Wednesday, July 22, 2026
I seldom own my books
#julyreply
Michael Harley prefers to read books on an e-reader, and makes sure he truly owns them by stripping off the DRM if possible.
This is not a problem for me because I mostly borrow books from the library with an app called Libby. The library system where I live has a great selection. If a book is popular and hard to get, I put in a hold even if it means waiting months. There are plenty of other books to read in the meantime.
Sometimes, I download an out-of-copyright book from Standard Ebooks. These books are carefully edited and nicely presented. You can get many hours of good reading from Agatha Christie alone.
If I buy a book, I usually buy a used paper book and, when I’m done, I put it in our little free library for someone else to enjoy. There’s really no reason to keep it, so why not pass it along?
I do occasionally buy a new book, but again it will be a paper version and only if it’s a book I think I might read more than once, or use as a reference. I’ve got my eye on Face with Tears of Joy: A Natural History of Emoji for this reason.
But what about Amazon exclusives? I would rather be dipped in the Amazon River with a swarm of piranha fish.
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