Reading Lists very expensive

Hi, I'm thinking of applying for Arch + Anth next year, however the reading lists get rediculously expensive, which is a bit of a bummer. Plus, quite a few of the books are obscure, not ones youwould find in my local (town) library... What did other people in this situation do? help would be appreciated thanks :smile:

amazon

History Lost in Physics

11

Surely if you're applying for the degree you will be going somewhere else and can use that unis library - or have I misunderstood and they require you to read them before the course starts ?

Reply 3

generalebriety

16

Buy them, I'm afraid. There's no way around it - academic books are all very expensive. (I have several £40+ books on my shelf.)

Reply 4

camstudent123

You don't need to buy any books on the arch and anth reading list, everything should be available in the haddon/UL. I bought small places large issues by Eriksen but only beucase i referred to it all the time. If you are thinking of applying then there is no need to read anything on the reading list

Reply 5

Supergrunch

10

Yep, academic books are expensive, but only buy them if you're sure you'll need them, or really want them for some reason or other. The chances are you'll be able to get away with buying very few.

Reply 6

RightSaidJames

16

Try FreeCycle (google it), I'm sure someone who lives near you has a copy of the books you want.

Reply 7

Mook

9

My local library didn't have many books from my History reading list but if you search on the county libraries database then sometimes some of them are available elsewhere. It only costs something like 50p to get them sent to your local library, free if you're under 18.

Reply 8

Aconite

17

Have you tried Read It Swap It? It's a free internet-based thing where people offer books of all kinds to exchange. You would need to put some books up yourself for people to swap with, but it's worth a try.

Reply 9

SunderX

14

For reading lists last year, I got my college librarian to purchase copies of the books we needed, and just borrowed and consistently renewed them for nigh a term. Actually, never really read that much of it, but the idea is that if a book is on this year's reading list likely it will be on next years and is hence useful to students to have in a library.

Reply 10

--

3

The only people who really need to buy big and expensive books are the scientists, because they have big chunky textbooks that last a while. Arts students pretty much use a book for a couple of hours and move onto the next one, so they're not as worthwhile purchasing. Cambridge is packed with a multitude of libraries and I'd be surprised if there is any academic book published in the world in the last 100 years which can't be found there. Don't buy books from the reading list, it's a complete waste of money, maybe just buy a single general book so you know what you're talking about at interview.

Reply 11

Reverie.

14

If you live near another university's library, they often let people with reading lists have a guest membership thing during the holiday before their degree starts. Alternatively, your local library might be able to order a book in for you from another library.

Reply 12

Ruthie_J

A couple of other points: both the colleges and faculties allow vacation borrowing for students, so reading lists shouldn't be a problem even when you're not within Cambridge's walls. I've never needed to buy a book on any of my reading lists. When I have done so, it's either because I used it so much I saw it as a long term investment , or I enjoyed it so much that I wanted to have my own copy should I want to re-visit it after my degree. If I want to highlight/annotate texts, then I'll photocopy at the faculty library.

If you really want to buy books, you should ask around the students in the years above - maybe they want to sell theirs on second-hand? There are plenty of niche/second hand bookshops around too, in Cambridge theres Galloway and Porter and the like.

Reply 13

Rudrax

12

You could always ask your local library to order them. Reading Central library has a ****ty 'Law' section so I plan on asking them to order the whole reading list I've been sent.

Reply 14

Phil.Murray

2

Cantab

The only people who really need to buy big and expensive books are the scientists, because they have big chunky textbooks that last a while.

Same with most subjects in Law.

Reply 15

musicbloke

17

Try going to your local university. They'd probably be happy to have you sit and read the books in the libraries there, and will be better stocked than a town/council library.

MB

Reply 16

Drogue

19

AWZC

Hi, I'm thinking of applying for Arch + Anth next year, however the reading lists get rediculously expensive, which is a bit of a bummer. Plus, quite a few of the books are obscure, not ones youwould find in my local (town) library... What did other people in this situation do? help would be appreciated thanks :smile:

After buying my first year books before I started, I didn't buy another book for my entire degree. The libraries have them all. Most of the core texts will be in your college library (usually on term-long loans) and if not, there's departmental libraries and the Bod/UL. I've never seen the need to buy books for the course. If you really want to, either Amazon marketplace or some student exchange sites are probably the best.

Reply 17

history_geek

amazon marketplace (I spend more on postage than on the books) , secondhand is the way to go

Ebay is also useful

I spent about £300 on dozens of books in the gap year before I arrived, and to this date at Cambridge two of them were helpful, but only to the extent that I didn't have to keep renewing them at the college library (a two minute walk away and with enough copies of those two books that I'd never have not been able to have them when I needed them). I had to read them again just as much as I would have done had I not read them at all, and the knowledge I had from them was not much of a bonus, because you don't pay enough attention or read the book in the right way when you're reading for pleasure. The rest of the books just weren't academic enough (you sometimes get sent a bit of a soft reading list, to ease you in) or I just didn't end up choosing to do the specific essay that it was helpful for.

Bottom line - don't waste your money before you get there, it's just not worth it. If a book is truly useful and worth spending money on, you'll find that out once you actually start studying or when your supervisor tells you.

Reading Lists very expensive

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