I try not to buy too many books. I already have too many. We just read that in the 1300's, an institution like a monastery that had 76 books had a good-sized, impressive library. We have considerably more than that on our office shelves and we have about 40 times that many in our Kindles. It's no wonder that I keep finding that helpful banner across an Amazon web page that says I purchased the book in question ten years ago. (That means that despite having never downloaded it or opened it or looked at it, it has been waiting there all that time.)
There are times when I am simply looking for a good mystery but much of the time, I am after a specific book. Sometimes a book I would like to look through is available in used form for only a dollar but usually that will require a shipping fee of $3-5. Now that covid is losing some of its grip, I can enter a local library more easily and I can check if the public or the university library has the book. If the book is from a long time ago and it is a famous one, there may be an ebook at no cost or very low cost. One of several good things about an ebook is that I can get it immediately. One of the not so good things is that older books that are not popular may not have ever been converted to an ebook file.
I turn to the Libby app on my phone or iPad to check if a book I am after can be borrowed in e-format from our ring of libraries that cooperate in sharing and lending. If the book is available in e-format, and if the library has purchased it [two big "if"'s!], it is often the case that other people are also after that book. Others may have already put holds on the book and the app estimates that a copy will be available to me in about 6 months or a year. If I were more patient, that would be ok but I am not.
Yesterday, for once, I found "Facts and Fears" by James Clapper, former head of US intelligence, and got it right away. I find the book clarifying and the writing easy to digest.
