elizabeth: Wait… Andrea: I read the first four. Elizabeth: Did you load it to me? Have you had this book for a long time? Andrea: Did you read it? Elizabeth: Yes. And I think I read your copy, Andrea. Yeah, I think I read your copy. It might have been one of the first books that like, as we were getting to know each other and you're like, oh, I, I have the next book. And, and I was like, oh, well, I, I really wanna read it. Elizabeth: And then you loaned it to me and I read it very quickly and I gave it back to you. And you still haven't read that? That was like 10 years ago Andrea. Andrea: No, no, I haven't. Elizabeth: Come on. Andrea: Yeah, I have a lot of books I haven't read. My bookshelf is full of more books that I have not read than books that I have read. So I keep the ones I either wanna let people borrow or I just enjoy seeing on the shelf. Or that I hope to read eventually someday. And sometimes I'll upgrade to like a special edition. Andrea: So, I have Rachel Gillig’s duology: One Dark Window and Two Twisted Crowns. It's part of the Shepherd King duology. I love those two books, and I bought them in paperback last year, and they just came out with a special edition and I bought a nice special edition. They have like cool art on the edges. And I'm like, yeah, I just, it just makes me happy seeing them and thinking about them. Elizabeth: Are there dragons on the edges? Andrea: No, there's no dragons in that one. You could say there's another type of monster in there, but no dragons. Andrea: You know, one of the main differences between borrowing books from the library versus borrowing from friends and buying the book is that instant gratification. There is something just fun about buying books. Andrea: That's more fun than getting it from the library, I'd say. Do you think so? How do you feel about that, Elizabeth? Elizabeth: Yeah, I guess I never really thought about it, but you're absolutely right that there is a different feel to buying a book to, to, versus checking it out from the library. And what is it? I mean, I guess I just like having books on the shelf. I like to look at books and think about books and remind myself like, oh yeah, that's right. Elizabeth: I wanna read that book at some point. When am I gonna read it? I don't know. Whereas a library book you … Andrea: Don't form the same attachment. Elizabeth: Yeah. Yeah, and there's no, no anticipation with a library book. There might be anticipation where you're on the hold list and you're waiting for the book. And especially if it's a book that you're like really excited about and there's gonna be anticipation then. But once you pick up the book, then the intention is that you're gonna read it pretty soon. Elizabeth: 'Cause you gotta take it back. Right? So then there's no thinking about it, and then some weeks or months go by and then thinking about it again and then, you know. Yeah. I'll read that book soon, and then, and then you're like, maybe take off the shelf, you look at it again, or you like look it up on Google or Goodreads or something and, and you're like, oh yeah, that's right. Elizabeth: It does have a, a really good rating. Yeah, okay. And then, yeah, so there's this like buildup I, I guess. Andrea: Yeah, I agree with that. I like the anticipation as well, and I think there's also this sense of instant gratification, like a shopping high. When you buy a new book, you go home with a new book and you're excited to read it. They smell nice. Elizabeth: Yeah. Andrea: And I think it feels like a treat to yourself buying books. Andrea: Another thing that sparks instant gratification I wanted to talk about in this episode is chocolate. Dandelion Chocolate, it's a specialty chocolatier based in San Francisco. They have a special moon theme advent calendar for the holidays. Your holiday shopping is basically done. Every chocolate is carefully chosen, wrapped, and ready to delight, so it puts all the work in for you. Andrea: If you grab one through our affiliate link in our show notes, you're also supporting our podcast. So whether you're counting down to the holidays or just want a daily escape, this advent calendar has you covered. So be sure to check out our show notes to pre-order it. It begins shipping November 10th so that you get it by December 1st and you get that little bit of anticipation throughout the month of December. Andrea: Yeah, I thought the chocolate advent calendar is a little bit like buying a special edition book. It's like a treat to yourself or a friend. It's something special. Elizabeth: I definitely read a special edition of Onyx Storm by Rebecca Yarros. You know, everybody's different and if you really want the special edition on your shelf, 'cause yes, of course they look nicer, but it's still the same book. I guess I'm more the type of, like, I don't really care what's on the outside of the book or the cover. Elizabeth: I will still read it, especially if it's a good book. Andrea: What if you're buying it as a gift, would you be more likely to buy a special edition as a gift? Elizabeth: But yeah, I, I probably would be. Andrea: Perhaps. Elizabeth: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Probably would be. I, I am in general am the type to try to not buy books or if I'm going to buy a book, I very rarely pay full price. Most of the time I'm buying used books or like that book fair. I think that book fair in Missoula, I think I, I've been to it twice. The first time I swear to God, I was walking out with like two jam full tote bags of books the second time around. 'Cause I think I waited until Sunday, so it was quite picked over, so I didn't buy as many books, I think I probably still had easily a tote bag full. I'm much more likely to buy a book if it's used and especially when they're at the like $2 an inch kind of price. Elizabeth: Occasionally, I do still buy books full price, but it does sort of require usually like a certain kind of bookstore. Elizabeth: One that I just bought like a month ago called Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer. I bought that from a museum on the Flathead Indian Reservation. It's called Ninepipes, is the name of the museum. A really nice gift shop. A lot of really nice cool stuff in there and, and so they were having like an art fair sale or something. Elizabeth: So I stopped in there about a month ago and then just happened, of course, to find myself looking at the books. So then part of me is I'm buying that book full price I'm thinking to myself, I'm also supporting the Ninepipes Museum and this native owned business. Andrea: You're being thoughtful about where you're buying. Yeah. Elizabeth: Yeah, yeah. If I'm going to pay full price for a book, usually it's gonna be from an independently owned bookstore, I'd say. Yeah. Andrea: I bought so many books during the Independent Bookstore Day slash week that I really did not buy many books the rest of the summer. Occasionally I'll see a book or two that's like a good deal and I can't help it. It's like 40% off and you know, I really wanna read that book. I don't wanna wait for it at the library. Like if I buy it now, at a discount. I could just have it. Elizabeth: And then you're saving money. Andrea: That's what I tell myself. Elizabeth: Even though you could just get it from the library where you don't spend any money at all. Elizabeth: What we haven't talked about are little free libraries. Andrea: Yeah. I think that's borrowing. Elizabeth: Is it a library? Andrea: Is it borrowing from a friend? Elizabeth: A friend you might not know. Is it barring from your neighbor who may not know? There's no expectations that you return said book. There is an expectation that you may borrow a book, leave a book, but it's not like anyone's keeping track of that, whether you're actually leaving books. Andrea: It’s true. Elizabeth: I don't always leave books at little free libraries, but I have no qualms taking books from little free libraries. Elizabeth: Taker, not a giver. Andrea: Yeah, it's like Elizabeth, I don't know if that counts as borrowing if you just take it and you don't ret return it. I don't know if that falls under the category of borrowing, but… Andrea: I actually kind of had a recent habit of buying books from Facebook Marketplace. I stopped doing this because one, I just ended up with too many books. Andrea: And also you kind of don't know where those books are coming from. You're assuming that that person is acting in good faith and like legally obtained these books, but it made me question after I got some of these books. Andrea: So there were people that would sell bundles of books, like 30 books for $30. And there'd be two books and the whole stack that I was actually interested in. Elizabeth: But you had to like buy the whole bundle? Andrea: Yeah. And I think it's partly because people were like unhauling their books and I was like, oh, maybe they'll be like hidden gems or some of it'll be interesting. But I got kind of burned on that 'cause there were just some weird books in there. And I feel bad about putting those weird books in other people's little free libraries. Andrea: So most of that just went to Goodwill. Andrea: In one of the books that I got from one of these big bulk book purchases, I was like flipping through it to see, you know, what type of condition it was in after I got it. And one of the things I found was like a parking ticket, not a ticket you'd get in trouble for, but the payment for parking, parking ticket. Andrea: That they used as a bookmark. Elizabeth: Totally. Andrea: It was like a parking receipt. Elizabeth: Yeah. Andrea: And I was flipping through the book to see what type of condition it was in, and I found this parking receipt from, it was like 2007 in this book, and that was this year. So I was like, wow. It's almost like a time capsule. Andrea: The book itself is also kind of a time capsule. The idea that content you put in a book can last so long. In reading a book you're reading something that could be over a hundred years old, but it becomes new and fresh when you read it. Elizabeth: Yeah, or older! Andrea: Yeah. Elizabeth: Sometimes when you read old books, like really old books and you understand it, and especially when the, the themes still feel fresh. A great example of that in the last couple years, I read Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift, and it was published in 1726. Andrea: Wow. Elizabeth: Yeah, yeah. Next year it'll be 300 years old. Elizabeth: And so to be reading it in the language that it was written in, this written in English and you entirely understand it, and, and it's a satirical novel and so much of it is about wealth, income inequality, the government, and I think it has a lot to do with like sort of monarchy and power. Part of the reason it's still around is because the themes withstand the test of time. Elizabeth: The things that he was satirizing in 1726 still resonate. Andrea: I have not read that one. Maybe I'll need to add it to my list. Elizabeth: Yeah. I have a copy of it. I gave it to my sister and I don't know if she's read it yet. I probably would've taken that book back because it is a book that does look good on the shelf. I probably would, I'd, I'd probably read it again someday. Sure. But I don't know that I made that clear to my sister that I wanted it back, so I don't know if she's actually read it yet or what happened to it. Andrea: I feel like that might be a book that my mom inherited from her parents. Like I've seen it around, but I have not read it. Andrea: This does get back to the idea of borrowing versus buying books. I think you're more likely to buy a book that feels timeless. You know, it's easier to sort of circulate a book that's fluff or fun, but the serious, important classic books feel like I'm more likely to hold onto and what to buy. But also I would say like. Elizabeth: For sure. Andrea: I, I'm also more likely to buy a book that feels timeless to me, right. To me personally. So dragons are timeless. Elizabeth: Directly, directly related to the number of dragons in the book. Andrea: But yeah, so what, what is timeless can also be subjective. And if you're a fan of any particular genre, that that could be timeless. Andrea: And also maybe I might have the intention of letting other people borrow it, like a fun romance. So I'll buy it and then be happy to pass it on and share that fun reading experience with friends. Elizabeth: Yeah. I definitely also took a copy of The Great Gatsby by F Scott Fitzgerald out of a little free library. It was like, well, mean it looks good on the shelf. I'll just take that one. Sure. Do I have any plans to read it soon? Andrea: To clarify, you've already read it? Elizabeth: Yes. Once I did not, maybe twice. I did not read it in high school, like everyone always does. But I absolutely will read it again someday, I'm sure. And, and just was like, oh, oh, sure, that looks good on the shelf. That's a classic. So I just took it out of the little free library. Andrea: Yeah. Andrea: So another way of buying books is that I used to go to estate sales as just kind of something fun to do, like exploring Seattle. When I first moved here, pre pandemic. After the pandemic, they kind of switched to doing a lot of things virtually. So the estate sales don't really run the same way anymore. Andrea: But it was always interesting to see what books people had at their estate sale. At the end of your life or when you downsize, what books are left behind? What stuck out the most was a lot of cookbooks and travel books, and the books that you have on your shelf at the end of the day is sort of a documentation of how you decide to live your life and what's important to you. Elizabeth: I feel like you can learn so much about a person by looking at their bookshelf. So absolutely, like, what does the bookshelf look like at the end of your life? Elizabeth: We went to an estate sale. I remember, 'cause I definitely bought a couple of books and a plant or two. There was this little tiny mini orchid that I randomly bought from this estate sale. Elizabeth: 'Cause I was like, oh look, it's cute. I've never had an orchid before. Maybe I can try with just a tiny little one to see if I can grow an orchid. And I managed to keep it alive. It never did anything really. It just, just. Just kind of alive. A friend of mine took custody of my plants for a bit when I moved to Ireland, but some plants died, but that one didn't. This tiny little orchid is still alive and it's thriving under his arguably pseudo neglect. Anyway, once it's again it's a great place to, get a hard back. It's like from a random estate sale, it kind of sucks that they don't really do 'em the same way anymore. 'Cause it's kind of fun with estate sales to like. Also go inside the house… Andrea: Yeah. Elizabeth: And see what the house looks like in addition to like, what stuff do you have that's for sale, and what does your bookshelf look like at the end of your life? And also just what does the inside of this house look like? Andrea: Right. Well, and it, it does like change the experience too. You could look through books that they're posting online, but it just feels like more of an adventure or discovery when you’re in person. Elizabeth: Yeah. Andrea: Even, even browsing a bookstore in person, like you find something on a shelf or someone recommends it to you. There is something about buying a book and finding it in person that feels more personal. Elizabeth: Absolutely. Elizabeth: And there's a lot to be said for like holding the book in your hand. All sorts of books that I never would've bought or I never would've sought it out until you're like, are actually holding the book in your hand. Elizabeth: And it's like, oh, this looks kinda interesting. Sure, you know, especially if it's like an estate sale or a used book sale where it's cheap and you're like, sure, I'll give this a chance. Why not? I definitely end up finding books that I wouldn't otherwise. If you could just pick it up, look at the cover, flip the pages. Andrea: Yeah. Also, when you visit a bookstore, it's great to ask booksellers what they recommend because they all have like great insight. Different booksellers will have different areas of expertise, but they are great resources and I have read some great books because booksellers recommended them that I wouldn't have found for myself. Elizabeth: Absolutely. I think they probably often get, I mean, I don't know this for sure. I'm not a book seller. I've never owned a bookstore. I don't know. But I'm guessing they fairly often get the advanced reader editions as well, especially if it's a, a book, they have a particular interest in. Andrea: Yeah, I actually had a brief time working at a bookstore and they had a room in the back, in the staff area where they had all of the advanced reader copies that you could borrow or take home to read so you could be more educated on the book selection. And it was honestly a little overwhelming. I mean, there was a point where I realized, “Oh my God, I'm never gonna be able to read all of these books.” Elizabeth: That were like available to you as a staff member, not a customer? Andrea: Yeah. Elizabeth: Wow. Andrea: They were like, and if there's anything else books coming out that you really wanna read, let us know and we'll see if we can request it. And it kind of changed my perspective on reading, just realizing that, you know, well, because when you walk into a library, there's not the expectation that you're gonna read every single book in the library, right? Andrea: There's just no way. But the idea of free books that I could take home and read if I want to and kind of keep potentially. I was just like, there's no way I'd ever possibly be able to read all of these free books that I could take home. Like just because it's free doesn't mean you are gonna have time to read it. Andrea: And there was something about it that was like a shift in my perspective on books when I realized I could not read all of the advanced reader copies available. And you have to be more selective with your time and the books that you choose to read. So I hope this podcast is, is somewhat helpful to people trying to decide what to read, that we give recommendations and that the monthly book pick is there to do more of a deep dive on some books. Andrea: And I think it's a fun way to share our reading adventures. Elizabeth: Totally. Andrea: And I hope other people enjoy that as well. Yeah. Elizabeth: One thing I wanted to bring up an idea that somebody said to me once a couple years ago. And I never really got the opportunity to pick his brain about it. And it's, it's sort of one thing that it's, it's stuck with me a bit since he mentioned this. He lives in London and he works for a publishing house. I think it's a smaller publishing house that's not like the huge behemoth publishing houses. But he said he doesn't like supporting used bookstores. And I was like, well that's interesting. And, and then at one point I asked him like, what about libraries? And, and he was like, oh no, I absolutely support libraries. Absolutely support libraries. Okay, but you don't support used bookstores. Elizabeth: Interesting. I, you know, I do wanna pick his brain about this more. He thinking about it, it's. Like, okay, so if someone works for the publishing industry where there is an economy that creates value by selling new books, and when a new book is sold, the author will then get a portion of the proceeds. If the book is then sold to a used bookstore, and then the used bookstore, turns it around and resells it the author does not get any money from the resale. Andrea: That's true. Yeah. Elizabeth: And, and someone who works in publishing and supports new voices, authors, playwrights, poets, and, people trying to maintain a living as an author or playwright. You're going to, of course want people to buy a new copy. Andrea: And not a used copy. Elizabeth: Yeah. And, and ever since then, it hasn't really set right with me. I, I mostly buy my books used, but that's 'cause it's cheaper for me. Andrea: Yeah. Elizabeth: And, and once again, it maybe leads me to buy a book that I wouldn't otherwise buy or to read a book that I wouldn't otherwise read. And, and also there's this idea of like. Well, yeah, the author doesn't get any benefit from the sale of a used book, but there is this entire other economy around books that is used bookstores, right? Like it supports the used bookstore and it supports the staff that the used bookstore hires. So, I don't know. It's just one of those things that I, I sometimes find myself thinking about it as I earn more of a living and I can support myself and I'm not like a broke college student anymore. Right? That like, could I can buy books new, could I pay the full cover price of every book that I read and not be strapped for cash? Elizabeth: But, but yeah, probably, I'm sure I would read differently and I would have different reading patterns and approaches to reading if I always read a brand new copy of a book from a bookstore and paid full price every time. Andrea: Well, and some of the newer books that I've bought have been part of a like author event package. So you're buying the book and you're going to the event and you're paying full price specifically to support the author. I really like it when authors get the opportunity to do that. There's a lot of work and effort that goes into planning these book tours, and that's not something that's available to all authors either, but it does make you usually more excited to read the book after hearing the author talk about it. Andrea: And there's always more that you learn about the book and the process that went into creating it. So I think if there's an author that's near you or coming to a city near you, it's always worth it to go to the event. To me it's like going to a concert. It's a fun activity in a sense. You're paying for the experience, you're paying to support the author that you care about and the book community. Andrea: And I'm happy to pay a full price when I go to those author events. That being said, I like getting a deal. I do like buying used books. I do like getting books from the library, so I feel like there's something to be said for finding a balance. I don't think it's reasonable to expect people to buy full price books all the time. Elizabeth: Yeah, yeah. Someone that works in the publishing industry is going to want people to buy the brand new book, of course, but, but yeah, it's just, you know, honestly, if I were completely honest and just trying to have good insight into my own book, reading habits and book buying slash borrowing slash taking from little free library's habits. Elizabeth: I probably could try to, because I can afford to buy more new books. I probably as like, you know, being a good steward, I probably could do better supporting independent bookstores and buying more books full price. And then also not just always taking the book, but also leaving the book in the little free library. Elizabeth: Yeah, I could probably do that more. Elizabeth: One more weird thing about the library that I've seen more recently with a couple different libraries as far as like bringing books home from the library, the atypical book, that you're bringing back from the library. In the library in Missoula on the ground floor, they have an area where they sell books. Elizabeth: I think they're books that are probably donated. Actually, you can get 'em pretty cheap, like a few bucks or something for even like hardback books. So that does exist at least in the Missoula public library. But then in Helena, at the Lewis and Clark Library, they do have an area in the front where it's like books that have been withdrawn from the library. So it's like a little free library, but there is no expectation that you're returning the books. They don't want you to leave books on the shelves. They literally just wanna put books that have been withdrawn from the library or like magazines that are outdated, that they've pulled from the shelves, and then the expectation is you take them. Elizabeth: So that's kind of fun. But then also there is a national program. It's called The Big Read and the Lewis and Clark Library is doing The Big Read, and their book is called Fuzz. It's actually on the 10 before the end, which I've now read. But yeah, it's called Fuzz: When Nature Breaks the Law by Mary Roach. Andrea: I thought it might be fun to add some information about the big read. So the National Endowment for the Arts supports this program called The Big Read. It's a nationwide program that celebrates the joy of reading by bringing communities together through a shared book. Andrea: They've been doing this since 2006 and it's funded more than 1800 programs across all 50 states. It seems like a really cool program that we’ll add some links in our show notes too. It sounds like libraries or other nonprofits can apply to get grant funding from the National Endowment of the Arts for Big Read program, and they have a book selection. Andrea: And there was one sci-fi book on the list that caught my eye. It was called Blackfish City. It's an urban sci-fi novel by the Nebula Award-winning author Sam J Miller, set in a dystopian future on a floating technologically advanced city in the Arctic Circle. Andrea: So yeah. Anyway, that's a little side tangent into the Big Read program, but it sounded pretty cool and I hadn't heard about it before you mentioned it for this particular episode. So it was kind of fun to look into that. Elizabeth: Totally, yeah. The library got a bunch of brand new copies of this book, Fuzz. And they just gave him away. And supply is limited and you do have to like show up to the library to get it. And you know, sort of early bird gets the worm kind of thing. So I knew what day they were going to be starting to give away these books, and I was there within an hour of the library opening up and I was like, yeah, I'm here for the book. Elizabeth: And the the librarian was very excited about it. And then she gave me a brand new copy. Andrea: That's great. Elizabeth: I was clearly very concerned about them running out of copies. But I saw more recently, like yesterday or the day before on the Lewis and Clark library website, that they still have copies available for those in Helena, Montana. Andrea: Oh. Andrea: But it's cool that you got like a new copy of the book to keep. You don't have to return it. Right? Elizabeth: Yeah. Yeah. Like no expectations, no strings attached, just a brand new copy. So yeah, sometimes randomly you get other kinds of books from the library. Andrea: Well, and books you read at the library, do support authors as well because the library pays for those books. Elizabeth: Yeah. Yeah. Elizabeth: And I think often libraries will buy more than one copy too, especially if it's gonna be a really popular book, if there's already a pretty big hold list. So I'm sure they buy more copies of it. And so it does for sure, support the author. But then yeah, going back to that sort of conversation with a guy that works for a publishing house, where it's like he's a big supporter of libraries and I'm just like, well, that's cool, but also every time the book is read, it's not like the author gets money from every time the book is read. Elizabeth: So obviously the library's a good thing, and I, and I don't know that anyone, especially anyone who's a reader or an author would ever have any problem with libraries, but I mean, you know, every time the book is read it's not like the author's getting money for it. Andrea: Well, but the more gets read, it only has a shelf life of so many reads before they have to replace it or request more copies. I remember specifically when I was reading the Throne of Glass series by Sarah J. Maas from the library when they were transitioning to a newer edition of the books. That it had been requested so many times that they were phasing out the older edition books and getting newer copies. Andrea: And so I had to wait for it to get in stock, even though the book had been, you know, out for a while. It had been published for a while. Elizabeth: Yeah. Andrea: Yeah. And so I had to wait so long for the books at the library, I ended up buying the books and that happens too. So, sometimes when the wait list is so long, it's like, okay, I'll just buy the book. Andrea: I really wanna read it. So that will cause me to go to the bookstore and buy it. Andrea: Maybe another reason I like buying books is because sometimes I don't know what I'm gonna be in the mood for and I like to have options. Elizabeth: I could argue that I have too many options, mostly have run out of space for my options. In, in theory, I always, in my mind, I'm like, well I mean, if I can take these books to The Book Exchange, the great used bookstore in Missoula, if I can take them to The Book Exchange, eventually, someday I will continue to pare down the books because I will take the books in and they'll buy them from me, and I will leave with fewer books because I will use the credit from the books that I brought in and then that credit won’t buy as many books as I brought in to begin with. So in theory, eventually it will help me continue to pare down on the books, but that's not what actually happens. I mostly bring books home and don't take books out of my home as often as they come into my home. Andrea: Well, whether you're a proud library card carrier or can't resist adding to your TBR stack at your local indie bookstore, the heart of it is all the same. The love for stories. Elizabeth: Unfortunately, that concludes this week's episode. We have reached the end of another cosmic journey on Galaxies and Goddesses. Andrea: Don't worry. The adventure never really ends. There are always more stories to explore and let's be honest, more bookish, tangents for us to go on. Elizabeth: If you love today's episode, make sure to subscribe, leave a review, and share the magic. Andrea: Be sure to check out our show notes for more information about Dandelion Chocolate and their special moon themed advent calendar. Stay tuned for our next episode where we'll be talking about our November book pick Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers. Elizabeth: And in the meantime, keep your mind fueled by the magic of stories. Andrea: And never stop chasing the world's waiting for you between the pages. Thanks everyone!