Do you ever get tired of waiting for a book and just zip on over to Amazon and buy the book? Or, worse, purchase a book at full price (horrors!) from a book store?

I am 946 on the waiting list for a book and it's only been a week, but I just want to read it. Enough already. LOL. 76 weeks is ridiculous, no?

How strong are you in resisting the temptation to just treat yourself to a good book?

I'm waiting on many books, but my number is not as high as yours. The amazon.com 1 cent plus shipping is looking pretty good.

I have waited for YEARS for a couple of books.  I can live without them, obviously!  I have only gone out and bought new a handful of times over the last few years because I generally find that I can wait.  The ones I have waited forever for have almost nobody waiting for them, they just dont turn over.  I have been like 2 of 5 on one book for absolutely ages!  It seems like the ones with the long waitlists always turn faster then I expect them too - in a few months a bunch of copies start flooding the system.

I remember that a few years ago, "Life of Pi", "Time Travellers Wife" and "The Historian" had HUGE long waitlists.  Nobody wants them now, but they are just as good as they were then...lol.  I have no problem reading a book a year or two after it is in vogue.

Laura, I just noticed you are getting ready to read Ahab's Wife.  I LOVED that book.  Right after it, I read a great nonfiction book about the real life case that inspired Moby Dick.  I can't remember the title "song of the sea" or something like that.  Anyway, example of books that must be 10 years old, certainly can't have high demand, and yet are very worth reading! 

I too just finished a Thousand Splendid Suns and I actually liked it even better then the Kite Runner.  Great novel!

It just depends. some books I add to my wl but pretty much plan on buying them new and yes I've paid full price for some! others I wait for or at least I wait for a while. I also find some at the library and if Istill want them I just wait my turn. there are some on my wl that are oop and too expensive used so I wait.

I have not yet been able to figure out how to find out what number I am on the wishlist, but I only have 3 books on there.  I am not allergic to buying full price, many of my friends give me gift certificates to book stores as gifts & that's usually what I use.  But how annoying is it to buy a book, then find it later at Good Will or at someone's yard sale, right after you paid full price?

Ahab's Wife, great book.  We did it years ago for our book club.  Actually had a man walking past at the pool while I was reading it, stop to tell me how much he loved it. 

Half.com is also a great source for books.  I almost always go there before paying full price.

I buy 15-20 brand new books a month. I'd say at least 10 of those are WL books.

Nancy, when you are on your Wishlist page, it will tell you what number you are in line by each book.

Since I have over 400 books on my TBR, I have no problem waiting.  LOL

I only buy books now when they first come out from my all time favorite authors.  Otheriwse, I'm pretty patient.  Practically all of my books on WL have been there since I joined Paperbackswap, and that is almost 2 years ago.  If it's a book I desperately want, I may splurge, but I really can't afford it anymore.  I honestly love Paperbackswap! 

For those of you who read Ahab's Wife, did you feel the need to read Moby Dick too? I remember trying to read part of Moby Dick in an anthology book and my eyes completely glazed over.

I wonder of Ahab's Wife will inspire me to read MD again.

Well I am new here but I am not very patient already!  I went out and bought one book I had on my WL, yes I paid full price, and then I got several more from the library.  If it was a book that I couldn't get from library and I didn't want to buy it new I guess I would wait.  I am gonna have to check out Ahab's WIfe I guess.  Hopefully it is better than the books my book club has picked so far!  Kim S

I had no desire to read Moby Dick since I had tried it once and did not like it!  I did enjoy the nonfiction book I mentioned above.  I read it right after Ahab's wife - they fit together well and somehow I wanted to hold onto that story!  Ahab's Wife is on my keeper shelf.  :)

Well Mary,  I feel really silly.  I had never really read my wish list page.  I just put the books on there & did not even look at it.  But for the ones I wished for, doesn't look like I'll be spending credits very soon.  Very long lines!

Moby Dick, never read it.  No desire to.

I've learnt to be patient, more or less.

The books with long WL, I request from the library. It doesn't take as long. if it's one of a series that I am collecting, then I will buy it.

The rest I just let the system continue, lately I've had quite a few wishes granted.

Wait no longer, Laura. :-)

I went to Costco this morning and there it was in it's hardback glory. I thought: I should just buy this cuz 70-something weeks is a long time.

But I didn't, and I am so glad because when I came home and checked my e-mail there was a marvelous surprise!

You're awesome, Janelle. It's like an un-birthday present!

You are very welcome. :-)

I try not to buy books unless my TBR pile can fit into a single milk crate.  Right now I believe it would fill at least 5 of them. 

My TBR is too long for me to buy books new. Occasionally check my WL and remove or switch to RL those that no longer seem appealing.

As much as my dh and I read, there is no way I could afford to buy new books.  So, if the library doesn't have it, it stays on my WL!  A lot of the books on my WL are older, so they may never turn up...but, then again, they might!!!

I have so many books to read, and books on my w/l, that it would be not too bright of me to buy books as well.  So I don't buy them.

I buy new books from my favorite authors (and I limit myself to one a month).  I do read about 15-20 books a month though.

I only buy new if I happen to have a gift card for a bookstore and only then if it's discounted. Otherwise, I'll wait my turn as patiently as I can *impatiently taps fingers*

I have so many books in Mount TBR that I never buy them anymore, be it new or used.  I've got books on my WL that have been there since I joined PBS three years ago, but I don't even look to see where I am in line.  When I am #1, they will tell me, LOL!  The only books I buy now are Diana Gabaldon's and since she writes very long books and writes them very slowly, that's not very much to purchase.  (Though her new one does come out in September.)

I buy books now and then just because I can't resist.   With a hundred books here that are unread, I don't worry much about my wish list books.  

I work in a bookstore during my breaks from college, and I always find myself making excuses for buying books- the discount is just too much for me to resist. But this coming summer, I have vowed to cut it out.
 

(Unless it's a paperback of a book in one of my favorite series, but I don't think any of those are due out for a while.) <-- see? With the excuses? I need to go to rehab or something. I have boxes and boxes of books I haven't read yet, and I usually only read 8-15 books a month, so I need to slow down on my crazy hording.

BUT! I do get wishlist offers like once a week. So I'm not stressed about waiting for most things.