I recently bought a second copy of a book I already own because it was available in a different format than the first one I had. This is not the first time I've done this. When I was younger, the books I bought were mostly paperbacks because they were smaller (and therefore easier to carry around and store) and cheaper. As I've gotten older, I've appreciated hardcovers more due to their durability and, frankly, the way they look on my bookshelves. Sometimes, I'll come across a special edition that I like even more than the hardcover, and I'll buy that too.
No book exhibits this shift in my taste than The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson. When I first wanted to read the Stormlight Archive series, I bought a box set of the first three books in mass market paperback. I loved the books so much that I wanted to own the hardcover versions of them, so I bought all four books in the series in hardcover. Then Brandon Sanderson published a leatherbound edition of The Way of Kings, and I had to get that too. Finally, I came across a larger paperback edition of the book at a sale. It only cost a dollar, so I figured why not? It'd be good to have an extra copy to loan to people. So now I have four copies of The Way of Kings in four different formats!
The other reason I end up with multiple copies of a book is because I forgot I already own it. I'm embarrassed to admit how many times this has happened, so I take care to review the books on my shelves before I make purchases online. However, that isn't feasible if I happen to visit a bookstore while I'm out. Maybe I should take pictures of my bookshelves as reference for future shopping trips?
How about you? Do you own multiple copies of any books? If so, how did you come to have more than one copy?
