Looking through last year's reading records, I calculated: in the past year, I read 365 books, of which 177 was a new book bought by Dangdang, 82 were free books from bookstores, 8 1 was borrowed from colleagues, children and friends, and 25 were second-hand books.
As a person who loves books, I am willing to borrow old books from the library and books that are not well turned over from relatives and friends, but I have never thought about buying second-hand books. By chance, under the recommendation of my colleagues, I learned about a place that sells second-hand books. I tried to buy it twice and bought 25 books at once.
After reading these 25 second-hand books, I still went back to Dangdang and Bookstore. For me, I'd rather read sample books in the bookstore than borrow very old books from the library, but I really don't want to read the second-hand books I bought. That feeling is like buying an old dress. Even if it looks new, it always smells like someone else.
When buying second-hand books, there are several choices, such as better quality, broken corners, scratches and annotations. Of the 25 second-hand books, I will choose the option of "better quality". Unless I don't have this option, I will choose books of poor quality.
The second-hand book platform is only one day later than Dangdang's delivery, and the book can be received on the third day after the order is placed, which is also considered as fast logistics. I am satisfied with this speed. The quality of the books received is really good. Every book has its own package, and some books are almost as good as new ones. In the process of browsing, it is almost certain that only one person has read those books.
I have read the sample books in the bookstore and the old books in the library, and I have come into contact with many of them, but I have no discomfort when I read them. Why is the experience of second-hand books I bought not as good as that of sample books in bookstores and used books in libraries?
I have carefully thought about my feelings, but the process of opening a book is different from that of reading, so I have different feelings.
Open a new book, through the bright plastic film, you can clearly see the title, waist seal, introduction and various recommendations. When you gently cut the plastic film with the tip of your pen, an ink fragrance comes to your nose, which makes people feel satisfied with their vision and smell before they start reading.
When you open a second-hand book, although there is an independent plastic film package, the frosted plastic film not only keeps the title behind her guitar and hides half of her face in front of us, but also can't see the waist seal, introduction and so on. And there are no beautiful bookmarks attached with the book. After tearing the plastic film, I can't smell the ink smell of the book, but there is an old smell, which can't be said to be musty or gray.
When reading a new book, whether it is thick writing paper or thin paper, every time you open a book, you can make a crisp sound, and every place where your fingers touch is smooth without any impurities. The crisp sound of paper, clear words and patterns took me down line by line. At that time, I was just immersed in the world of that book.
When reading second-hand books, the turned paper seems to have lost its tension. Even if there are no creases and breakage, it will not be too brittle when turned up, sometimes soft and sometimes hard. Some words and pictures in the book have faded, which always makes me unable to read happily.
What makes my experience worse is that when I read second-hand books, I can't help but think of people and things that buy and sell books. It seems that it consumes more energy than reading the book itself, which will affect my reading experience to a certain extent, make me a little distracted and always be led away by an inexplicable feeling.
Sometimes when you open a second-hand book, you will think: What kind of person was the first owner of this book? Why did you choose to sell this book after reading it? Sometimes in the middle of reading, when I see the lines or notes drawn in the book, I will subconsciously focus on them and think seriously: that person thinks this sentence is in his heart, and he thinks so when he reads it here.
After reading a second-hand book, I can't help thinking: why do you want to sell such a good book? Didn't the person who bought the book plan to read it again after reading it? People who buy this book may not like reading this kind of books. ...
In short, in the whole process of reading second-hand books, my reading experience is not as good as reading new books, borrowing books from relatives and friends and reading sample books in bookstores.
After buying second-hand books, you need to put them in the bookcase, which will be placed side by side with other bookcases. Sometimes I reopen it, sometimes I lend it to my friends, but I never want to sell a book. When I spend a little money to buy back some books that smell like strangers, I always feel that the smell of strangers has inexplicably entered my bookcase, which makes people very uncomfortable. This may be my obsession at this stage.
Buy less clothes, eat less, buy less online, and waste less every day. There is more than enough money to buy new books. There is really no need to buy second-hand books in order to save that money. You can either borrow books or go to the bookstore to read them in the future. If you want to buy books, you should buy new books.