Romance Reader Insights: Book Acquisition

Results of my latest Instagram poll about the reading habits and preferences of romance readers.

Here is the recap of the latest Romance Reader Pulse Check, a regular poll I run on Instagram about the reading habits and preferences of romance readers.

The question I’m reporting on today is: How do you primarily get the books you read?

Results

The poll received 179 responses from November 10-26, 2025. Here are the final results:

How do you primarily get the books you read?

1. Borrow from the library - 46%

2. Borrow through a paid subscription (i.e., KU, Kobo Plus) - 21%

3. Buy them online - 21%

4. Buy them in person/in store - 12%

Comments

The post received 27 comments on Instagram.

Readers commented that they get their books from a variety of sources, with libraries, Kindle Unlimited (KU), and buying discounted or online ebooks coming up the most. A number of people said they rely heavily on Libby or local libraries for audiobooks and ebooks, while others use KU to keep costs down. Several commenters mention buying physical books, often from indie bookstores, discount shops, or online stores, especially for favourite reads. Some readers mainly read ARCs, and a few note regional limitations (like fewer English books in French libraries). Overall, most readers use multiple formats and sources depending on availability, price, and how urgently they want to read the book.

Commentary

About half of respondents (46%) mainly acquire their books from a free source (borrowing from the library), while the remaining 54% mainly acquire their books from paid sources (buying online, buying in store, or borrowing through a paid subscription). Since Instagram polls are limited to 4 choices, I wasn’t able to include an option for ARCs (Advance Reader Copies).

This is pretty consistent with BookNet Canada’s Canadian Leisure & Reading Study 2024, which found 49% of readers got their print books for free and 49% purchased them. It also found that ebook readers were the group most likely to get their books from a free source (57%).

I came across this 2018 survey of 355 readers by author Gigi Griffis, which looked at how, why and where people get their books. Here’s the breakdown of where readers said they get their books:

• Amazon - 77%

• Library - 51%

• Used Book Sellers - 36%

• Local/Indie Bookstore - 34%

• Chain Bookstores - 34%

• Other Online Stores - 15%

• ARCs - 10%

• BookBub - 8%

• Author/Publisher Websites - 5%

Since respondents could choose multiple answers, we can’t really compare the results to my forced choice poll.

Source: How & Why People Buy Books: The Results of a 355-Person Survey (2018)

What are your thoughts? Let me know in the comments!

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Demographics

Instagram doesn’t provide demographic information on the people who voted in the poll, but you can see the current age, gender, and country breakdown of my followers in my previous recap.

Suggestions

Do you have a suggestion for a poll question about the reading habits and preferences of romance readers? Submit it here!

Happy reading! 💜