In the old days, we used to cart boxes of books down to the used book store in exchange for credit, and then load back up with more reading to bring home.
I mostly meant that suggestion as a joke, but to be real I can't imagine reading so many books that you run out of room for enough bookshelves. I have several boxes of books and it's a huge pain when moving to a new apartment, but otherwise I just get more shelves when I need more. I don't think having a lot of full bookshelves would ever be perceived by others as a hoarder scenario if the apartment is kept clean and neat. But I do think that being seen to own many books will generally give people a better impression of you, so I was sort of serious with that joke.
>> to be real I can't imagine reading so many books that you run out of room for enough bookshelves
I don't have anywhere close to enough bookshelf space for the number of books I've read over the years.
I moved my book boxes many times before I gave up on most of them. Now I don't even have space to put them all out. 88 square meters for a family of four with toys etc. doesn't go very far.
Or, you might find the author online and see if they have some sort of donation mechanism set up. It's very common these days for a lot of professionals, but some authors are old school.
You are still buying a copy, that I imagine is the practical effect you want.
You don't keep proof, though, and probably isn't allowed to keep a backup after you give the book away. But most countries laws don't care about any of this (and it's not a backup).
Many people live in small apartments. The footprint of a single physical book may be negligible but five hundred books can become a logistical nightmare.
Dont pay for your own hope that you can pick the lock of your own paid for jail cell.