Is it inevitable that my favorites are the ones that are out of print?

Question

I suppose I mean, do I suddenly realize those three books (a set by Jane Austin) are the ones I wanted most out of a large order to Dover for books? It's like the kid who wanted the one thing he did not get for Christmas more than all the rest. Or did I really want the Austin books most? How can I tell, now that they are "the forbidden fruit"?

Or at least the temporarily denied fruit.

Printing them out would cost more in paper and ink than buying them from Dover. And second-hand stores don't seem very accessible here in St. Louis. Or rather University City. I could, of course, look for other publishers, or perhaps the books in the three-book set may one or two be available from Dover. What I was really asking here should have been better put to the psychology category. Patience is mostly what I need, I think.

Answer 1

When you read everything that Project Gutenberg has to offer, you can go to other links and read their offerings as well. The world of public domain literature is vast and unconquered by many. You can also find many out of print books in e-text versions. It is less daunting to keep them in print, and therefore easier to share a large catalog with consumers. Don't abandon hope. All is not lost, it just hasn't been scanned yet!

Reading e-texts used to be a pain. They were all in .txt or .doc format and you had to change the font size and all of that, to get throuh the texts. Now they come in many different formats, you can purchase e-text readers or just make yourself a CD or DVD full of them to read on your laptop or desktop. I read them on my motorola Q when I am waiting for appointments now (not the best way, but it's already in my pocket) Dedicated e-text readers will allow you to set preferences like text size, background color (ideal for dysfunctional readers) Font (you can finally read your favorite books in your favorite font, imagine that?) and even font color. Some e-text readers even provide audio, allowing you to hear the book if there isn't sufficient light to read, or if the atmosphere is not conducive to reading - bumpy ride, neon light that is strobing etc. You can use headphones of course, so you don't even have to share the book with others who are less, hmmmmm, evolved?

Hope this helps.

Answer 2

Well, I can't address any causal relationship between out-of-print and your favorites. But I can observe that the text to Jane Austen novels is public domain and thus legally available for download. So while you may be jonesing for the paper artifacts, you can still read the words at Project Gutenberg.

Answer 3

You could check used book stores, if you really want certain books. I end up doing that for ones I can't find anymore.