I went into our college's bookstore yesterday and checked out the prices for the texts I'll be teaching from. For my Intro to Logic class I use Hurley. For my purposes it's the best logic text I can find. And, in our bookstore, it costs $120. THAT... IS OUTRAGEOUS!!! The book is also in a new edition. New editions of college textbooks come out every year like the grass turns green, except that in this case the "green" is in $$$$$. New editions of my logic text mean the bookstore won't be stocking old editions. I've gone through several editions of Hurley and the changes made are so miniscule that I could easily use the edition I began with several years ago. THAT'S OUTRAGEOUS TOO!!!!
So - Don't buy your books full price if you don 't have to. Here's a few suggestions.
1. Wait until the first class to see exactly what books you will really need. OR - call your professor and ask them if he/she will actually be using all the books on their list.
2. Will the teachers use the entire book? If not - you can probably get it at your local library (here in Monroe County, Michigan, through our state-wide library lending system - Go here.) You can keep these books for three weeks. If the professor is only using a few chapters you can xerox them.
3. Buy them used. Begin here.
