Where do you get ideas for books to read?

Where do you get ideas for books to read? My local library is an embarassment and the small booksellers have all been driven out of business by the large chains. I just published a rant on my blog about the sorry state of their inventory. It seems that there is no place to just browse any more. That's always how I used to find great books. Just going into a bookstore or good, local library and wandering around the shelves.

I usually use garden magazine reviews as a starting point. My public library doesn't have the greatest inventory either, but they are hooked up with a consortium, so that I can request any book in any public library in four counties. I can do this from home, using my computer and internet connection. And if the book isn't in any of those libraries, they also offer Inter-library Loan for what they call out-of-system books. As long as the book meets a few reasonable restrictions (it needs to be in print for a year and cost over ten bucks, I think), they will get it from some library somewhere. I have gotten a book that came from a library in Washington State, and I'm in New York. And there is no charge for it, either.

I will also request other books by an author I've read if they are in the consortium (it's called the Four County Library system), and I sometimes just search on the publishers Timber Press and Taunton, since I know they both publish a lot of good gardening books. And sometimes I also check out the Amazon recommendations.

I usually find new books by browsing the shelves in bookstores. Our local bookstores (both the independents and the chains) have quite good gardening sections.

I also read reviews. I get Canadian Gardening at home and Organic Gardening, Library Journal and some others at work. Our local public library is quite good but I'm a sucker for buying gardening books, so if a review looks good I will usually buy it although sometimes I wish I'd got it from the library first (like Outside the Not So Big House which I ordered from Amazon based on reviews and it turned out not to be what I was expecting).

I am definitely a try-before-you-buy book lover for reasons of economy, though lack of space should be a consideration, but isn't. I regularly browse edwardrhamilton.com, bookcloseouts.com, and daedalusbooks.com looking for deals. It seems to be a little-known fact that a remaindered book is often less expensive than the same book sold used. But if I must have a book and can't wait, used is my next choice. I use bookfinder.com and fetchbook.info to find used books. Sometimes new at Amazon with free shipping is only a dollar or two more than used when you have to pay shipping, so I keep an eye on the total price. The vast majority of my library was purchased from Edward Hamilton, and most (though not all) of those titles had been read before purchase.

Too sensible, ColdClimate! :) I need to start following your example before ordering anything online because my regrets (although few) are all Amazon purchases and some of them were expensive.

I don't regret purchases from bookstores because I do look through them fairly carefully before I buy.

I get less sensible as I get older. Once upon a time I thought a subscription to Fine Gardening was a lot of money. Now I renew for three years without flinching . . . much.

I look for books that other gardeners have enjoyed (a lot of garden bloggers have lists of their favorite books on their blogs) and I always look for reviews of gardening books in my local paper. I'm a "try before I buy" book buyer, too, so I make good use of my library system. Like IndyGardener, my town library is pretty pathetic in gardening books, but we belong to a consortium, so I can generally get what I want.

I end up using Amazon to find most of my gardening books. The local bookstores just don't have a good selection - most are how-to - and the library nearest my house is pretty small. Amazon has a couple of great tools to find new books. One is its "Recommendations for You" section, which is based on your past purchases. The other is the ability to look at a specific book and find what other books other customers purchased.

I also read the reviews in Fine Gardening and Garden Design (which I also renew without much fuss - anymore).

In a good (preferably family owned) book-shop, or a book fair. You usually need (ie I need ) to have it in your hands to know whether you really want it. sometimes it's the feel or the smell of the book that really sells it (or otherwise.) And you get the warm glow of helping to keep the store going. Of course if you can't get to a decent bookshop, something else will have to do..