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  Book Club

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  ****Many thanks to everyone who inputed- I have the answers/advice that I need now. :)

  Hey everyone,

  I've not been too active so I apologize. I have many books on my "plan to read" list on my shelf but I am hoping to wiz through them soon. I am interested in joining a book club. I was formerly a member of Double Day but they didn't have a good selection. Most of the books were by people I hadn't heard of, they had few classics and no best sellers whatsoever. That was about 4 years ago but I looked into it again and it's still priced too high and the selection still looks like it sucks.

  If anyone is a member and knows if it got better please let me know because it didn't look like it.

  If you know of a book club that has best sellers as well as classics I'd love to know about it. Also, if the prices are worth it. I can find classics at Barnes and Noble for 10 bucks.

  Thanks!

  Caity

  Caity started this discussion 1 year ago (edited). ( reply | permalink )

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  Jerry M 

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  I guess it all depends on where you live and what access you have to a good used bookstore(s) and also to a good library. If you have these resources, then I would suggest you join a few discussion groups here, get involved to see what people are reading and whether something like the books being mentioned would be good for you. Then hit the bookstores and the library system.

  But if you aren't around those resources, a book club may be what you are looking for. In that case, I am not much help, having not tried a bookclub in many decades.

  posted 1 year ago. ( permalink )

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    Caity 

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    Well, I have a fabulous library here (they moved across town, expanded about 4x its size and is brand new). But I have OCD and can't get myself to touch used books. I was looking for a book club to save money from buying from bookstores. We have a local mom and pop bookstore plus some major chains here so I have no problem finding new ones to read but I wanted a book of the month club to get discounts. Thanks for the advice though! :)

    posted 1 year ago. ( permalink )

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    Jerry M 

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    Ok, the OCD could be a bit of a problem. You would probably blanch at some of the old musty bookstores I've habited at one time. However, if you have a Half Price Books around your area, you may find a happy medium. They often sell books that are not used but overstocked, so they are essentially brand new books- but at half price. Good luck on the book club hunting, though.

    posted 1 year ago. ( permalink )

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    Caity 

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    Thank you!

    posted 1 year ago. ( permalink )

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  Cocoa 

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  If you e-read I'd suggest mobileread.com for free classics, they have them converted to most e-reader formats and the books are better edited then Project Gutenberg. Aside from that I'd second the library, the one I used to work for had a book sale room where most of the books were 0.25 - 1$CDN and even the more pricey ones never went over 15$CDN.

  Some people also do book swaps if you simply want to read a book without actually owning it - that's another option. As for a book club I was actually thinking of pitching the idea to this group not too long ago as a matter of fact...

  posted 1 year ago. ( permalink )

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  Caity 

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  Just a note to everyone else who reads this- thanks for the advice to both above- but I had been referring to a book of the month type club. Sorry I wasn't more specific.

  posted 1 year ago. ( permalink )

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    Book Concierge 

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    You can edit your main post to clarify ... which will be helpful.

    posted 1 year ago. ( permalink )

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  Cafe Mom 

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  Hi Caity,
  I belong to a group called The Callenge Room. It is a new group but has opportunities to read books every month. You should check it out and see if it meets your needs. Here is the link. http://www.shelfari.com/groups/92183/about.

  posted 1 year ago. ( permalink )

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  Laurie G 

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  Not a book club as Doubleday is but "Library of America" prints nothing but classic authors in fine quality books. They are not cheap at $30-40 each book, BUT I get their mailings and they do seem to run deals for some of their books.Might want to check them out.I've been very fortunate to pick up a few of their books for $1-2.00 at booksales. I belonged to 2 of these clubs at one time and spent more time mailing stuff to them I didn't want.

  I agree with Jerry,Shelfari is a great place to catch up with books.
  I do miss Barnes and Nobles hardcovers,those were great books for under $10 and always classics.I buy them if I see them nowadays.

  posted 1 year ago. ( permalink )

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  Caity 

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  Thanks for the recommendation Cafe Mom.

  @Laurie G. I'll look into that. Yes, I get most of my classics through B&N because they are about $10- not hardcovers though.

  I also subscribe to the catalog for Dover Publication's books. A lot of things I'm not interested in there such as paper doll collections, but they have a lot of classics for only a dollar or two and I have been eyeing their greek mythology section and some of the good old classics.

  I believe they specialize in early editions too. Just thought I'd share.

  posted 1 year ago. ( permalink )

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    Jerry M 

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    The Dover catalog is a gold mine :)

    posted 1 year ago. ( permalink )

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    Laurie G (edited)

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    Caity- B & N used to publish their versions of classics in hardcovers. I bought them often.Now they are only available in the bargain section or book sales. I have to collect "classics to create a small library for myself! I don't care for the classics in paperback. Some are so awkward to hold due to size of the book and some are difficult to read due ot print size.I will check out Dover pubs!

    posted 1 year ago. ( permalink )

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  Book Concierge 

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  Many years ago I belonged to "Book-of-the-Month" club, "The Literary Guild," and "Doubleyday's Book Club." I think I also briefly joined some sort of purchasing club that was specific to mysteries, but I can't remember the name.

  Of course all these were before the advent of amazon.com. I don't know if any of them exist anymore. And now I really want to collect hardcover first editions, so those special book club editions are useless to me.

  In addition to half-price books ... check the remainders tables at your favorite book store. You can sometimes get a hardcover first edition for $6.99 (vs $25-28 new). It helps if you make good friends with your bookseller, who can alert you when something you want comes in and reserve it for you. (I have my own "shelf" behind the counter at my local indie book store.)

  posted 1 year ago. ( permalink )

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    Jerry M 

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    BC, I would imagine you would have a whole basement just for your books :)

    posted 1 year ago. ( permalink )

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    Book Concierge 

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    Well, I only need a shelf at the book store because I'm there every week to pick up what has come in!

    The at home library is another story ....

    posted 1 year ago. ( permalink )

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    Jerry M 

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    I imagine the contractor, who would build your house, saying to you "would you like a little house to go with your library?"

    posted 1 year ago. ( permalink )

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    maydayeve 

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    I like your comment, Jerry! My husband has been commenting about my book collection all over the house since my little library is already full :-)

    posted 1 year ago. ( permalink )

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    Jerry M 

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    Oh, I've been hearing that for quite some time from my wife lol.

    posted 1 year ago. ( permalink )

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  sawcat 

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  I had tried some of those Book of the Month type clubs before, more the history and science oriented ones (though I got Harry Potter through one of them, go figure), but I found that they were either the same prices or more than ordering through Barnes and Nobles online. In addition they were fairly limited in titles. If you wait until closer to when the paperbacks come out, you can get hardcover copies of books for $5-7 dollars through Barnes and Nobles bargain books, in store and online. Also, if you know anyone with memberships to stores like Cosco or Sams Club, you can get hardcovers about half price. Our Costco has a much better selection of books now than they used to, and not just the new releases or fad books.

  posted 1 year ago. ( permalink )

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  Caity 

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  Thank you all! Everyone was very helpful.

  posted 1 year ago. ( permalink )

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  Laurie G 

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  I cannot beleive I forgot this- up for catalogs at EDWARD HAMILTON BOOKS from Connecticut.
  I get their catalog all the time and have bought NUMEROUS books from them.They buy overstock. The shipping is $3.50 whether you buy 1 books or 100 books! They are very good to deal with!!!!! They are online also. They every genre of book broken into categories! I received their catalog for years and then one day actually looked at it and have been buying from them since. Sometimes theya re a color catalog and sometimes it is like a newspaper.

  posted 1 year ago. ( permalink )

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  Ladyslott 

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  The one I belonged to for many years was Quality Paperbacks. They have a really varied selection of Trade Paperback size books and it may suit your needs:

  http://www.qpb.com/

  posted 1 year ago. ( permalink )

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    sawcat 

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    That was one I tried too, though I wasn't impressed with the prices either, beyond the opening offer, and the occasional special

    posted 1 year ago. ( permalink )

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    Ladyslott 

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    The thing I remember is that they would get paperback versions out sooner than you would find them in the stores. I belonged for a long time but then my sister in law went to work for Doubleday and she would get book for 50 cents and give them to me. That was fun!

    posted 1 year ago. ( permalink )

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    wiley 

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    I also quit QPB as their prices rose and rose. Great selections that I can find cheaper elsewhere.

    posted 1 year ago. ( permalink )

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