Where do you get your books? And so you purchase, borrow, or both?

[wordstroken]

18. Growing up in a family that forbid my sister and me to read (that's another story), once I learned the power of words

I jumped in with both feet, er both eyes! (Spoiler — my first full-time job at 16 was writer of a full-page column at the local weekly newspaper.)

Knowing I had a lot to make up for, as an enlightened avid reader, I started out buying physical books from any bookstore where I could hang out, stay lost for hours, and leave with brown paper bags way too heavy to carry.

In the early 2000’s, I realized that eBay sold all kinds of history, geography, math, and other books written in the 1700’s, 1800’s, and early 1900’s, and boy I was hooked! (Incredibly sad what they taught children about other human beings, even when describing topographical geography.)

As a grown-up teacher and writing coach, once I ran out of book shelf space in my huge classroom/library, I was forced to buy one of the first Kindle ebooks and slowly transitioned to digital. I also teach Braille and write kids’ books in both print and Braille — which takes up huge amounts of shelf space. Just three Harry Potter titles in Braille occupies 6x6-feet square.

As an author of non-fiction and fiction (medical-legal thrillers), many of my books are both digital and paperback.

But still love physical books best. Two of my favorites are “The Story of My Life,” by Helen Keller; and The Rand McNally Grammar School Geography text book (1894).

Okay, I guess the short answer to your question “Where do you get your books?” is: Wherever I can!

Thank you so much for your post, LearnedHand, for helping us think deeper and to analyze our literary choices.